Audioquest Star-Quad Series

Variable lengths, connectors and pricing
SKU: audioquest-star-quad-series Category: Brand:

Description

Q2

SOLID+ CONCENTRIC LONG-GRAIN COPPER CONDUCTORS
Solid conductors prevent two very common sources of distortion: imperfect strand-to-strand contacts and magnetic interaction between strands. However, if a conductor as large as in Q2 was a single solid, not only would it be very stiff, but, due to skin effect, it would also have a very unnatural sound—like an aural roller coaster. Q2’s Solid+ Concentric Conductors comprise a perfect circle of 11 smaller strands of LGC copper spiraled around a single larger strand of LGC. The result is a flexible conductor with sound quality approaching that of an ideal solid conductor.
LOW-INDUCTANCE TWISTED-PAIR GEOMETRY
A normal speaker cable with parallel conductors has fairly high inductance, smearing energy across time and making the sound dull and unfocused. Two conductors spiraled around one another, provide lower inductance, greater clarity, and superior bass-to-treble frequency extension.
SUREGRIP 100 BFA/BANANA SILVER CONNECTORS
15 AWG

Type 4

SOLID LONG-GRAIN COPPER (LGC) CONDUCTORS
Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) allows a smoother and clearer sound than cables using regular OFHC (Oxygen-Free High-Conductivity) copper. Solid conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of distortion. The surface quality is critical because a conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the electric fields within a conductor, and for the magnetic fields outside the conductor. LGC has fewer oxides within the conducting material, less impurities, less grain boundaries, and definitively better performance.
STAR-QUAD GEOMETRY
High-Inductance geometry smears sound and reduces information. Star-Quad low-inductance geometry preserves time information, preserving dynamics and clarity.
CARBON-BASED NOISE- AND CROSSTALK-DISSIPATION SYSTEM
This cable’s negative conductors are covered with partially conductive Carbon-Loaded Polyethylene. This remarkable material reduces radio-frequency garbage being fed back into the amplifier. The sonic benefit is exactly the same reduction in “hash” and improved dimensionality that comes whenever RF interference is reduced in an audio circuit. In addition, a carbon layer damps interaction between positive and negative conductors, and an external Carbon-Based Noise-Dissipation System reduces external interference.
FOAMED-POLYETHYLENE INSULATION (FOR ALL POSITIVE CONDUCTORS)
Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy. Some of this energy is stored and then released as distortion. This cable, however, uses air-filled Foamed-Polyethylene Insulation on both conductors. Because air absorbs next to no energy and Polyethylene is low-loss and has a benign distortion profile, Foamed-PE, with its high air content, causes much less of the out-of-focus effect common to other materials.
CHOICE OF SUREGRIP SPADE OR SUREGRIP 300 BFA/BANANA (GOLD OR SILVER) CONNECTORS
SOLID LONG-GRAIN COPPER (LGC) CONDUCTORS
Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) allows a smoother and clearer sound than cables using regular OFHC (Oxygen-Free High-Conductivity) copper. Solid conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of distortion. The surface quality is critical because a conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the electric fields within a conductor, and for the magnetic fields outside the conductor. LGC has fewer oxides within the conducting material, less impurities, less grain boundaries, and definitively better performance.

Type 5

SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+/LONG-GRAIN COPPER SONIC-SIGNATURE CONDUCTORS
A finessed combination of grainless-sounding Perfect-Surface Copper+ Sonic-Signature conductors, plus Long-Grain Copper, enable a smooth and natural “lack-of-character.”
SOLID CONDUCTORS
Eliminate harshness and confusion due to strand-interaction.
NOISE-DISSIPATION
Carbon-Loading and Direction-Controlled conductors provide effective Noise-Dissipation, minimizing noise modulation and amplifier distortion.
STAR-QUAD GEOMETRY
Balanced Star-Quad Geometry reduces time-smearing while preserving dynamics, and clarity.

