Ground Cable

Cardas · Grounding

A 17.5 AWG Cardas Litz ground wire, terminated with the spade, banana, RCA or XLR your equipment needs, for building a central grounding point around a Nautilus or other ground box.

Price is for one ground cable.

Grounding differences between components lead to noise and hum; a central grounding point removes them, and Cardas says the result is greater dynamics, better spatial imaging and a lower noise floor, especially where there is a lot of radio-frequency and electromagnetic interference. The Cardas Ground Cable is a single 17.5 AWG Grade 1 copper Litz conductor with Golden Ratio stranding in a clear PVC jacket.

One end connects to the ground point — a Cardas CAB banana in the 4 mm jack of a Nautilus Power Strip (several ground cables can stack on one CAB), or a spade or banana on another maker's ground box — and the other to an unused line-level RCA or XLR input on a component, or to a chassis ground point with a spade. Every system is different, so Cardas builds any length with nearly any connector.

Key technologies

• Ultra Pure Cardas Copper. Grade 1, 99.9999% pure oxygen-free copper, drawn and annealed slowly through silver dies, then given a single poly-nylon coat to prevent oxidation and crosstalk between strands.
• Golden Ratio scaled Litz conductors. Multi-stranded conductors in which each layer of strands steps up in size by 1:1.618 from the centre outward, a Cardas patent that controls strand resonance.
• Any termination. Spade, banana, RCA or XLR at either end; terminations depend on your components' available connection points and the ground point you are using.
• Made in Bandon, Oregon. Every Cardas cable is built and hand terminated at the Cardas factory on the southern Oregon coast, and carries a transferable lifetime warranty.

Choosing terminations

• Pick the equipment end by what is free on the component: an unused RCA or XLR input, or a spade for a chassis ground post.
• For a Nautilus Power Strip as the central ground, use a banana at the ground end and add a Cardas CAB banana (sold separately) to the 4 mm jack; one banana and up to three spades can stack on it.
• Cardas Ground Cables also work with other makers' ground boxes that take spades or bananas.
• Check the component manufacturer's guidance before grounding a chassis point; most line-level inputs are safe to use.