Cable resonance is further reduced through the use of ultra pure copper, air dielectrics and state of the art connection techniques.  Ultra pure and homogeneous metals have been chosen to make Cardas cables. Cardas uses diamond dies exclusively, drawing the strands in a hydrogen reduction atmosphere.  This process reduces the amount of impurities and eliminates the surface contamination that occurs when standard metal dies are used.  As each strand is drawn, the resultant ultra pure surface is immediately given a urethane enamel"Litz" coating.  This is continuous process that results in a perfectly insulated strand and ultimate longevity of the conductors.  Ordinary uncoated copper stranding corrodes in a relatively short time.  Cardas meticulously maintains the purity of the conductor strands until they are sealed at termination.

Every detail in Cardas cables is at the leading edge.  Pure Teflon is used as a stabilizing wrap to firmly bind the conductors, while thin wall tubes provide an air dielectric to isolate the conductors from each other.  All connectors are custom machined with rhodium over silver contact surfaces.  Finally, to insure the quality of each cable, they are terminated by hand and individually inspected.

Cardas Golden Reference cables have been an icon in the history of audio cables.  Recently, many counterfeit Cardas golden reference cables appear in the market place.  Most are sold as used cables over the internet.  We, authorized Cardas dealers, have been warned about this, and we are sharing their difference and similarities:

• The genuine Cardas connectors are excellent in quality.  The counterfeits are poor in finish quality and usually thinner in size.
• Cardas cable usually comes in bigger gauge size.
• Cardas think tubing fits tightly around the end of each cable.  The counterfeit shrink tubing fits poorly and the printing is very dark.  As of October 2004, the color of Cardas shrink tubing charged to Black with Gold logo and type.
• Counterfeit cables usually have wrong printings on the jacket.
• Although not many of us would cut a cable open and inspect its cross section, but counterfeit cables have terrible conductor construction and layout.  They sometimes add a piece of plain steel cable as positive lead and to give weight and stiffness to the counterfeit cables.

Unfortunately, the counterfeit list goes on and on.  Many other cables, such as Audioquest, MIT, NBS, etc have also been targeted for counterfeit cables sold over the internet.  For most of the customers, buying a fake cable will not break their bank, but simply a bad experience.  We, however, are mostly concern about electrical safety issue; as these counterfeit cables do not go through the same quality control, nor safety inspection. 

We hope these special audio visit are helpful to you in anyway.  Last, but not the least, if you are not sure about the used cable you are buying, or have any doubt, simply don't buy it.