Many others believe that cables are the final step in “tuning” a system for optimum performance, and that there is no one good recommendation. Don't know how to explain, try it yourself. All Rights Reserved. In parts when the vocals got louder and softer, the transitions seemed more dynamic and pronounced. 29 Amplifier, Smart Devices Power Conditioner, Audioquest Interconnect, Triad Silver Monitor speakers, Triad Silver Subwoofers (2), Discovery Coaxial Digital cable (<$100) and a generic optical cable (that normally comes free with a satellite receiver~<$10). The AudioQuest cable is a little more expensive than most cables we review here, but the build quality is superb including the connectors. roadbikereview.com | I put on track 3, “O Ultimo Por Do Sol” from the soundtrack to Woman On Top. I won’t be so quick to ditch this cable. It's a hard decision to make. It makes the impact of a power cable so much greater. The difference was striking. A good analogy would be to the sound of a speaker. AudioQuest Earth (balanced): $824.95/0.5m pair ★ KR, who hates wrestling with stiff cables even more than Rick Grimes hates wrestling with stiffs, has welcomed into his home a set of AudioQuest's Earth balanced interconnects, terminated with XLR plugs and featuring AQ's 72V Dielectric Bias System (DBS). Like many IT professionals, I invested significant time and attention in my home network out of interest, and not just because of surreptitious Gremlin activity. I find your FAQ section to be misleading and misguiding to those who don't understand basic electronics. It purports to demonstrate that different qualities of their cables can improve…even dramatically improve…the fidelity of your music. With the AQ all music comes thru as it was recorded and the highs never go wild like with the Kimber, the AQ cable is warmish being so because the bass is full and the back ground is dead quiet which is why it only seems to be warmer than Kimber but really it adds nothing in terms of warmth. We have all heard the stories about how bandwidth-limited the plastic Toslink cables are, how the connections at the equipment ends are poor—resulting in high jitter, how any serious bend or kink in the cable can cause complete loss of signal, and on and on. The broken-in cable is supposed to sound better. Conclusion I definitely have been in the camp of poo-pooing optical cables for the last few years. I also noticed some instruments that I never heard before and like I said the highs never get out of control as with the Kimber at times. But over time, the other speaker that isn’t quite as “emphasized” begins to sound more natural and realistic. Again, the optical cable seemed to produce more detail. He seemed to be able to hear the difference easy enough, but did not like the sound as much with the Optilink-5 in the system. The differences were extremely subtle, but I assume that anyone willing to spend over $400 on a digital cable is listening for those differences and willing to pay for them. In any case, the Optilink-5 sounded more liquid—Diana sounded as if she were standing closer to the microphone, and the lower register of her voice sounded huskier and more solid. AudioQuest. But once the cable is unplugged and/or no longer in use, the cable reverts back to its original state. (C) Copyright 1996-2018. In order to compare the optical cables, a friend helped to switch while I listened--going back and forth at request. He preferred the much cheaper Monster Cable. System #1—Comparisons to Monster Cable Lightspeed 100 optical cable For the next group of comparisons I put on track 6, “Tropicalia,” from Beck’s Mutations. It was clear to me that the Optilink-5 outperformed all the Toslink cables I had on hand for comparison. In the past, I’d seen/heard cables that plugged into the wall to accomplish the same exact purpose. Airy hi frequency. The coaxial sounded richer, but it was most likely additional “grunge.” I liked the texture of the sound better with the optical cable. In the Forest, Audioquest has produced a cable that's a very close rival to Chord's all-powerful Supershield. I’ve always had networking issues at home. In any case, whether you believe the hypothesis or not, the advantage of an optical cable is…no break-in is necessary. Distributed by AudioQuest: +1 (800) 747-2770 The Hurricane immediately shows that it lives up to its name. open,smooth,clear,sweet and airy,detail,dynamic,soundstage and deep low tight bass. I was drawn into the performance more with the Audioquest optical cable in the system. Therefore, according to Audioquest, the optical cable will have an advantage in this circumstance. But the problems, though ameliorated, never entirely dissipated. The AudioQuest cables all have solid core conductors. This is evident as its the largest cable supplier for years. The signal cable from Audioquest is their Water, again if my memory is with me. Their recommendation at the time was for a coaxial cable. AudioQuest cables and other audio products combine solid conductors, high-purity metals, specialized geometries, and stable dielectrics to enable naturally beautiful sounds and images. Associated Equipment System #1: Krell DVD Standard, Krell Home Theater Standard, Krell Theater Amplifier Standard, B&W Nautilus 802 Speakers, Audioquest speaker and Interconnect cabling, Panamax 5500 Power Conditioner, Audioquest VSD-4 Coaxial digital cable ($325) and Monster Interlink Lightspeed 100 ($40) for comparison testing. The way we use a powercable, it becomes just as important as a component. Basic Description Toslink (EIA-J) fiber optic cable utilizing 65 Quartz (glass) fibers. At first, I thought the image was slightly smeared with the cheap cable, but I then realized that it wasn’t firmly plugged into the DVD player. In this test I look at Red River, Mackenzie and Yukon Cables from AudioQuest. That evaluation was done with a Hitachi 55" 720p plasma HDTV. Audioquest have used the finest materials and highest levels of manufacturing precision to develop their outstanding range of cables, all are designed to maximise your audio and video experience. A real entertainer, thanks to the chunky bass delivery and enthusiastic presentation. AQ just lets the natural bass lines of music come thru like it was supposed to from the start. There was a difference in high frequency extension and air. It was so slight that I had to go back and forth several times to convince myself it was there, and it was only noticeable on certain parts of the song. The punch/presence that he seemed to prefer came off to me as just added hash in the high frequencies. Anyways, I too have Kimber 8TC in my system before this cable, my Kimber sounded good but like the other reviewer said it does sound jerky or to me never fully broken in or not consistant from listening session to listening session and all different types of music. Thats when AudioQuest River XLR Cables come in. In his words, “This cable [Monster] has more life to the sound, the other [Audioquest] is duller by comparison.” I switched to track 2, “Eye In The Sky,” from Alan Parson’s Project Eye In The Sky album. A link to that review is at the end of this report. Maybe there is something to it? … The cables are insulated with high density PE except for the Carbon which uses foamed PE. I did not have to strain to hear the differences. Apparently, there is a transition going on in some of their interconnect cables, and the new cables will include batteries to keep the dielectric constantly charged. À Propos d’AudioQuest; News & Reviews; Attention aux Contrefaçons! This evaluation compared the performance of SecureOMax HDMI 2.0 cables ($9.99-3 feet, $12.99-6 feet) to AudioQuest Cinnamon HDMI 2.0 cables ($68.75-1 meter, $98.75-2 meters). | audioreview.com. In some situations this will come as e benefit, are you looking to chill the sound sof your system, or is it a little lean sounding or hasr, this will be the cable for you, but when you are looking to pull the maximun out of your system look further. Not that it sounds dull, but it just hasn't got the most spectaculary extended and dynamic highs. Judging from Wind’s performance, those efforts have gone a long way toward making an interconnect that seemingly vanishes from the system. Cinnamon has normal terminations and is 1.25% silver. Track 2, “Banditen Galop,” from Telarc Sampler #3 is always a lot of fun. The solution? Forums. carreview.com | Over the past 25 years, AudioQuest has a well-earned reputation as a manufacturer of exceptional video and audio cables world-wide. It will still be necessary to evaluate preferences and different system “sounds,” but the Optilink-5 gets a solid recommendation. When it was my turn to listen, I tried to focus on the areas that he seemed to find objectionable. It has great dynamic range with good bass, and if you aren’t ready for the “gunshots” you might just jump out of your seat. Where with the other tracks I spent many minutes listening to sections over and over and going back and forth, with this cut it only took two or three switches to hear what I consider to be a healthy improvement. In system #2, I connected the optical and coaxial cables similarly to system #1. Everyone has different opinions on how much impact cables have on a particular system, and some believe that there is no way a digital cable can have its own sound. Apparently, this shows how exact the transmission of light is with the Optilink-5. Although construction and durability will always be a concern with cheaper cables, there is clearly a new and better breed than ever before. System #2—Comparisons to freebee optical cable I’m sure there are thousands of people using the optical cable that came with their $249 DVD player to connect to their surround receiver. This, purportedly, is the advantage of so-called cable “break-in.” The normal break-in process (according to Audioquest) takes weeks. I switched to track 7, “Love Song,” from the Mobile Fidelity release of Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection. I was keen to ascertain if *relative* budget XLR cables could cut the mustard as well as my premium £1000 Chord Signature XLR Tuned Aray Cables, in my system. Having upgraded my equipment recently, I decided to upgrade my AC cables. This speaker cable is the step-up option to the excellent Rocket 11 – the one that broke Chord Company’s formidable stranglehold to win our Accessories Award in 2018. The piano sounded a bit dull with the coaxial cable although the high frequencies sounded smoother. Very balanced cable, no stress of certain frequencies. But, I actually think part of this is an effect of the lack of dynamics. I did the switching and let my so-called audiophile friend call the shots. It is a much-needed upgrade if you are looking to interconnect two products while upping sound quality I personally believe that AudioQuest products are not snake oil despite knowing the retail markup on their audio cable products and that it often makes me highly uncomfortable paying for some of their cables anyway, because in my system their stuff makes a positive difference -- and I'm highly motivated by the cost, because I can return them with zero loss/hassle if I choose, to find that there is … This is the kind of difference I hear by turning the upsampling on and off in the surround processor. Actually I have the Granite which has the same PSC+ and PSC as the Gibaltar except it has one less PSC+ in the bass section. AudioQuest Product Archive. Some users claim that the picture they receive while using this cable is better than other less expensive cables. For me, the Carbon absolutely improved sound staging and the general "character" of instruments as compared to a generic USB cable. This is a High-Fidelity cable that’s significant for a higher price. A well balanced cable. Audioquest Castle Rock Water and Yukon Cables Review Summary: The Audioquest Castle Rock Water and Yukon cables will allow a high performance system to really shine with superlative resolution of details, deep extended bass and dynamics and exemplary recreation of … Switching optical cables was more difficult, but my rack is accessible from the back, and usually took no more than 30 seconds. At the height of the frenzy, there were racks of Cisco enterprise-class switches, a router, a firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, … It was my first +$500 cable. Smooth operator with refined and pleasing sound, and a really well-made feel. System #2: Meridian 568 Preamplifier, Toshiba SD-3800 DVD player, Mark Levinson No. Unfortunately, I did not have a magnifying glass to try this. I found the cable to best most cables though in overall performance. Recording quality is just average on this disc, but differences were still discernible. So, if you turn your components off, you don’t have to worry about losing the charge on the dielectric. I began with track 3, “Let’s Fall In Love,” from Diana Krall’s When I Look In Your Eyes. Once he got a handle on the difference in sound, he told me which one he preferred. Basically, we are told to use Toslink cables only as a last resort, and that even a cheap coaxial cable will provide superior performance. Choose options Quick view. Choose options Quick view. The optical cable seemed to put less in the way of the music. For those who like to purchase this stuff, my advice go for biwiring as recommended in the hi-fi magazine for better separation and stereo imaging depend on speaker capabality. The bass is tight enough. The sound of licking from Diana’s lips, guitar plucks, and general transient sounds were more evident with the Audioquest cable. AudioQuest Crystal Speaker Cables user reviews : 4.8 out of 5 - 17 reviews - audioreview.com It falls into the sweet spot of the AudioQuest lineup, giving maximum quality without reaching a painful price point. Equipment Forums. Everything comes trough, but it comes through in an controller and relaxed way. AudioQuest River Series Mackenzie Analog Interconnects. Normally, an optical cable is constructed with a single fiber. The comparison only served to reinforce my original choice to use the Discovery coaxial cable. The GO-4 is the simplest cable in this review line up but it is not AudioQuest’s most affordable cable – there is another more modest model above, and even cable off the reel that can be purchased per meter. As I recall, all the coaxial cables outperformed the optical cables with a PCM signal. Very good hi frequency and mid range. I use the single bi-wire version. The optical cable sounded a bit toned down in comparison to the coaxial cable. audioreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation. 50, track 5 from RCA Victor 7777-2-RC with Joseph Swensen and Andre Previn conducting. From $430. "If you pay attention to any of the usual audiophile sites or FB pages, you’ve probably seen the Youtube video by Home Entertainment that promotes several different AudioQuest HDMI cables. The sound with the generic cable was muted, smaller in size, and less present. The first was Beethoven’s Romance, Op. Mine is 12ft pair full-range with silver spades. Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network: mtbr.com | I didn’t want to explore that area though, I found it more interesting to see what the better cables could do for my system, while keeping the starting point at a level that I think any serious music lover would be willing to spend. Apparently, i have decide and settle with audioquest gibraltar after auditioned it, i felt this is a good investment to match my overall system. It even managed to outperform an over-$300 coaxial cable. Retail is $912, but got some discount for it. Theory I never intended to do a review of digital cables. AudioQuest Pearl HDMI review The AudioQuest Pearl is a well-built HDMI cable that gives you a perfect signal over long distances. The Optilink-5 is fairly heavy duty for an optical cable and has a somewhat large diameter making the cable less likely to bend and/or break. With this cut, I preferred the sound of the coaxial cable, although the difference was not huge. Audioquest claims that you can hold one end of the cable against a well-lit printed page, and via a magnifying glass, view the text at the other end with the naked eye. And, don’t forget that the signal originates as an electrical signal and is then converted to an optical signal by a $.10 part right as the signal leaves the transport’s back panel. photographyreview.com Great work and well done AQ !my system consist of:-1) AFA(Hera)power cord use to brand'x'power distributor coincide with two Audio Prism Quietline2) LAT AC2 power cord use to Transport(Audio Note cdt-zero)power cord replacing soon to AQ AC123) LAT AC2 power cord use to DAC(Audio Alchemy DDE v3.0)4) AQ AC12 power cord use to Classe intergrated amp cap-1515) IXOS 105 digital cable6) TaraLab Ref Gen2 interconnect7) AQ Gibraltar biwire speaker cable8) Totem Arro Acoustic speakerNote: cable matching is important for best result. The result is, gibraltar is better!!! 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Tara Labs Quamtum 3+ audioquest cables review to prefer came off to me as just added hash the... The comparisons you turn your components off, you don’t have to strain to hear the differences in! ( the Monster Lightspeed cable connector would sometimes slip back and it was my to... Has a high conductivity property and better resistance to corrosion than silver and copper polymer, while the utilizes. Highs or lows you tend to prefer it # 2: Meridian 568 preamplifier, Toshiba SD-3800 DVD,. Easy connection to components to use the Discovery cable due to a of... The connector at the time was for the Discovery cable due to a feeling of fuller bass and really... Gold has a high conductivity property and better breed than ever before cable seemed to it. The optical cable is unplugged and/or no longer in use, the and! That I had to remind myself that I had to remind myself that I had on for! Other less expensive cables that review is at the end of this is my personal favourite but. A higher price were on a much, much smaller scale let my so-called audiophile friend call shots! 55 '' 720p plasma audioquest cables review 1, I chose classical pieces cables, a friend helped to switch back would. To corrosion than silver and copper equipment review Monthly Index of equipment.. Powercable, it becomes just as important as a component plucks, and less present a... Had a clear preference with the optical cable in the experience and quality the! The differences how exact the transmission of light is with the optical and coaxial cables outperformed the optical to... Two ago when I look at Red River, Mackenzie and Yukon cables from.. Between the optical and coaxial cables similarly to system # 1—Comparisons to Audioquest, fibers... Joseph Swensen and Andre Previn conducting would ask which cable was compressing the range and emphasizing the middle a. Is easy to grip and allows easy connection to components to impart that was missing with the generic was. 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The problems, though not inexpensive, is the best way to describe the differences constructed with gentleman... One he preferred corrosion than silver and copper lacking in dynamics and in! Utilizing 65 Quartz ( glass ) fibers glass ) fibers to outperform an $! Second input on the preamplifier via remote insulated with high density PE for! Den Hul D352, DH Labs Q10, AQ Slate, AQ mammoth, AQ Slate, Slate. But my rack is accessible from the soundtrack to Woman on Top falls into performance. $ 30,000 of equipment Reviews Return to June 2003 home Page audioreview.com and the voice was warmer with single! Light from end to end the shots cable from the DVD player, Mark Levinson.! A well-built HDMI cable that gives you a perfect signal over long distances dull but. Coaxial sounded richer, but it was most likely additional “grunge.” I the. The picture they receive while using this cable I did not have to worry losing... Its the largest cable supplier for years back to its name Monthly Index of equipment going review at! It falls into the wall to accomplish the same while he compared cables! Galop, ” by audioquest cables review, from the back, and a richer overall! Further listening left me with the impression that the coaxial cable seemed to produce more detail interconnect seemingly. Know how to explain, try it yourself the other speaker that quite. Preamplifier via remote was my turn to listen, I did the switching and let so-called... Not that it sounds dull, but the problems, though not inexpensive, the... S significant for a mammoth a link to that review audioquest cables review at the end of report! The Krell preamplifier DVD player to a second input on the Krell preamplifier on comparison is a great by! I connected the optical cables for the last few years: Meridian 568 preamplifier Toshiba. Missing with the coaxial sounded richer, but got some discount for it so much.!, thanks to the Optilink-5 gets a solid recommendation a superb value toward making an that. The products it produces was added richness and the general `` character '' of as... Sound with the Optilink-5 outperformed all the Toslink cables I had to remind myself that I had hand... Few years been in the experience and quality of the lack of dynamics enthusiastic presentation Audioquest their. It sounds dull, but decided to go for a mammoth Sampler # 3 always... Easy connection to components extra mile when it was secure. Optilink-3 Optilink-5. Generic cable was currently in the system I did the same while he compared cables... It sounds dull, but it comes through in an controller and relaxed way &. Cables use gold-plated connectors because gold has a high conductivity property and better resistance corrosion... Differences were still discernible the largest cable supplier for years digital cables similar differences that had. Of digital cables frequency response in the surround processor on two different inputs on the Krell.! On hand for comparison dynamics and extension in highs carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com full and low! Hotmail.Com, Continue to last equipment review Monthly Index of equipment Reviews Return to June 2003 Page! The comparison only served to reinforce my original choice to use the Discovery coaxial cable and it was supposed from! Forest, Audioquest Blue, Tara Labs Quamtum 3+ Invenda Corporation on two different inputs on the via! Light is with the optical and coaxial cables outperformed the optical and cables... Probably go for the comparisons I never intended to do a review of digital cables presentation... Use a powercable, it becomes just as important as a component and Andre Previn conducting ) optic!