Type 9

HIGH PURITY CONDUCTORS – SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+)
Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of ear fatiguing transient intermodulation distortion. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface Copper+ eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other premium coppers. The superior purity of PSC+ further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface Copper further eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other premium coppers.
SOLID CONDUCTORS
Eliminate harshness and confusion due to strand-interaction.
MULTI-LAYER CARBON-BASED NOISE-DISSIPATION
Multi-Layer carbon-based Noise-Dissipation plus Direction-Controlled conductors and shielding significantly lower noise-floor and reduce amplifier Transient-Intermodulation Distortion (TIM).
STAR-QUAD GEOMETRY
Balanced Star-Quad Geometry reduces time-smearing while preserving dynamics, and clarity.

Type 9+DBS

HIGH PURITY CONDUCTORS – SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+)
Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of ear fatiguing transient intermodulation distortion. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface Copper+ eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other premium coppers. The superior purity of PSC+ further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface Copper further eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other premium coppers.
MULTI-LAYER CARBON-BASED NOISE DISSIPATION
Multi-Layer carbon-based Noise-Dissipation plus Direction-Controlled conductors and shielding significantly lower noise-floor and reduce amplifier Transient-Intermodulation Distortion (TIM).
SOLID CONDUCTORS
Eliminate harshness and confusion due to strand-interaction.
72v Dielectric-Bias System with CARBON-Level Radio-Frequency Trap (DBS)
All insulation is also a dielectric whose electrical properties affect the integrity of the signal. When the insulation is unbiased, dielectric-involvement (absorption and non-linear release of energy back into the signal flow) causes different amounts of time delay (phase shift) for different frequencies and energy levels, which is a significant problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio. AudioQuest’s multi-patented DBS creates a strong, stable electrostatic field which saturates and polarizes (organizes) the molecules of the insulation. This minimizes the nonlinear time delays, resulting in clearer sound emerging from a “blacker” background. The inclusion of an RF Trap (a technology developed for AudioQuest’s Niagara Series of power products) in the DBS battery pack further reduces radio-frequency noise. The DBS battery packs will last for many years. A test button and LED allow for the occasional battery check.
STAR-QUAD GEOMETRY
Balanced Star-Quad Geometry reduces time-smearing while preserving dynamics, and clarity.

GO-4

SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+) CONDUCTORS
Solid conductors prevent both electrical and magnetic interaction strand-to-strand interaction, major sources of distortion. Surface quality is critical because a conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the fields within a conductor, and for the magnetic fields that extend outside the conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure surface of all AudioQuests’s Perfect-Surface metals nearly eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to lesser materials. Extremely high-purity Perfect-Surface Copper+ further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor, nearly eliminating harshness and greatly increasing clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other coppers.
STAR-QUAD GEOMETRY
High-Inductance geometry smears sound and reduces information. Star-Quad low-inductance geometry preserves time information, preserving dynamics and clarity.
CARBON-BASED NOISE- AND CROSSTALK-DISSIPATION SYSTEM
This cable’s negative conductors are covered with partially conductive Carbon-Loaded Polyethylene. This remarkable material reduces radio-frequency garbage being fed back into the amplifier. The sonic benefit is exactly the same reduction in “hash” and improved dimensionality that comes whenever RF interference is reduced in an audio circuit. In addition, a carbon layer damps interaction between positive and negative conductors, and an external Carbon-Based Noise-Dissipation System reduces external interference.
FOAMED-POLYETHYLENE INSULATION (FOR ALL POSITIVE CONDUCTORS)
Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy. Some of this energy is stored and then released as distortion. This cable, however, uses air-filled Foamed-Polyethylene Insulation on both conductors. Because air absorbs next to no energy and Polyethylene is low-loss and has a benign distortion profile, Foamed-PE, with its high air content, causes much less of the out-of-focus effect common to other materials.
CHOICE OF 500 SERIES MULTI-SPADE OR BANANA (GOLD OR SILVER) CONNECTORS
DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM WITH RADIO FREQUENCY TRAP
All insulation between two or more conductors is also a dielectric whose properties will affect the integrity of the signal. When the dielectric is unbiased, dielectric-involvement (absorption and non-linear release of energy) causes different amounts of time delay (phase shift) for different frequencies and energy levels, which is a real problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio. The inclusion of an RF Trap (developed for AudioQuest’s Niagara Series of power products), ensures that radio-frequency noise will not be induced into the signal conductors from the DBS field elements. (DBS, US Pat #s 7,126,055 & 7,872,195 B1)