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Cardas Customer Service is Amazing!

When a company goes out of its’ way to provide incredible customer service I think it should be shouted from the rooftops. The purpose of this thread is to share my recent, mind-blowingly excellent experience with Cardas Audio.

I could write a long story but I’ll try to keep it short.

For a long time I was a cable agnostic - that is, I didn’t really care whether cables made a difference. I had other priorities. As luck would have it, I borrowed a pair of Cardas Neutral Reference cables from a friend. I put them in but never sat down to listen critically. Just left them in. Had a guest @jzzmusician over to help me compare my Altec Magnificents to my JBL 4430 studio monitors. We had a blast and my system simply sounded fantastic. Luscious, gorgeous, beautiful. Incredible, especially at low volume.

A few days after my guest left I thought "I’d better pull those cables out so I can return them to my buddy". When I switched back to my old cables I wondered what the hell had happened... What? Where’d everything go?

Astonished, I began to research these cables. What the heck? How can 20 year old cables sell for this much money? (Yes I know there are better cables out there and better Cardas cables, too.) I ended up buying the used Neutral Reference cables from my friend.

After a while one of them seemed to develop a short, in certain positions, going into my power amp. I contacted Cardas. They said to request an RMA. When I attempted to complete the form for a warranty repair it asked me to upload a copy of my original receipt from an authorized Cardas dealer. I let them know that I’d bought mine used from a local audiophile. Tech support advised me to use the non-warranty RMA option. I did that and received an RMA. Shortly after that I received an email that my repair would be covered under warranty. I sent the cables to Cardas.

Three days after they received my cables I got a notice that they were sending them back. They were not able to duplicate the intermittent short condition I had experienced but they replaced all four RCA connectors anyway. AT NO CHARGE. I REPEAT - AT NO CHARGE TO ME. THEY DIDN’T EVEN ASK ME TO PAY FOR RETURN SHIPPING. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a company that STANDS BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS. (Sorry for shouting.) Can you imagine? I mean, here’s a pair of old, used, well-loved interconnects and they fixed them beautifully.

Yes I know there are many manufacturers of excellent cables. I’m not criticizing anyone here. But Cardas has made me a customer for life. When funds permit I plan to be upgrading my cables from the newer "Clear" family of cables. I can hardly wait.

I LOVE MY CARDAS CABLES.

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panerai557's avatar
panerai557
73 posts
 

That's a good story. Irrespective of how much companies charge for the stuff they make, excellent after care service should be must in this hobby, but it is becoming less common now days. Thanks for sharing. Love my Cardas cables too. 

Ag insider logo xs@2x
tonykay
1,301 posts
 

I have not had experience with Cardas, but I can say that I have had similar results with Kimber Kable. I bought a Kimber phono cable here on Audiogon, but I had an unacceptable amount of hum when connected to my system. I sent them to Kimber and they checked them and added some additional shielding at no charge. When I still had issues, I sent them back again. They shortened them and added some additional shielding. All of this handling must have taken considerable time but they charged me $0, yes $0! I have no affiliation with Kimber, but it’s good to know that both companies have outstanding customer service.

A few years ago, I bought a Nakamichi cassette player with a faulty, intermittent short in the IEC power cable. I sent it to Kimber, who said it was very high quality but they no longer made that cord. Instead they replaced it with a new cable, again at no charge.

tomwipf's avatar
tomwipf
17 posts
 

It's nice to hear about your positive experience with Cardas. Having owned a Clear Beyond XLR loom and Clear speaker cables, I can say it's the best of the regular brands.(say AudioQuest, Transparent) I've since moved on to Argento which is in a class of its own, but if I didn't work in the industry I'd never be able to afford. I've gotten off the hifi merry go-round with Ayre Acoustics- soon to release a PX-8 phone preamp with optical input and A/D converter. Ayre's zero feedback/fully balanced technology is second to none with a very reasonable asking price. They also have a relationship with Cardas etched in stone by George & Charlie. If you love Cardas, you'll love the Cardas wiring in Ayre products.

Tom Wipf, CPA

sns
3,256 posts
 

Cardas is one of my favorite brands/company in audio. Over a period of many years I auditioned a multitude of cables through borrowing from lending library at Cable Company, this included speaker, IC, power, digital cables. Some of the cables tried were at extreme price points such that I had no intention to purchase. And to think I still use my good old Cardas Golden Ref IC and speaker cables. These are the ONLY components I've continuously used since 1990's, every single other component/footer/tweak,etc has been replaced multiple times!

 

And customer service there is absolutely top notch, still family owned, just a pleasure dealing with these nice people!

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,719 posts
 

tomwipf

Fellow AYRE fan and owner here. Can you tell me more about Argento cabling?

Feel free to PM me if you do not want to divulge the details here.

 

Happy Listening!

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