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Interconnect help for a NEUTRAL system

I need some suggestions for ic's for my current set-up.

I have all Sonic Frontiers tube gear from top to bottom, my speakers are Martin Logan's and my speaker cables are Cardas Golden Ref.

Sonic Frontiers stuff are known to have no sonic signature and their sound can be described as "boring" or "neutral."

Martin Logan's are a little bright and quite fast in the mid / high frequencies.

Should I stay away from NEUTRAL sounding ic cables, ie. Cardas cables? Since it's an all balanced system, I would like to stay with balanced interconnects.

Thanks for your input.
dogpile
sonic_genius
528 posts
 
I own ML Requests and cable matching is important. I used to own SF gear, SFD-1 MII, Line-1, SFM160 amps. I got my best tweaks trying different tubes. I now own Krell gear and use Pure Note cables. As other posters say, Cardas is warm.
nighthawk
241 posts
 
Cardas Neutral Reference is not as warm as Golden Reference. It retains the nice Cardas midrange without the bass bloat of GR. I think you might like it. I've tried lots of ICs recently and keep coming back to NR because of its well-balanced overall tonality. In your system, I would definitely stay away from anything silver. I think it would be too edgy.
celtic66
990 posts
 
Dogpile,

I've found the brightness of MLs is often curbed by powercord treatment as opposed to ICs. Good luck.
dogpile OP
118 posts
 
Tok 20000, I've considered Quattro Fil but it's not in the budget.

Twl / Nighthawk, thanks, I'll stay away from silver. Don't think I'll like the added brightness or detail.

Newbee / Sonic_genius, I'll consider rolling tubes after I buy some ic's, which is what I need at this moment.

catch you cats on the rebound.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
I'll throw my usual spanner in the works by opining that I don't find my Cardas Cross cables to be 'warm' despite the conventional wisdom reputation associated with the brand (they're actually brighter- and faster-sounding than my Harmonic Tech Pro-Silways), and also that I've never heard Martin-Logans to sound bright in and of themselves (they've usually sounded a little laid-back through the presence range and somewhat rolled in the top octave). You don't state your specific components (other than the speaker cables) or speakers involved, so I'll hazard a guess and say that the impedance and capacitance issues inherent to 'stats *may* be combining with your power amp and speaker cables as a network to create the problem - it's been known to happen. But the other humongous issue with dipole panels is, of course, in-room placement, the effects of which can vary wildly, depending on just about everything. (I do applaud your desire to aim for neutrality as much as you can.)
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