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AQ Water XLR or Yukon XLR - DAC to Preamp- sound comparisons

Hi all,

I have an opportunity to upgrade from my Yukon XLR that I just purchased to the AQ Water XLR interconnects that are connected to my Oppo 105D dac to my Marantz preamp. I find the Yukons are good but I think the Waters will provide that extra smoothness and detail in the bass, clarity and even more openess. The Yukons are a nice interconnect as well and I found at first there was a brightness and midrange harshness  that was not so pleasing to my ears and the bass was a bit more laid back but having them in my system for over a week they seem to be breaking in and the sound is not as harsh and it seems to have settled in and the sound is clear and refined. I also have an AQ Monsoon power cable hooked up to my preamp as well and perhaps that is helping as well with the presentation of the sound I am describing. I am using AQ Water XLRs from my preamp to power amp as well.

I want to know does anyone have any experience with either one of these interconnects hooked up from dac to preamp? What are your experiences in having either one of these cables hooked up from your dac to preamp? Has anyone tried the Yukons in their system and then went with the Waters or vice versa? Since my Marantz preamp is a warm sounding preamp would the Waters cause the sound to be overly warm cause I have them hooked up to my preamp and power amp and perhaps the Yukons provide that balance with the blend of highs and midrange forwardness to my Waters I have from my preamp to power amp? On a side note if it matters but I will be upgrading to the Blizzard power cable for my preamp very soon. 

I would like to keep this to Yukons and Waters as I have no intentions right now to move up the line for now or try other brands. Thanks in advance and appreciate your thoughts.

2007audioman
2007audioman
2007audioman OP
80 posts
 
Well the wait is over and I finally received my AQ Waters 1.5m yesterday. I am not sure but I found that the dbs packs were installed in the male connector end and not the female end on the XLR cables. This is inconsistent with the three other AQ Waters I purchased from my dealer and not sure if this effects the cable in terms of sound. I have alerted my dealer and asked if he can accept a return and get a pair with the dbs packs installed at the female end. A lot of images on the internet show the dbs packs installed on the female end. 

Does anyone here have this configuration? If so, did you return them or leave it. Does it matter what end the dbs pack is installed? 

2007audioman
2007audioman OP
80 posts
 
Hi all,

Just an update to my previous post and a for your information. I learned from AQ and my audio dealer that going forward, the DBS packs will now be on the component end(going in) instead of the source end(going out). My AQ Water dbs packs I bought previously were on the source end(female end). AQ found that being on the component end sounds better and my dealer who spoke to his rep added that it frees up space in the preamp or receiver end if the dbs packs are located on the component end.

The 1.5m I have now the dbs packs are at the male end but I require them at the female end cause it does add to the cable clutter on my preamp as my other AQ Waters are on the female end too. I asked my dealer if he could accomodate my request, so he got in touch with his rep and they are gonna send me a pair that has the dbs packs installed at the female end. So that is good to know and great customer service. When they arrrive I will return this pair to my dealer.  The current 1.5m Waters do sound great going from my DAC to Preamp compared to the Yukon I had hooked up earlier. Glad I did the upgrade to Waters.

Thank you to those who posted their thoughts previously on this thread. You were right on the money about the Waters. :-)

2007audioman.
2007audioman OP
80 posts
 
Hi,

I received the AQ Waters 1.5m with the dbs tails installed at the female end of the connector. I noticed that the sound is good but the other AQ Interconnects with the dbs tails installed at the male end sounded more open and detailed. Now to be fair I am aware I need to allow break in time for these cables. These ones sound way different than the last ones whereas the AQ Water I returned sounded more open and airy so not sure if its cause the dbs packs were installed at the male end of the connector. These ones I received sound very different. Is it possible for the same interconnects to sound very different even though its the same name and type of technology?  I thought the sound would be more consistent but this doesn't appear to be the case. Maybe more time is needed and allow for break in.

How long did it take before you noticed the cables sounding their best? Some say 150 hours. Sound about right?

2007audioman
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
run them in and see :-) sounds like you have good dealer / AQ relationship, so believe they will take care of you. 
keep us up to date.
Jim
2007audioman OP
80 posts
 
Hi tomic601. You mean burn them in and see how it sounds or bring them into my dealer? 

2007audioman
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