Cartridge Leads

The silver litz vdH leads are probably available thru Sumiko, since they're standard on SME IV and V tonearms. They're very good but a little bit difficult to bend/twist in tight spaces.

Cardas leads are excellent but the spring clip versions are not recommended. They seem like a good idea on paper, but the clips are bulky and the wires short. The conventional ones come in gold and rhodium. Mrs. Cardas recommends the rhodium.

Among the better manufacturers, the clips and how they are attached to the wire, and how they fit on the cartridge pins, are all more important than the wire itself IMO. The wire is really too short to make that much of a difference between types, but the connections (tightness, contact area, and cleanliness) are very important for good signal transfer.

Bd, I agree, but I was referring to the rhodium version of the HSL PCCE which, for some reason, doesn't show on their webpage AND is a lot more expensive. The gold-over-brass one shown, is too soft and indeed has the problems you mention.

Mark, I don't know why the spring loaded clips are shorter, maybe a different soldering arrangement. The $72 ones are the ones I was referring to. If you go to the vdH US distributor, http://www.bluebirdmusic.com/ they should be able to give you a price. Their site also lists about 8 authorized USA vdH dealers.