Appreciate your explanation and candor. Near perfection is close enough for me.
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There is a way to do tri-wire.
The last CABD banana can be soldered to the cable, and negate the need for the third spade.
Best,
Galen
obtain from where?
A good Thursday morning to all. Of late, we had a handful of customers who purchased our 1x4 RCA cables who complained that the cables were difficult to push into the component and a few that claimed that the connectors were too loose. It seems we had a batch of the “best” Cardas SRCA connectors that Galen specified for our single ended cables had shipped with the “spring tensioner” in the far forward position. The secret is out of the bag “Spring Tensioner,” what’s that?
Unbalanced RCA
A wide variety of RCA connectors are used on components. Some customers may find the Cardas SRCA plugs to initially seem overly tight or overly loose when connections are made. An often overlooked feature of the Cardas SRCA is the inclusion of a “spring tensioner.” This allows the user to customize the amount of grip that the male RCA has on the female connector. You can view the spring tensioner by unthreading the gold-plated connector sleeve to view the connector internals.
The spring tensioner/coil (circled in red) is a wound, 4-layer insert that sits in a shallow channel around the 6 ground arcs. As pictured, the spring tensioner is pushed towards the rear of the connector. This is the “minimum” tension position providing the least amount of grip. If gently slid or moved forward towards connector pin, it would be in the “maximum” or tightest setting. This allows the user to tune the connection to more precisely fit the component or device.
It’s a good idea to start with the tensioner/coil at the “minimum” position and adjust the tension until the connection to the component is snug but not overly tight. You should never have to “twist” the connector to insert or remove the connector.
We decided to prepare an “Iconoclast I Sheet,” that would be included in the package of future shipments. This single sheet discusses the features of and recommendations on the use of our RCA’s, speaker cables and XLR’s.
The SRCA is a great connector!
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AKRO,
There are CARDAS PRODUCTS. CABD BANANNA ACCEPTS THE SPADE OFF THE SIDE OF THE BANANA. I use this as bi-wire, tri-wire is another bananana added to the chain.
Use their 7 mm spade on the CABD banana. They daisy chain so you can do Bi and tri wiring. You need that daisy chain design for “exotic” wiring.
You can do bi-wire with the Blue Jeans locking banana and spades with WBT standard fove-way binding posts. Use the post spade termination on one lead, the banana into the five-way posts banana fitting.
Tri-wire required a different approach. The WBT standard five-way runs out of options past bi-wire.
Best,
Galen
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There is also a SPRING inside the CABD banana that is slide FORWARD to snug the post into the five-way posts, or slide the spring REARWARD to loosen the connection.
Knowing how to use the Cardas products sure makes it easier to appreciate how good a design they really are. This is what we recommend where applicable (some Bi and Tri wire set-ups).
Best,
Galen
Galen,
I am sure if you were a mechanical engineer making moving machines. Rube Goldberg might be jealous. Quite clever.
Thank you
My possible purpose is to to use my bi-amp cables (4 connectors each end) for single amp/single speaker connection rather than 2 amps per bi-amped speaker
Thus piggy backing
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Great info, thanks for sharing!
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Looks like Gene from Audioholics is using Iconoclast speaker cables.just thought it was interesting seeing him using them
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No reason not to use them, they test really well. Remember Gene feels all the good stuff is possibly too good on high-end cable. But all added up through the chain it matters more and more.
More specifically, the cable would be 100% recommended to EVERYONE if the advanced designs can meet more tolerable price points. That’s certainly true. Better is better but the price is still holding many of us back. I don’t think we really have a beef with the “better” electrical part.
There are many measurements that do show real differences in cable (swept resistance to frequency and impedance properties for a couple) that need exotic designs to manage. Also, many other items are fortunate for us, easier to keep managable. All good there but volume and faster time based assembly helps the price. Not all good there.
I especially think our speaker cables are real sexy looking, But then it is my kid. Sometimes mother nature just makes stuff beautiful. I don’t think this is an accident as it happens over and over with the world we live in. Physics is so cool. The laws seem to bend thing to the extraordinary as we figure stuff out.
Best,
Galen
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Galen, are you familiar with usb cables for digital audio transmission? Do you know if the ferrite beads on old printer usb cables would be better for worse or audio?
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Rob-c,
The ferrite bead looks like an open to RF trying to go either way down the wire. Well above analog audio and isn’t an issue for digital, a source of RFI/EMI.
Cables will be limited in reach distances to be bit perfect. Newer standards don’t allow much more than 1-3 meter for instance. This is because the cross-talk noise ratio (ACR) is stronger than the signal, and the error correction can’t dig it’s way out of that hole.
To allow the best error correction, use the highest rated USB standard USB 3.2 Gen2 and you’re golden. Standards are backwards compatible across all USB ports.
USB 1.1 -Full Speed USB - 3 m
USB 2.0 - Hi-Speed USB - 5 m
USB 3.2 Gen 1 - USB 3.0 USB 3.1 Gen 1 SuperSpeed - 3 m
USB 3.2 Gen 2 - USB 3.1 USB 3.1 Gen 2 SuperSpeed+ SuperSpeed 10Gbps - 3 m
Best,
Galen
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Good afternoon all,
It’s been quiet here for some time. I see an occasional post about cables but I think the long, hot summer has provided for what a customer and forum member shared with me. “The summer is full of other than audio distractions.” I’m trying to sell some components and buyers are not standing in line. Oh well, I shall be patient.
Today’s good news, is a follow up to Ken Redmonds Iconoclast review on Michael Fremer’s “Tracking Angle” website. This time, Grammy Award winning mastering engineer Dave McNair posted his thoughts on Iconoclast cables. Dave should be considered as off the charts credible. I personally find him to be an amazing talent, a fine soul and much like Galen, one who exists at the uttermost top of their field and industry!
Iconoclast Cable by Belden —Additional Thoughts | Tracking Angle
Spend some time Googling just who Dave is and maybe a few minutes on his site. I couldn’t load the link here but you can visit with him by entering a davemcnairmastering.** on your address line. Very interesting things and a list of his credits. A YouTube search also produces pages of information on Dave.
He is discussing a project with me, to rewire a good portion of his studio. Stay tuned and stay cool!
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Congrats, you merit success!
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Thank you Luca. I see speaker cables in your future…
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Hey @BobBJC, I hope you all have no problems with Idalia headed your way. Stay safe. Right now it looks like my part of FL will be just outside of the cone. Take care!
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You too, Tony!
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All who might be in the path of Idalia stay safe!
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Thank you both for thinking of me!! We are in Pensacola and in the death throes of DROUGHT! Idalia is headed to the east of us by several hundred miles. We could sure use the rain! Florida has been battered for the last couple of years with some bad ones that moved slowly. You also can’t count on the weather channel to make predictions since these storms are largely unpredictable about strength and actual direction. Grateful for the good wishes!
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