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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Starting in 1986, when I first took an interest in audio, I had Monster Cable IL-400 interconnects. They didn't seem to do anything positive, which, for us high schools kids without much money, was a major downer.
Our high school's library had a Stereo Review subscription. We loved looking at the variety of stuff featured in the J&R Music World ads. And that was how most of us learned about the brand AudioQuest. Interestingly, like Monster Cable, AudioQuest were also based here in California.
After finishing my freshman year at UC Santa Cruz, I spent the summer of 1990 in Honolulu. At the late Stewart Ono's (here on AA, he was UncleStu52) Audio Directions Limited, I, for the first time, actually got to touch/hold AudioQuest interconnects. Stu gave me an AudioQuest brochure, which argued that cables should be like a pane of glass: the clearer the better.
During the Winter 1991 quarter, my home stereo system consisted of a Sony 3-head tape deck; Sony CDP-520ESII CD player; Sony TAE-1000ESD preamp; Adcom GFA-535 power amp. We liked the $0.79/foot AQ F-14 speaker wire (cut from dealers' spools!) so much, it made sense to eye their interconnects. During Spring Break '91, in anticipation of my upcoming 19th birthday, I went to San Francisco's Performance Audio. On a wall were clamshell packs of AQ accessories, line-level interconnects, mini-adapters, and video cables. I could have gotten two pairs of AQ Ruby. But instead, I got one pair of Quartz ($220, reviewed elsewhere in these pages), and one pair of Topaz ($50).
But with these products remaining home in San Francisco, I never really got to use them. And when that 1990-91 school year ended, I immediately left for Honolulu, to take summer school at UH. When my family came home to S.F., I had half a month of free time, before returning to Santa Cruz for the 1991-92 school year. Clearly, the AQ Topaz was superior to my old Monster IL-400. The Topaz simply let in more of what the sources were dishing out.
The SAs fail to understand, and comprehend the impact. When the Fall 1991 quarter began, Salt-N-Pepa's "Let's Talk About Sex" had a profound influence on college campuses nationwide. Instead of avoiding or flitting around the subject, everyone, be it one-on-one, or in groups, talked candidly about sexual matters. If that meant taking off your glasses, and role playing with a stuffie, so be it.
But you know what? After talking about sex, you had such an easy time, talking about music and cables. During that Fall 1991 quarter, I purchased some AQ Type 4 speaker wire from SF's Harmony A/V. That allowed me to bring down my old F-14 to UCSC. Used between the Denon integrated amp and some JBL bookshelf speakers, the F-14 was more focused and detailed, versus my old Original Monster Cable.
Just before Christmas 1991, I received an AQ Lapis ($400), about which you can read in these pages. So to start the Winter 1992 quarter, we now had my old AQ Topaz! It was initially used between a JVC S-VHS hi-fi stereo VCR and a Denon integrated amp. No one was an audiophile. But everyone (a) heard a difference, and (b) agreed that the AQ Topaz was superior to the Monster IL-400.
In early 1992, the acquisition of an NAD 5000 CD player for my home stereo meant that I could bring the old Sony CDP-520ESII to UCSC. First of all, the full-sized CD player was easier to use, than my Sony D-10 Discman. Second, it sounded much better than the hashy and fragile D-10. With the CDP-520ESII's sound quality and ease of use, my housemates and myriad guests were thrilled. Doing shootouts between the AQ Topaz and Monster IL-400 caused guests to loathe the latter, which now was revealed to filter and diminish the sound.
Interestingly, the Topaz first appeared in Stereophile's Recommened Components in the April 1995 issue. By then, the Topaz's price had risen to $60, still affordable. True, we veteran audiophiles had moved on to the pricier interconnects. Former Inmate FenderLover has AQ Topaz. He wanted me and others to write about the Topaz, so hopefully he sees this. Just like other old cables from the early-to-mid 1990s have come back to me, so has the Topaz.
Stay Tuned,
-Lummy The Loch Monster
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Topic - AudioQuest Topaz, Part 1 - Luminator 21:17:28 01/30/20 (0)
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