Cardas Audio Iridium Tonearm Cable

Cardas Iridium — The Entry Into Cardas Phono Cable

Cardas Audio's least expensive tonearm cable, available in several lengths and terminations. It is the cable that puts Cardas construction — star quad, Golden Ratio gauges, a genuinely soft jacket — within reach of a turntable that did not cost four figures.

A tonearm cable carries the smallest signal in the system — a few hundred microvolts from a moving coil — along a run that passes every mains lead in the rack. What a phono cable rejects therefore matters a great deal more than anything it could add.

Design and Materials

Star Quad and Golden Ratio Gauges

Iridium uses four 24.5 AWG Cardas copper conductors in a star-quad arrangement. Star quad puts the two conductors of each channel diagonally opposite one another, so interference induced into the bundle arrives equally on both and cancels at the far end.

The gauges are scaled to Golden Ratio proportions, which is Cardas's signature approach across its whole range: conductor sizes chosen so that a resonance in one strand does not line up with and reinforce a resonance in another.

Dielectric, Shield and Jacket

The dielectric is PFA under a carbon-impregnated tape. Carbon loading gives the tape a controlled conductivity that drains static rather than storing it — useful on a cable connected to a spinning record, which generates plenty.

The outer diameter is 0.300 inches and the jacket is an ultra-soft extruded TPR. Softness is not cosmetic on a phono cable: a stiff cable exerts force on the plinth, and on a suspended turntable that force is a real problem.

Choosing Length and Termination

Iridium is sold in several lengths and with more than one termination at the arm end. What your turntable presents there decides the choice, and it is fixed when Cardas builds the cable rather than swappable afterward.

Measure the route the cable will actually take around the back of the rack, not the straight line between the boxes, and take the next length up. A cable pulled tight against a plinth tugs at it every time the arm sweeps inward.

What Reviewers Are Saying

StereoLife found that "Iridium outperforms it's price point and offers a great introduction to the Cardas sound" — the role Cardas intends it to play at the foot of its phono range.

Who Is It Best For?

• You are replacing a bundled cable — most turntables ship with something adequate rather than good
• Your rack is full of mains leads — star quad exists for exactly that environment
• Your turntable is suspended — an ultra-soft TPR jacket puts less force into the plinth than a stiff cable
• You want Cardas construction at the bottom of the range — StereoLife's point about the price
• You need a specific termination — terminations are fixed at manufacture, so check what your arm presents against the options in tonearm cables before choosing

How Does It Connect?

Switch everything off first. Connect the arm end, then the phono stage, then the ground wire to the phono stage's ground post — a floating ground causes more hum than any cable cures. Leave the cable hanging free rather than pressed against the plinth.

Pairs Well With

What most owners fit alongside a new tonearm cable.

• Phono cartridges — the source of the signal this cable carries
• Phono preamplifiers — where the cable ends up
• Tonearms — the other end of the connection
• Cartridge alignment tools — worth a check whenever the arm is disturbed

Frequently Asked Questions

Which length should I choose?

Measure the route the cable will take behind the rack, not the direct distance, and round up. A cable under tension pulls at the turntable every time the arm moves inward.

Which termination do I need?

Whatever your turntable presents at the arm end — RCA sockets on a junction box, or a DIN socket at the base of the arm. It is fixed at manufacture and cannot be changed later.

What is star quad?

Four conductors arranged so each channel's pair sits diagonally opposite. Interference reaches both sides of a pair equally and cancels, which matters most on the lowest-level signal in a system.

Does it come with a ground wire?

A tonearm cable run needs a ground connection to the phono stage. Connect it before you judge any hum — an unconnected ground is the usual culprit after a cable change.

How does it compare to the rest of the Cardas phono range?

It is the entry point. The dearer cables add matched propagation and air-tube suspension; all of them are in tonearm cables.

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