AQ vs Van Den Hul

No experience with the VDH stuff but the AQ King Cobra I had was a bit more on the lean side of things. The Rocket 44 speaker cable was worse than the ICs -- diminishes a little of the warmth. It sounded a little brighter as well.

Hey dustsailor, where did you buy those AQ cables from? 

@boxer12  Wondering about counterfeits?  Me too.  I've found it unusual for anyone to describe AQ cables that way.  

hifiman5, Yes exactly... Lots of them out there.  

Boxer, I bought them from Music Direct. Looking back, I think the Rocket’s silver spades and possibly the silver drain wire used in the interconnects may have been the brightness culprit. I’ve avoided using anything with silver since.

I changed to a different brand of cables and suddenly, my system was much easier on the ears with a more spatial, 3-D presentation. It was a dramatic difference and I have since sold the AQ. As usual, YMMV.