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Audioquest Firebird Zero

I've tried several speaker cables over the past year; Shunyata Alpha and Sigma, Wireworld Silver Eclipse series 7, Audioquest Oak and Redwood, Audience Au24 SX, and I own Clarus Crimson speaker cables. I prefer the Clarus over all of the aforementioned speaker cables. I've had the Audioquest Firebird Zero speaker cables on loan for three days. My initial thoughts were everything is a little clearer through them compared to my Clarus Crimson. Not a night and day difference, but definitely clearer. The Clarus are slightly more 3-dimensional to my ears. My wife on the other hand just keeps saying the AQ sounds sharper, clearer, there are less impurities in the music. I'm not sure what she means by impurities, but she keeps repeating it. Maybe she means a darker background? My plan was to have a home audition of the Thunderbird Zero speaker cables, but they had banana plugs on the amplifier end and I can't use them. I took the Firebirds with the logic that if I can't hear a difference between them and my current cables I didn't need to have a home audition of the Thunderbirds. $14K for an eight foot pair of speaker cables is freaking crazy and sad! It would be easy for me to dismiss it  because there isn't a night and day difference, but once you hear the difference it's very hard to ignore. Financially I just can't justify spending $14K on speaker cables and hope to hear the AQ Thunderbirds sometime next week. Once again I'm reminded that absolutely everything makes a difference. For those that can easily afford $14K, $20K or more speaker cables I understand, because cables can be equivalent to a component change. Does it ever end?
ricred1
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
Burn in is going well.  It's fun to hear the subtle differences as they burn. I'm so glad to have gotten these.  Just amazing.
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
It needs at least 600 hours. We know this because we use a professional measurement system for the acoustic. When we compare the Audioquest cables between 400 hours burning in vs 600 hours the dynamics go deeper and wel also hear more details and layering.
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
Bo, you aren't the only one who knows audio and cables etc...  I also know from my own two ears that it even gets better up til over 1000 hours.  Garth will tell you the same thing if you ask him.  

What you fail to also understand is that some folks won't hear as big a difference if their system isn't up to speed.  I know that you and only you will use your patented system to put together the BEST components that you measure.  Even if we all hear differently, your system will be the best ever. I think that sums up nearly every post you make on AG, so that's the bench mark.

Back to the real thread.

I now have 300 hours and counting and it's getting so much better.  The dynamics are just insane and the depth of the sound stage is not longer truncated in the rear.  I'm blown away by the quality of bass my system is now exhibiting.  These cables are nothing short of sensational.  I had Odin's in two months ago and they were nothing even close to what I'm hearing now.  Same with the Transparent and MIT's (forget which model's but they were both in the 10k 8' run range).  Friend brought them over to audition.  
divertiti
225 posts
 
@ctsooner Congrats on the new cable. How do the William Tells compare to the Robin Hoods? What are the biggest differences and similarities?
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
I'm talking about only the copper versions.  The Hood/silver are better (smoother, dynamics, detail etc) than my copper Tell's.  The Tell vs Hood offer the same things over the Hood's.  You have to really look at the price difference and your equipment costs to really see if the Tell is worth the move up. 

I have had both in my system and the Tell's were THAT much better in everything.  Many lines of cables will give you a bit better (lower noise floor/detail, dynamics yada yada) as you move up.  I feel that with the new AQ line, they have given you a much larger gap between cables as you move up.  They just get out of the way of the music more and more as you go to the next line in both power cords and speaker cables.  

I don't fully understand all the Garth has done with these two lines, but they talk on the site about all of it.  I can honestly say that going with a legit two cable, bi wire where there is a special cable just for the bass was a GAME CHANGER in MY system.  It was worth more to my ears than getting a better integrated amp.  It was not incremental.  even my non audio friends and wife heard a tremendous difference.  They didn't care, but they heard it and I never told my wife that I changed cables.  She did the same thing with the Hurricanes when I got them and never said a word.  She just asked what I changed since the speakers and boxes looked the same to her.  
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