Audioquest vs. Others

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...

@stevenday thanks also, sounds like you did the smart thing and listened to music on your system, which sounds like a bunch of very fine components- certainly there is some Vandersteen/ AQ bias, momentum, synergy. The two designers are friends, collaborating and sharing at least one patent and many Vandy dealers carry AQ and other brands. My Ref system is all AQ wire, but your post certainly has me interested in listening to other wire, easy since I need a meter or less, right now it is WEL. I assume Synergistic terminated your wire in Vandy size spades?
my Treo system is Kimber and Nordost, my vintage system is a mix of fun stuff when copper ruled!!!

have fun