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Cable Modification / Repair

Juventino

Juventino

Active member
Joined
Jul 9, 2023
Messages
57
Location
In the music, but Geographically Gauteng
Since the passing of our dear Guillaume (RIP) besides the big hole he left in the hearts of all the friends he made in this hobby there has been no-one that I know of that mastered the art of cable modification and repair as he did. I wanted to ask if there is anyone else that could be recommended to modify a speaker cable from Bi-wire to single wire.
Would require removing the heat shrinking, re-terminating and re-heat shrinking.

Its a pair of Cardas and i dont want to butcher them or have them butchered.

Also perused the forum and couldnt find a sticky for Trusted Repairer/Tweaker database maybe something that could be started again
 
Hi Adriano,
The Cardas construction is notoriously tricky to work with, and Guillaume even hesitated to work on the higher-priced models. He even offered me the option to send a set of Golden Cross IC back to the factory for a proper job.

It would have to be a very skilful person to change the Parsec from bi-wire to single wire. Maybe the loudspeaker cables are not as tricky. As far as I know, the more conservative approach is to use suitable quality connectors as you do currently. I am in contact, or was with Cardas and could ask if they would do it but I am not sure the cost would make it worth your while.
Stefan
 
Most Cardas are litz cables . That means each and every strand has its own isolation . In the Cardas case it is an enamel or something that is extremely difficult to remove and solder. Mostly a solder pot is recommended . I tried this with a peas tin but it was way above my skill level so I ended up with a tin filled with solid solder.

Beware
 
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As Agaton Sax said with Cardas each strand of wire is enamel coated. If you watch their marketing video you will see them using a special wire brush thingy majiggy to strip the enamel off before soldering. I have Cardas Parsec cables and replaced the banana plugs for spades on the amp side (using Cardas Quad Eutectic solder)... not an easy job! I had to scrape off the enamel carefully in order to get the solder to adhere and spread.

Check out this video at 21 min to see the whatchamacallit in action:

So there you have it... a whatchamacallit is a sort of bench grinder with some sort of brass brush thingie.
 
A suggestion : Harold Day of van den Hul fame , he’s been theor long time agent in SA, based in Durban. I saw he was active on the old forum a few months ago. He does/did some private work on amps, etc and makes up /terminates van den Hul cables. Just maybe, because of the complexity involved, as mentioned above, he may consider assisting. Approach him, he was/is a member (?) and I think he might have the needed tools. He’s always been one of the most helpful people in the hi-fi business and his sterling reputation precedes him.
 
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AlleyCat said:
My suggestion : Harold Day of van den Hul fame , he’s been theor long time agent in SA, based in Durban. I saw he was active on the old forum a few months ago. He does/did some private work on amps, etc and makes up /terminates van den Hul cables. Just maybe, because of the complexity involved, as mentioned above, he may consider assisting. Approach him, he was/is a member (?) and I think he might have the needed tools. He’s always been one of the most helpful people in the hi-fi business and his sterling reputation precedes him.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much, will definitely take this into consideration. Will make contact and see what he says.
My other option is to check if can trade the cable for single wire version.
 
I once repaired a hearing-aid cable which was some unknown thread wound with flat spiral wire. Not possible to solder, so after cutting it with a blade, I crimped on a 0.9mm sleeve. This was then inserted into the female connector which clamped shut with the cover

Is the Cardas cable constructed the same way?
 
Mr_B said:
As Agaton Sax said with Cardas each strand of wire is enamel coated. If you watch their marketing video you will see them using a special wire brush thingy majiggy to strip the enamel off before soldering. I have Cardas Parsec cables and replaced the banana plugs for spades on the amp side (using Cardas Quad Eutectic solder)... not an easy job! I had to scrape off the enamel carefully in order to get the solder to adhere and spread.

Check out this video at 21 min to see the whatchamacallit in action:

So there you have it... a whatchamacallit is a sort of bench grinder with some sort of brass brush thingie.
Click to expand...
Clearly Josh Meredith is a huge Eddie van Halen fan. 10 points to anyone that can point out why I'm saying this.
 
I gently scrape enamel of with a Stanley blade , being care not to cut the fine wires (in the extreme case of Cardas phono cable - 38awg) .

One can also try with a fine-ish sandpaper , ~600grit . I also use Cardas Quad Eutectic solder . It's worth buying a big roll , you can order from Amazon .
 
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