The Absolute Sound High-End Audio Buyer's Guide 2020
Editors' Choice parttimeaudiophile.com
"Best Earbuds I Have Heard Under $700"
George Cardas won a huge amount of critical acclaim for his revolutionary A8 Ear Speakers. Featuring an all new design, the Cardas Audio A8 Ear Speaker 30th Anniversary Edition improves upon the heralded performance of its predecessor. This A8 boasts a 10.85mm Ultra Linear, Contour Field, Dual Magnet Driver, producing brilliant highs and deep bass. But most importantly, the A8 sounds profoundly musical, which is exactly what you would expect from any product that bears the Cardas name.
Reviewing the original model A8 at innerfidelity.com, Tyll Hertsens says, "The new A8 is damned good sounding. Tonal balance is neutral, dynamics are terrific, treble is resolving without being tiresome – this is a great example of how a single dynamic driver IEM can deliver outstanding performance. Yes, your awesome sauce is showing, George."
High-End Audio Buyer's Guide Honors
"Cardas' A8 offers some of the cleanest, most grain-free sound outside of an expensive custom-fit in-ear monitor," reports The Absolute Sound, which lists the A8 in its High-End Audio Buyer's Guide. "The midrange has a clarity and purity rarely heard at this price. As good as the midrange is, the A8's strong suit is the deep bass, which is at once tuneful, precise, and harmonically rich."
"These are simply the best earbuds I have heard under $700," raves parttimeaudiophile.com, which honored the A8 with an Editors' Choice award. "These blue cabled wonders really are offering up heavenly sound with the Mojo, a great partner for the A8s. The A8s serve a up lots of detail but always musical. They are built well, but not too heavy in the ear. At $300, a bit of a steal really… Highest recommendation."
New Black Chrome Body
The new black chrome body incorporates a Golden Spiral curve, as with the original A8 as well as George's trailblazing EM5813 Ear Speaker. The unique shape of the body is key to the sonic neutrality, since it follows the same curve found in the human cochlea, which is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth of the inner ear.
Specially Designed Cable
Even the A8 cable is special. The lightweight, flexible cable has separate conductors for each channel and unlike the previous model A8 is now a continuous solid run from source to speaker. The tangle-resistant cable features a unique spiral design in which the conductors wrap around a central fiber core, so that they are never physically stressed, even if the cable gets pulled. And it features multi-stranded 99.99% pure Litz copper conductors.
The single-ended, 3.5mm TRS cable disconnects at the joiner, so you can switch from a single-ended cable, to balanced, replacing it with an optional cable to fit the balanced outputs of your headphone amp, including Ayre Codex, Pono, A&K, and other models.
