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Just wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to use these or compare them. I think either will sound just great, but I'm wondering which is the better / more robust design
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I bypassed a pair of Cardas on the original Nuforce 8s and bypassed a pair of Eichmann on some custom amps I was making. Bypassing the cardas was better but not huge....bypassing the Eichmanns was amazing....they suck, big time.Drill holes in your amp underneath a solid pair of regular binding posts....put grommets into those holes and bring the wire from inside the amp to the outside....tin the end and wrap it around the outside of the post and solder it to itself.....now you are using the binding post for a wire to wire or wire to spade clamp. BTW: Bare wire sounds much better than spades.....banana plugs suck big time. This kind of clamping system sounds better than pure silver posts....heck, it has no sound....it is essentially a hardwire. Cheap too!
Rick - Thanks for sharing the tweak. I'd love to try this and perhaps make a stunning discovery, but cutting those holes into the chassis and modifying the wiring like that would compromise resale value.
Ken
If you are worried about resale value, you can remove the existing posts and run the inside wires through the holes (please insulate the bare holes) and clamp to your speaker wires....if the wires inside are not long enough then you could also put your bare end speaker wires through the holes in the amp and solder them together inside the amp (certainly, you don't have spades or worse yet banana plugs on your wires...he he). Make sure you insulate the soldered connections with some electical tape. If you hardwired/clamped at both ends of your speaker wires (amp and speaker)....you would fall off the chair it would be so much better.....and it costs....NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really like the sturdiness of the Cardas binding posts. I have the Eichmann Cable Pods on my NuForce SE amps. The selection of tellurium copper or silver is excellent for audio, but the polymers used in the rest of the design are not durable at all. I've cracked the plastic clamping screws using only a moderate amount of twisting force - very frustrating considering the cost. It's probably best to use the Eichmans with a good quality banana plug.
Ken
i really dig the sound of Cablepods, but broke 2 of 4 plastic tightener things using them with anti-cables. The cables are quite stiff, too much for the 'pods.
I actually just replaced a cracked ones on my NuForce Ref 9 SE today (surprised how heavily soldered!). I decided I still wanted the terulium copper posts and will just use extra caution with tightening down on the spades. I have a hard time going to bananas - perhaps unfounded.
Ken
Hi Ken,Yeah, I guess "normal" thinking is that with spades you can really tighten down the BP nut (unless they're Eichmanns!! :-)) ) so this must make a better connection than bananas!
In my situation, it would've been difficult to use Cable Pods (or any other BP, for that matter) on my Maggies so I used banana sockets instead, with banana plugs on the end of the speaker wires.
The best bananas I have discovered are made by Multi-Connect ... they are in the form of a gold-plated springy cylinder which fits tight into the socket, 95% of the way round the circumference and the full length. The Multi-Connect part no. is LS4.
Regards,
Andy - I actually have a set of copper speaker cables I'm experimenting with which I decided to use Vampire banana plugs as terminators.The convenience should be wonderful, I just hope they fit very snug and sound good - should be close to spades. I could have upgraded to Eichmann bayonets, but I thought they were simply too expensive and I've been giving them too much money lately : )
Perhaps if I really like these cables I'll try reterminating them with the Multi-Connects. Thank you for the tip.
in that at some point i'd like to sell my speaks that just received the Cablepods...but asking folks to 'deal' with the busted spade connectors kinda sucks.So, i've been racking my brain trying to find a free fix...maybe a chunk of wine cork? It would slide in place of the busted plastic and provide tension to spades.
Anyhoo, my speaks are so large that the thought of lugging these back in hurts more than paying $100 to get a new set installed.
oh well, just glad to know others share my pain. I told my story to the guy who sold the Cablepods to me, and his reply wasn't nice. Something like, "I've sold hundreds of sets of these are you are the only person to break them." For me, it seems like a tiny design flaw... then again, most speaker cables aren't a solid 12 gauge wire like the anti-cables.
but, i am a slave to the Cablepods sound and great value for the $.
Wait, did you replace the busted screw down collar or the entire set?
I replaced the set. Its impossible to remove the threaded barrell without destroying the polymer protrusions that it uses to push off of the back of the plug so it can clamp down on the spade. Not sure if that description's clear or not. You can't see it until you take off the plug over the banana opening. There's no way around it, you have to replace the whole thing.I was very tempted to get Cardas or WBT, but didn't feel like doing both amps, and as I noted before, the terullium copper has good IACS rating. So I reluctantly took the $40 hit, and I have a spare pod to install if either of my monoblock's pods crack again.
Ken
Kamigo, kudos to your selections in binding posts, I have been wondering the exact same thing for some time now as I'm considering upgrading my speaker binding posts to one of these two products. I am impressed with the white papers that Eichmann offers, but also impressed with the design of the Cardas.Soniccraft.com has the best prices on both units for your reference!
Haven't compared, but did install the Patented posts on my Aragon amp, replacing some stripped out Edison Price posts (which replaced the originals).Slight PITA to install, one has to drill a hole between the two existing binding post holes, can be very tight, and nerve racking, depending on how close the other internal electronics are. Just make sure you get the right length mounting allen screws for the app, mine were 1/4" too long, so I used non-metallic spacers to make them work.
That said, I love the results. I have my amp mounted on a cutting board on the floor, backed up against a wall. It's very easy to grab the one knob to release both spades. Unless one uses something other than hand tightening, they should last a long time.
Both are good connector setups, but the cardas (when done with the better metals) has the edge. And it's always got the edge in durability and contact pressure. The eichmanns do a better job with bananas though.To improve the cardas, one has to source non-ferric screws for the mounting, which are difficult to find....
I know what it means, but can you explain how the use of non-ferric screws would improve performance? Thanks in advance Badman! (BTW, nice moniker)
Any magnetic field can add a sonic coloration to a signal. You can't avoid them all together, but minimizing them is helpful.Also, those screws aren't nickel plated or anything.... they rust (!)
...they are very solid, robust and easy to tighten. They only work with spades. The one major hassle is if you want to biwire with two sets of cables onto one set of amp posts (as I was). For most people that will not be an issue, and it can be done anyway if you are patient.
The Cardas posts have a different way of mounting. Do you think the Cardas Patented Binding Post will mount into this plastic terminal cup?This is what my current binding posts are:
...on what is behind the plastic. I would either buy a set and see if they will work (make sure you can return them if you need to) or contact Cardas to get dimensional drawings so you can try to decide beforehand.
I will probably have to do just that. Can they accept bare wire connections?
I'm using banana's with my V5Xe... cardas sent me the replacement part (just that top plastic piece), but it'd be something easy to modify yourself even.
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