Cardas vs NBS?

It has been my experience with a few NBS cables I have tried that it has a very quiet, laid back sound profile with a lack of brigtness but can also be some what undynamic. At least with tubes this has been my findings. I suppose each system can respond differently though.

I am a user of NBS Signature II interconnects and had also owned NBS King Serpent II interconnects . I personally find NBS on the bright side, but not harsh or unpleasant. They have a big mid-bass and are EXTREMELY dynamic. They are a little rolled off in the extreme highs and deep bass. They can be a little rough and unrefined but I personally like the Signature for the upper midrange lift it gives to female vocals, the bloom it gives to well-recorded piano and the bite it gives to horns all which my Pass Aleph 4 can use. I have never heard the Cardas Golden Reference interconnects or speaker cable, but I did once own the Cardas Golden Cross interconnects which I found so dark and undynamic that it was unusable. I have heard that the Golden Reference was much more neutral. A friend of mine, who has the Golden Reference on loan from a dealer, has used them to tame the highs on an extremely bright sounding CD player. This suggests that the Golden Reference is still on the dark side, but then again, I have no personal experience. I know the NBS Signature interconnect to be one of the better, if not one of the best cables around and I doubt the Golden Reference is one of the worst. Which one to use, if either, will depend on the characteristics of your system and what you would like to change about those characteristics in order to improve the sound. Perhaps you could re-post with the equipment and speakers with which you are intending to match these cables?

Gmorris, I think Rayhall discribed my experience to a tee! I tried the Signature for a week and as Rayhall discribed on the bright side, but not harsh or unpleasant. I found them very enjoyable but not a big enough gain from my Audio Tekna to justify the cost. Again the better the equipement I believe the better these cables will perform. Again I'm not saying these are bad, not at all, I hope you understand that. J.D.

I have recently switched most of my system from Cardas Golden Reference to NBS Monitor 0, and think they are both very fine, but not all that different. The Golden Reference only seem warm in comparison to thinner sounding cables, but in fact if you listen closely to the highs and upper midrange, there isn't much that isn't getting through. The Monitor 0 has amazing heft and impact in the lower midrange and midbass, and may be a bit more transparent in the upper midrange, but they are not all that much different in overall character. I still have Golden Reference phono cable and a balanced length between the SACD player and preamp, and don't plan to change. Whether the NBS is worth the extra $ depends on the deal you get and your level of craziness.

One further thought. Although I thought the Cardas speaker cables were superb, I can't say they are any better than their interconnects or phono cables. But the NBS 0 speaker cables had an astonishing impact, much greater than any of the interconnects did.