Re-Termination &
Warranty Service
Our lifetime warranty
We offer a lifetime warranty on our cables. In the unlikely event that your Cardas cables develops a functionality issue, please send it to us for repair. Just obtain a Return Authorization Number at this link, and follow the instructions.
Before doing so, you're welcome to contact Cardas tech support for trouble-shooting guidance. Although the problem may be the cable, cable problems are exceedingly rare. It is not uncommon for somebody assume (or hope) that a cable is the source of a problem, send it to us for service, the cables tests perfectly, and they then realize that the actual problem is with one of their components. Perhaps wishful thinking is at play - it's a lot easier to send a cable in for service than it is to send a heavy amplifier or a delicate turntable. Our tech support advisor may be able to help you determine if the problem is truly with the cable.
What is covered by the warranty?
Bad or intermittent internal connections. Shorts. Loose connectors. General functionality & listenability issues. Nearly anything that can go wrong with a cable through no fault of the user.
What is not?
Wear and tear, such as scratched plating on banana plugs. Cosmetic issues. Animal damage. Vacuum cleaner damage - we see several cables every year that have been damaged by either a standard or robotic vacuum.
Re-terminations
Our shop can re-terminate (ie, change the connectors on) your Cardas cables, should your needs change.
• If you have a long pair of cables, we can cut & re-terminate it into two (or more) shorter pairs.
• If you buy a new set of headphones, we can modify your Cardas headphone cable to work with them.
• If you move from the US to Europe, we can put Shucko plugs on your Cardas power cables.
• If you buy speakers with bi-wire binding posts, we can bi-wire your single-wire Cardas speaker cables.
• If you switch from a balanced system to single-ended, we can change your Cardas interconnects from XLR to RCA. Or vice-versa.
Nearly any Cardas cable can be modified in nearly any way. Note - we only service Cardas cables. If you have cables made by another manufacturer, they can perform this service for you.
To begin the process of having your Cardas cables re-terminated, fill out the form at this link, and we'll contact you with a quote.
What does a re-termination cost?
For an accurate quote, fill out this form, and we'll get back to you. Pricing can vary based on the cable and the connectors. And the amount of cable you'll lose in the process can vary from nothing, to an inch, to over a foot, depending on the cable. These are things we'll explain along with the quote. If you fill out the form, get the quote, and decided not to proceed, that's fine. If you get the quote, and decide to wait a while before acting on it, that's fine too, as the Return Authorization Numbers don't expire.
However, most re-terminations are $60 per end. An "end" is the end of a cable.
• A power cable has two ends. To change one of the connectors would be $60 (or $75 if it's a Clear power cable). To replace both would be $120 (or $150). To cut a power cable in half and make it into two shorter cables would also be $120 (or $150), because while we'd retain the existing connectors, there would be two freshly cut ends in need of connectors. Power cables are also subject to the loss of some length, depending on the end we're replacing. This is a detail we can fully explain when we give you a re-termination quote.
• A pair of interconnects have four ends, as each individual cable has two. Makes sense, right? Let's say you have a pair of RCA cables, and you need them to be RCA to XLR. That's two new ends, meaning $120. To make the whole pair go from RCA to XLR would be $240. To cut a pair of RCA interconnects in half and make two shorter RCA pairs, that would be $240. To take an RCA pair, cut it in half, make one shorter RCA pair, and one shorter XLR pair, that would be $120 for the RCA pair, and $240 for the XLR pair. To take a long pair of RCA cables and make it into three or more pairs of shorter RCA cables, that would be... math. It's $60 per end. How many of the current connectors are we retaining? How many new ones are we
putting on? Request a quote and our quote-lady will do it for you.
• These prices may vary depending on the connector. Some connectors & terminating methods cost more than the standard $60.
Why do you say the charges are per "end" instead of per connector?
Because some cables, such as speaker cables and phono cables, have more than one connector per end. An RCA interconnect has a single connector per end. But a speaker cable can have two, four, or sometimes even six spades or bananas per end. A phono cable may have a single DIN connector on one end, but two RCA plugs on the other. We charge per end, rather than per connector.
Can't I repair or re-terminate my cables myself, or have a local shop do it?
It's your cable, so yeah, do what you want. But we're glad to honor our warranty if your cable develops and issue. And if we repair or re-terminate your cable, your lifetime warranty remains intact. If Cardas cables are serviced elsewhere, the warranty becomes void.
Keep in mind that we use Litz conductors. Even the most experienced technician or talented solder-ist (is that a word?) is unlikely to have much if any experience with this sort of wire. Most cables attempted to be serviced outside of our shop end up here anyway. So why not skip that frustrating and disappointing middle step?
My cable has a problem, but I also want it re-terminated to different connectors. Can that be done under warranty?
Our warranty policy is pretty liberal, but it is limited to restoring your cable to its original state. In other words, if your headphone cable for Sennheiser HD800s develops a short, but you also want it re-terminated for use with Focal headphones, that is not a warranty repair. If your RCA interconnect has an issue, but you also want it switched to XLR, again, not a warranty situation.
Can I have the old connectors you remove back when you return my re-terminated cable?
We're happy to return them if you request it. However they'll be unusable. If you want them for knick knacks, or just for the heck of it, please let us know. Otherwise we send them to the recycler. And they probably just throw them away. Recycling has been widely discredited, and in most cases is just a longer route to the landfill, as you've probably read or seen on the news.