When I first relocated to NYC from Chicago in 1994, I was deep in the boil of my audio obsession. The timing of my move couldn't have been better. I had exhausted nearly all the audio salon's salesmen in Chicago, and needed a fresh batch of victims to torment.
One of my first visits was to Mike Hobson's boutique on White street in lower Manhattan. At that time Mike was in the process of starting a new vinyl label remastering an extensive catalog of jazz and classical masterpieces from the mid- 20th century later, to be known as Classic Records.
While building Classic Records, Mike was also a dealer for Avalon Acoustics, Jeff Rowland Design Group, and Cardas Audio among others. As was Mike's process, he simply asked what I'd like to hear, and to take as long as I liked to listen. I don't recall exactly what my first selection was, but it took merely seconds to realize I wasn't in Kansas, or Chicago for that matter, any more.
With a set of Avalon Radians, a Linn Sondek turntable, Jeff Rowland Model 8 amp, Rowland Coherence II preamp, and a full set of Cardas Golden Cross wire, I was sold-sold-sold. This was the sound I had been dreaming of. Going home to my system was like coming home from a Four Seasons Hotel to a four floor walk up on the Bowery (pre gentrification). Mike suggested I give the Cardas wire a try in my system, so I left with a full loom for a week of free listening. I had modest hopes that the Cardas held some of the magic I had heard in Mike's system.
We all have seminal moments in our audio journeys. Hearing Mike's system was one, wiring my system with the Golden Cross was another. There was in fact magic in that wire. A juicy richness, color, and texture that was undeniable. Jump ahead a few months and the system I had auditioned at Mike's shop ended up in full in my apartment.
It was about that time I began reviewing, so my system ended up in constant flux. I kept the system intact for as long as possible, but the nervosa was too strong at that stage in my life. After 4 years, all of my gear had changed. And not necessarily for the better, as it sometimes goes.
Over the last two plus decades I went on to formally review at least a dozen different wire manufacturers, casually auditioning countless more. But the experience with the Golden Cross never faded from my memory. So when the time was right, I contacted Cardas and requested a heaping helping of their latest flagship, the Beyond Clear.
The entire thrust of Cardas philosophy resides in the Golden ratio configuration. Cardas still offers the Cross lineup for those looking for a warmer tonal balance and a smoother treble for systems that may need to ameliorate some harshness, which describes much of what I heard back in the day. Ultra pure copper multi-stranded litz conductors are used throughout the lineup. The Clear lineup utilizes patented Matched Propagation conductors that match to the propagation rate of the dialectic. The Clear lineup, in contrast to the Cross, offers greater neutrality and broader dynamics. All cables are hand made in the USA.
Clad in a thick grippy blue rubber jacket, the Clear Beyond won't necessarily win any beauty contests. But the business ends of the power cords, ICs and speaker wire, will. I just love how robust the fittings are. "If it can be broke, I'll break it" is the prophetic crocheted wall hanging in my listening room—a warning to all manufacturers near and far. After months of use, in and out of the system, plugging and unplugging, the Clear Beyond looks spanking new. These hammed fists just cant put a dent in them.
The review system includes the Goliath PBN MR!777 speakers, PBN 700 watt Olympia mono amps, Pass Labs XA200.5 mono amps, PBN 2 chassis preamp, D'Agostino Momentum preamp, McIntosh MB500 streamer, VPI Avenger Reference turntable, the Boulder 508 phono stage, and the Ortofon Titanium MC cartridge. The previous wire and long term reference was all MIT Reference level.
Yes the Cardas is filling some large, very expensive shoes. As with most fresh wires, I find the Clear Beyond shows its strengths immediately, yet needs some time to become all it was capable of. But even after a brief listen, the question "What's in a name?" pops into my head. In this case, the answer is everything. The Clear Beyond performed as its name implies. From the upper mid-band on up, there is an open, stratospheric extension laden with effortless detail rendition, micro transient crispness, and space. With time, the rest of the spectrum catches up to that exalted level and becomes very linear bottom to top.
