Cardas Audio
Bandon, Oregon, USA
American Made: Cardas Clear Beyond,
produced by Jana Dagdagan for Darko.Audio
The Clear Cables
• Sky • Cygnus • Reflection • Clear • Clear Beyond
Within the hierarchy of Cardas Cables, the Clear Cables are in a category all their own. Starting with Clear Sky and spanning to Clear Beyond, the entire range brings exceptional clarity, precision, and musicality to any audio system, ensuring an unparalleled listening experience.
Unprecedented transparency & neutrality,
never sacrificing musicality.
All of the cables in our Clear product line feature Matched Propagation Conductors, as described in George Cardas's US Patent 7,674,973. Matched Propagation Conductors offer unprecedented neutrality and clarity.
​
Matched Propagation Conductors solve the intelligibility issue plaguing cables since the early days of the telephone, when audio was first being transmitted over cable.
​​​
In a Matched Propagation Conductor, the audio signal never outpaces the charge/discharge rate of the surrounding dielectric materials. And the result is Clear. Unlike any other solution, these cables never have to "fix" the intelligibility problem, because they never let it happen in the first place.
Parsec
The cables in our Parsec product line benefit from technology developed for our flagship cables. Parsec offers a superb balance of characteristics. Classic Cardas midrange, quick bass, rich harmonics, and a naturally extended top octave.
​
As with all of our cables, Parsec far outperforms its price point.
​​
​
• Speaker
• Interconnect
• Power
• Digital
• Headphone
Iridium
The Iridium cable line delivers audiophile-grade quality with Cardas Grade 1 Ultra Pure Copper, renowned for its exceptional conductivity.
Known for their clear, balanced sound and smooth mid-range, tight bass, and refined highs, Iridium cables are meticulously engineered for stereo systems and high-end home theaters.
They provide an immersive listening experience, making them a top choice among enthusiasts worldwide.
​
• Speaker
• Interconnect
• Phono
• Power
Headphone Cables
Cardas Audio introduced the high-end audio industry's first aftermarket headphone cable in the early 2000's.
​​
That one was simply called "Cardas Headphone Cable".
​
We've never stopped developing and improving, and now offer Parsec, Clear Reflection, Clear, and Clear Beyond headphone cables.
​
As with all Cardas cables, Cardas headphone cables can be re-terminated. Change headphones? No problem, send your Cardas cable in to be re-terminated to work with your new ones!
​
Nautilus
Power
Strip
Pure power distribution. No PC boards or current limiting components. Ground noise filtration on every outlet.
​
We began the Nautilus project by designing our own outlets, the 4181US, and 4181EU, now also available to manufacturers and hifi enthusiasts.
​
​
​
Cardas Connectors
Precision machined parts for cables, speakers, and electronic components.
​
George Cardas started designing and manufacturing his own cable connectors in the late 1980s, shortly after starting Cardas Audio.
​
Our premium connectors are available to DIY enthusiasts and manufacturers.
Cardas Connectors are found on our own cables, as well as cables made by other manufacturers, and on some of the finest speakers and electronic components in our industry.
​
Our connectors are machined from copper or brass billet, and plated with silver, and a flash of rhodium. This plating method not only creates beautiful looking parts, but it also ensures excellent conductivity, with no fears of oxidation.
Cardas bulk cable & chassis wires are used throughout high-end audio, as well as by DIY cable & component makers. All feature our Grade 1 Ultra Pure Copper, arranged in Golden Ratio scaled, multi-stranded Litz conductors.
​
Cardas connectors & wire are available to DIY enthusiasts through any Cardas dealer. Manufacturers purchasing in quantity can deal directly through Cardas Audio.
​
Read more about Cardas connectors here.
​
Chassis Wire
Cardas Chassis Wire is featured in some of the finest speakers, amplifiers, and electronic components in the world.
​
All of our chassis wire features multiple strands of Cardas Grade 1 Ultra Pure Copper.
​
Cardas Chassis Wire is sold by length, with no minimum order through your Cardas Parts Dealer.
Bulk Cable
Cardas Bulk Cables feature our chassis wires arranged in cable designs & geometries suitable for a variety of applications.
​
Cardas Bulk Cables are sold by length, with no minimum order through your Cardas Parts Dealer.
Bulk cables include:
• Speaker cables
• Interconnect cables
• Headphone cables
• Internal tonearm wire
• Instrument cables
• Microphone cables
Cardas Copper
Cardas Grade 1 Copper is manufactured using our proprietary drawing process. Our copper wire is used in many fine audio products from a wide variety of manufacturers. It's even used in laboratories for it's superior electrical and thermal conduction properties.
​
Cardas Copper & Silver is sold by weight, and delivered on spools (as shown).
Turntable Things
Our turntable-related offerings range from tiny little cartridge clips to the fattest phono cable ever, our award winning Clear Beyond XL.
From your cartridge to your interconnect, you can do it all with Cardas.
The Cardas Terminators
Jesus Ornelas has been with Cardas Audio since 1993, joining the Cardas team shortly after George moved the company from Southern California to the Oregon coast.
Shayla has been at Cardas for 5 years, and prepares our Clear speaker cables for their die-forged terminations.
Cardas Audio uses Golden Ratio scaled, multi-stranded Litz conductors in all of our cables.
​
The Golden Ratio (1:1618) is found in nature, music, and often used in architecture. Some of the best sounding listening rooms employ Golden Ratio dimensions. Physical dimensions that adhere to this ratio are asthetically pleasing. Rooms built to it eliminate resonances that take away from the listening experience.
​
In a cable, Golden Ratio scaling involves placing the smallest wire at the center of the conductor, with each subsequent layer stepping up in size at a ratio of 1:1.618. This micro-resonance control technique is the subject of one of George Cardas' first patents, US Patent 4,628,151.
​
Litz conductors use multiple strands of wire, each enameled to prevent crosstalk between strands. The enamel coating also prevents the copper wire from oxidizing.
Terminating is the technical (and cool) term for putting a connector onto a cable.
The Cardas Terminators are the dedicated and talented group of technicians responsible for terminating cables at our factory in Bandon, Oregon. Their quality work ensures that we're able to offer a lifetime warranty on our cables.
​
Working with Litz wire requires special skill and tools. Click here to see our video series, "Soldering With Jesus", featuring head terminator and shop manager Jesus Ornelas.
​
Cardas Quad Eutectic Solder is a proprietary blend of copper, silver, tin, and lead. Quad Eutectic Solder is used by the Cardas Terminators, and is widely regarded as the finest solder in our industry, and beyond.
The four elements in Quad Eutectic Solder are in specific proportion to melt and solidify at a temperature lower than that of any of the component metals! Thus the resultant joint is contiguous from wire to connector rather than slurry - this provides a perfect and permanent connection that will never breakdown over time.
Quad Eutectic outperforms high-silver-content solder in ease of use, reliability of connection, and audio performance. In fact, we developed it when it was apparent that high-silver-content solder was producing less than ideal results.
​
These buttons will take you to some of our site's most popular pages
You can also use the menu at the top of the page, or this search box: