Audioquest Interconnect Cables compared to Wireworld

[Ricjor1]

I purchased the Fire. No, not a night and day difference, but overall the Fire is more balanced than the Niagara. There is a subtle difference that for some audiophiles it's hard to ignore. The most significant difference when I compared my Wireworld Platinum XLR to Niagara was with them going from the preamp to DAC. So, I have my Niagara going from amp to preamp. The Fire is going from preamp to DAC. I'll get another Fire in a month or so.
As far as speaker cables, I will have a home audition of Shunyata Alpha this weekend and hopefully Clarus Crimson in a week or so.

[mulveling]

Originally Posted by SCAudiophile

another very good older AQ speaker cable that was all copper was VOLCANO. I owned Mont Blanc, Gibraltar, Volcano (3 pairs) and Kilimanjaro. Volcano was superior IMHO to MB.

Yep, I very much wanted to try Volcano when I was running the Kilimanjaro/MB combo (knowing the MB was a weakness), but the right 2nd pair of Kilis came up before it. I had asked AQ for advice on improving beyond the Kili/MB biwire, with purchase of a new Wildwood or even WEL as a possibility, and they frankly advised that even a Wildwood might not significantly improve upon it, due to the very high silver content from the Kili (surprisingly, they didn't comment on the WEL). They suggested that a Volcano in place of the MB, and/or re-terminations with 1000 series connectors, could provide improvement at a reasonable cost. I ended up with double Kilis and new 1000 connectors; it was a significant sonic upgrade (plus the 1000s look amazing).

Originally Posted by Ricjor1

I purchased the Fire. No, not a night and day difference, but overall the Fire is more balanced than the Niagara. There is a subtle difference that for some audiophiles is hard to ignore. The most significant difference when I compared my Wireworld Platinum XLR to Niagara was with them going from the preamp to DAC. So, I have my Niagara going from amp to preamp. The Fire is going from preamp to DAC. I'll get another Fire in a month or so.
As far as speaker cables, I will have a home audition of Shunyata Alpha this weekend and hopefully Clarus Crimson in a week or so.

Nice!! I'm not surprised you liked them enough to open the wallet. I know all too well what you mean by "There is a subtle difference that for some audiophiles is hard to ignore". Enjoy that quality upgrade, and the ones to come.

I know I come off too much as a AQ fanboy, but they've done right by me over the years.

[Ricjor1]

Mike,

Nothing wrong with advocating your preferences. I submit you do it in a very tactful way. I really wanted to try Audioquest speaker cables, but the local dealer doesn't have anything for me to audition. I called, texted, and emailed the Audioquest distributor to try to set-up a home audition. I contacted Audioquest directly and to date not one representative has responded.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Ricjor1

Mike,

Nothing wrong with advocating your preferences. I submit you do it in a very tactful way. I really wanted to try Audioquest speaker cables, but the local dealer doesn't have anything for me to audition. I called, texted, and emailed the Audioquest distributor to try to set-up a home audition. I contacted Audioquest directly and to date not one representative has responded.

You can audition many cables out there at home. https://www.thecableco.com/lending-library

[Ricjor1]

Originally Posted by PHC1

You can pretty much audition most of the cables out there at home. https://www.thecableco.com/lending-library

I know about thecableco, I choose to deal with my local dealers for cables.
I just don't understand why the distributor won't return my calls.

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by Ricjor1

I know about thecableco, I choose to deal with my local dealers for cables.

I just don't understand why the distributor won't return my calls.

A couple of years back i was asking the Cable Co. about auditioning Audioquest cables and at the time, they had none. At some point, after pushing the issue, I was told they could arrange it through Audioquest so maybe pushing your dealer to get demos would have a more positive result than taking it upon yourself.

As of yet i still haven’t heard AQ speaker cables, but something I’ve considered in looking over their construction is that, within each range, the speaker cables appear identical in construction except for conductor material. This differs from the construction of interconnects, where each model differs with respect to air tubes, conductors, and insulation.
That’s leads me to think one could get a decent idea how their speaker cables may perform by hearing at least something in the range. At some point I’d still like to hear their higher end speaker cables give how favorably I feel their WEL interconnect performs.

[PHC1]

In the "audiophile mind", the 50 ft or longer runs of low impedance XLR cables that are used for the microphones that record the very same music we are trying to reproduce at home is just not good enough.

[eljr]

Originally Posted by Ricjor1

I just don't understand why the distributor won't return my calls.

They should supply you with a list of official re-sellers.

[mcpaf76]

This has me wondering what upgrading my Silver Eclipse XLR to something like Earth or wind would do for my system.

[Ricjor1]

mcpaf76,
Cables are so system dependant. I suggest trying a used pair of Niagara cables.
How would you describe the sound of your Oak speaker cables?