Audioquest vs. Others


   I realize that this post will probably open a landslide of responses but my question is focused on the comparison of Audioquest vs other manufacturers. This is not aimed to address power cables or speaker wire but only interconnect cables. Like Audioquest, many brands offer cables in a range of prices....low, medium, high, and super high. My interest is not to compare a lower price/quality cable to one that is far superior but to ask if comparisons have been done within equal price ranges of different brands.

   Yes, some systems are capable of distinguishing minute changes in a cable makeup. Some manufacturers even offer a free trial and return policy. I know that. But, in a moderately priced system, are there any opinions that would deter one from using the Audioquest brand vs another brand? Remember....staying in a comparable price range.

jrpnde
My friend borrowed me an audioquest Blizzard and a Shunyata venom digital for esoteric sacd player k07xs.Audioquest Blizzard is far superior than Shunyata venom digital.It is really fluid, natural and many details.The venom doesnt exist. I compared the venom with the tramsparent mm2x that costed above $2000 in the past. They perform very similar But Aq Blizzard is the another league.
Really the test of audioquest Thunderbird bi wire will be very interesting.
I know that the OP asked specifically about AQ interconnects but the discussion, as it often does, has veered into different cable types. I was recently interested in the new AQ speaker cables and there is very little posted online regarding their performance.  

I just finished demoing several cables and in my system, a pair of Synergistic Research Atmosphere X Level 2 biwire (IFT) clearly outperformed AQ William Tell Zero/Bass at a lower cost.  I have a system of Vandersteen 5A, Ayre MXR-Twenty, Ayre KXR-Twenty, Ayre Codex, Sota Cosmo/Graham Phantom II/Soundsmith Aida and listen to mostly rock with some jazz.  The SR had much better dynamics, soundstage width and imaging.  I found the AQ to lack bass and was not engaging.  I actually preferred my much cheaper Anticable level 3 to the AQ.  I broke in the AQ for over 400 hours.  With Ayre and Vandersteen, the "classic" cable is AQ.  In my system, the SR was much better.  

I also demoed Anticable level 5, Morrow Elite Grand Reference, Cerious Matrix and Audience AU24SX.  They all had their strengths and weaknesses but were not as good as SR in my system.  
stevenday

Thank You for the report. I am looking hard at the Ayre Twenty Series and it is good to learn that SR is an option against the classic Audioquest, Cardas,  cabling.

Happy Listening!
For anyone having the Audioquest DBS on their cables highly recommend changing the batteries on any cable that is a couple years old. I changed mine even though the the light still came on and there is an improvement but after 24hrs a noticeable improvement and it keeps improving over the next 10 days.

Batteries cost next to nothing, the older dbs pack takes a different size then the newer ones so make sure if you have multiple dbs packs you check so you don't buy too many of the wrong size and have to go back to the store again.
Also check with Audioquest on upgrade to higher voltage DBS pack

Vandersteen amplifiers have 128 v DBS built in. Bill Low and Richard Vandersteen share the DBS patent and both believe more voltage is better...