Cardas Audio HSL PCCER Headshell Leads -Silver/Rhodium

Cardas Headshell Leads — Four Wires Carrying the Smallest Signal You Own

A set of Cardas headshell leads, sold as a set of four, with the company's PCC E cartridge clips terminated onto 33 AWG tonearm wire. These are the wires between your cartridge pins and the headshell tags — the very first connection the signal makes.

They are also the connection most people never look at. A cartridge may cost four figures and hand its output to whatever thin wire the arm shipped with, over a clip that has been opened and closed a dozen times.

Fit and Materials

The Clips

Cardas PCC E cartridge clips are brass, plated here in rhodium over silver. Cardas designs them to grip securely across a variety of cartridge pin sizes, which matters because pin diameters are not as standardised across makers as you would hope.

What They Fit

They fit any cartridge with conventional pins in a headshell that takes separate leads — which is most removable-headshell arms and a good many fixed ones. What they cannot serve is a cartridge with captive leads or an arm wired directly to the cartridge.

The wire is 33 AWG tonearm wire: thin, because it has to flex with the arm without adding restoring force. A lead stiff enough to resist arm movement is a lead working against the cartridge it is connected to.

Who Are These Leads Best For?

• Your clips have loosened — a clip that has been on and off repeatedly stops gripping, and an intermittent connection is worse than a poor one
• You have just bought a good cartridge — this is the connection immediately after it
• Your pins are an awkward size — Cardas designs the PCC E to grip across a range of pin diameters
• You are rewiring a vintage arm — old leads harden and their clips lose tension
• Your cartridge has captive leads — then there is nothing here to replace; see turntable accessories for what else fits

How Do You Fit Them?

Work with the cartridge off the arm and good light. Pull each old clip off its pin straight, never at an angle — cartridge pins bend. Fit the new clips one at a time, matching the colors to the same pins, and use a proper lead tool rather than pliers if the fit is tight.

Pairs Well With

What most owners fit alongside new leads.

• Phono cartridges — what these leads connect to
• Replacement styli — the consumable at the business end
• Cartridge alignment tools — the rest of the setup kit
• Stylus force gauges — the one setting to check after any change at the arm

Frequently Asked Questions

Will they fit my cartridge?

They fit conventional cartridge pins in a headshell that uses separate leads. Cardas designs the PCC E clips to grip across a range of pin sizes. A cartridge with captive leads has nothing to change.

How many do I need?

One set, sold as a set of four — one lead per pin. There is no reason to buy two unless you run more than one headshell.

What plating is this version?

Rhodium over silver on brass clips. Cardas also plates the same clip in gold, which is a different part rather than a different finish of this one.

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