Compared to the staggeringly expensive MIT, the Clear Beyond, when reaching full throat, shifted the tonal balance slightly upwards. Not to imply the bass is light weight at all. As a matter of fact it has a very taught mid-bass, and low-bass slam that when hooked up to the PBN gear was simply crushing. There is not a hint of tubiness, bloat, or low-end over hang. It also reveals an outstanding level of bass detail and low frequency space showing how much action there is on tap within the nether regions. If you have not heard the MIT Reference, which is singular in weight and texture from the lower midrange on down, you would not be missing it. But that's what the extra 50 grand will get you.
When fully burned in, the Clear Beyond is of one sonic piece. Nothing sounds out of place or varying in character from one frequency range to another. The mid-range was a perfect bridge from the treble to the bass. Open, clean as a whistle, and fast as a jackrabbit. Vocals breathe beautifully rising and falling dynamically with great ease, and loaded with delicate inflection. Of course this applies to instrumentals as well. This wire allows for a very expressive, temporal, and rhythmic presentation, with a very high swing level. As a result, the musical engagement is very high. The level of any distraction due to the wires distortions are vanishingly low. Keep in mind, the MR!777 and Olympian amplifiers are capable of enormous amounts of power and dynamics. The Cardas Clear Beyond serves the system perfectly with dynamic performance limited only to the source material.
Moving the Pass Labs XA200.5 and D'Agostino preamp back into the system starkly reveals the Cardas' neutrality. The tonal character shifted downward, loosing a touch of sparkle on top in favor of overall warmth, a bit of richness, and depth. The sound isn't dark in any way. There's just not quite as much action happening on top, at least as obviously presented through the PBN gear. The imaging moves back a few feet as the PBN throws the image a bit forward in the plane of the speakers. Both compelling presentations.
Isolating each link in the chain, power cords, interconnects, and speaker wire was a bit of a heavy lift as I didn't have a full loom of another manufacturers wire on hand by which to have some baseline for comparison. But going from the full MIT system to the Cardas was enough of a shift to feel very confident in my assessment. As was substituting the components in getting a solid handle on the Cardas Clear Beyond's performance. Make no mistake, the Clear Beyond would be a potent upgrade from the merely good, and most useful in reference systems that would require the Clear Beyond to reach its full capability.
Having been deeply involved in investigating the evolution of wire performance over the last 25 years, and then circling back to the manufacturer that really fired my imagination has been a closing of the circle in a way. It is amazing how much more information has become available through the latest designs. I'd love to travel back in time and audition some of the great components of yore with a full set of Clear Beyond to really hear deeply into what they really had to offer. So transparent is the Clear Beyond, it is the perfect interface for those who want as little between their components as possible. I know we all say that's what we want, but the Clear Beyond may speak truths one may not be prepared for. Which leads to the question—how much should one invest in wire, and at what point in system building should it be considered? If I were building a new reference system, I'd carry a full set of Clear Beyond from audition to audition. This would go a long way in making informed opinions about the components, and eliminate a lot of surprises down the road. I realize this is not the most realistic scenario, but it paints the picture I'm trying to convey.
In conjunction with the Clear Beyond's neutrality and the fire hose full of information that it flushes through the system, it also manages to maintain a dose of that Cardas magic that those who are familiar with the brand, have so valued over the years. This may seem to contradict all the above talk of neutrality, implying there is a "sound" related to the Clear Beyond. On an absolute level, that would have to be true. But this is one of those times where I gladly accept the paradox of neutrality and implicit "magic" while sitting back, throwing on some beloved music, and counting my blessings.
Clear Beyond XL power chords
Retail: $2480 6 feet
Clear Beyond interconnects
Retail: $3750 1 Meter
Clear Beyond speaker wire
Retail: $8170 2 Meters
Cardas
