Clear Headphone

Cardas · Headphone Cables

The Clear speaker cable scaled down for the best headphones: a dual-mono run with two completely isolated cables for left and right, neutral and detailed with lifelike dynamics.

Price is for one complete headphone cable (both channels).

Clear Headphone Cable is the Clear speaker cable scaled down. Cardas developed the first miniaturised concentric Matched Propagation conductor for it: eight 26.5 AWG Litz conductors in FEP tape, concentrically wound two per channel and flanked by anti-static fibres under a braided nylon jacket. It is a dual-mono run, like a pair of speaker cables, so it is perfect for balanced or single-ended use.

Cardas describes it as completely neutral and detailed with lifelike dynamics — a cable that helps you forget the headphones and get lost in the music. Standard terminations are a Cardas 1/4 in stereo plug and Sennheiser HD800 connectors; many others are available, and the Cardas CG XLR is a $200 upgrade for balanced builds.

Key technologies

• Matched Propagation Technology. US Patent 7,674,973: the propagation rate of the conductor is matched to that of the dielectric through the conductor's internal geometry, so the signal is not smeared in time.
• 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. Cardas stocks a large and growing selection of headphone connectors and amplifier plugs; the selector shows the common ones, and others are available on request.
• 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 length and terminations

• Pick the amplifier end to match your amp or DAC: 1/4 in for most desktop amplifiers, 4-pin XLR or 4.4 mm Pentaconn for balanced outputs, 3.5 mm for portables.
• Pick the headphone end by model; if yours is not listed, Cardas almost certainly has the connector — ask us.
• 1.5 m to 2 m suits a desk; 3 m reaches an amplifier on a rack from a listening chair. Cardas prices in half-metre steps and builds any length.
• Clear-range headphone cables are dual-mono: two isolated runs, one per channel, so they are equally at home balanced or single-ended.