Cardas Audio Clear Tonearm Cable - 1.25 Meter - S-Din to RCA's

Clear Phono at 1.25 Meters, Straight DIN to SRCA

This is Cardas Clear phono cable at 1.25 meters, sold each, with a straight DIN at the tonearm and Cardas SRCA plugs at the phono stage. It is the DIN configuration of the most revealing phono cable Cardas builds.

Clear Phono is the four-conductor version of the Clear interconnect, and the phono application is where the argument for it is strongest. A cartridge produces the smallest signal in the system, and everything done to it downstream is amplification of whatever arrived.

Matched Propagation Conductors

Fit and Materials

1.25 meters, straight DIN to SRCA. It suits an arm whose base presents a DIN socket rather than captive RCA leads. Cardas builds Clear with straight or right-angle DIN plugs, and the two are not interchangeable — check which your arm needs.

Cardas Clear is built on what George Cardas calls Matched Propagation Conductors: the conductors are sized and arranged so that signal travels each of them at the same rate. The problem being solved is smear — a signal arriving at the far end fractionally spread in time because it did not travel every path at the same speed.

Who Is This Cable Best For?

• Your tonearm has a DIN socket — which is what lets you choose the cable at all
• The socket takes a straight plug — Cardas also builds a right-angle DIN, and they do not adapt
• Your phono stage is a shelf away — 1.25 meters covers most racks
• You want Cardas's own terminations — SRCA at the phono end, Cardas DIN at the arm
• Your arm needs a right-angle DIN — that is a different cable; see tonearm cables

What Length Do You Need?

Measure the route the cable will follow rather than the gap it crosses: down from the arm's socket, along the shelf, up to the phono input, with enough slack that it hangs rather than pulls. Terminations are fixed at manufacture, so confirm what your arm presents before ordering.

Pairs Well With

What most owners fitting a tonearm cable shop next.

• Phono preamplifiers — the other end of this cable, and the bigger variable
• Phono cartridges — the signal source everything downstream is serving
• Cartridge alignment tools — geometry first; no cable fixes a misaligned cartridge
• Tonearm cables — the other lengths and terminations in the range

Frequently Asked Questions

How many do I need?

One. A turntable takes a single tonearm cable, and this is sold each.

Straight DIN or right-angle?

They are different plugs and neither adapts to the other. Look at the socket at the base of your arm pillar: whether the cable should leave straight back or turn downward is usually clear once you look.

What are Matched Propagation Conductors?

Conductors sized so signal travels each of them at the same rate, which is George Cardas's answer to the time smear that a conventional cable geometry introduces.

Do I still need the separate ground wire?

Yes. The tonearm cable carries the signal; the ground strap carries the chassis connection that keeps hum out. Connect it before concluding anything is wrong.

How long should I let it settle before judging it?

Give any new cable a few weeks of ordinary use before drawing conclusions. Nothing about that is mysterious — it is simply that a change heard on day one and a change heard on day thirty are different measurements of the same thing.

Will it fit an arm with captive leads?

No cable will. An arm wired straight through to fitted RCA leads has nothing to unplug, so changing the cable means rewiring the arm.

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