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Cardas Audio's Parsec is the cable Cardas calls its runaway favorite for best value. It takes two ideas from the company's Clear line, a Kevlar core in each conductor and polyethylene air tubes around them, and puts them in an everyday interconnect. Cardas describes it as neutral with a hint of warmth on top.
Other length & termination options are available. Call us to discuss your needs.
The conductors are Cardas Grade 1 copper, 99.9999% pure, built as Litz wire with each strand sealed in clear SPN enamel. Each is wound around a Kevlar core. Strand sizes step up in Golden Ratio proportions from that core outward. Two conductors run at 23.5 AWG.
The two conductors form a shielded twisted pair. Each sits inside a poly-e air tube, so the conductor rests mostly in air rather than plastic, and the pair is bound in carbon-impregnated FEP tape. Air holds very little charge. That is the reason Cardas goes to the trouble.
A second layer of compressed poly-e air tubes holds the tin-plated copper braided shield and the extruded alcryn rubber jacket away from the conductors. That gap is deliberate. The shield rejects radio and electrical noise from a distance instead of pressing on the signal path. The cable measures 9.14 mm across.
Parsec ends in the Cardas CE XLR, the company's own XLR plug and its standard balanced termination here. The body is machined high-copper, non-magnetic brass and the contacts are silver plated. Cardas solders it to the cable by hand in Bandon, Oregon.
Run the Parsec from a balanced XLR output on your DAC, streamer, CD player or phono stage to a balanced XLR input on your preamp or amplifier. Keep left to left and right to right. Line up the pins and push until the latch clicks. Press the latch tab to release the plug.
Then leave it alone. Cardas says its cables settle with use, so plug in and listen.
Measure the route the cable will really take between your components, around shelves and behind the rack. Then add a little slack. As audio legend George Cardas puts it, "A cable that's just long enough usually turns out to be just not long enough." Keep the left and right cables the same length. We recommend a matched pair.
Balanced XLR works when both components have XLR jacks, and we recommend using XLRs whenever they do. If one component has only RCA jacks, use an RCA cable instead of an adapter. You only get the possible benefits of a balanced output with a pure XLR-to-XLR connection.
If your amplifier and speakers sit far from your source, we recommend a long interconnect over a long speaker cable. A really long interconnect affects system performance less than a really long speaker cable.
An interconnect often stays in a system for years, so it is easy to overlook. Look again when something else changes: a new DAC, streamer or phono stage, a better amplifier, or a move to components with balanced XLR jacks.
An interconnect is one link in the chain. It usually joins these categories.
Hollow polyethylene tubes around each conductor, so the copper rests mostly in air. A second set of compressed tubes holds the shield and jacket away from the conductors.
Cardas's own XLR plug, its standard balanced termination on the Crosslink through Clear Cygnus. High-copper, non-magnetic brass body, silver-plated contacts, hand soldered in Bandon, Oregon.
Cardas says at most 200 hours, and usually half that. Its advice is simple: "Plug them in, leave them plugged in, and enjoy your life."
A lifetime warranty. Every Litz strand is sealed in enamel, so the copper does not oxidize. Cardas says that is why its cables last.
Cardas Clear Sky XLR is the next rung and the entry to the Clear line. It adds Cardas's Matched Propagation conductors and keeps the CE XLR plug.
Audio Advisor's tour of the Cardas factory in Bandon, where the Parsec is built and terminated.
Audio Advisor walks through Cardas cable construction, from Litz strands to hand-soldered plugs.
The most popular configurations are shown on this page. If your system requires a different length or termination, call our audio experts. We’ll help you choose the right configuration and arrange a custom cable for your system.
Want to learn more about interconnects, dielectrics, or RCA versus XLR? Visit our Learning Center for guides, tips, and expert advice.
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