Cable Asylum: REVIEW: AudioQuest Sky Cable by rlindsa Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

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Model:	Sky
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$1800
Description:	Perfect Surface Silver interconnect with Dialectric Bias System (DBS)
Manufacturer URL:	AudioQuest
Manufacturer URL:	AudioQuest

Review by rlindsa ( A ) on January 10, 2005 at 11:22:39 IP Address: 209.30.191.189

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I recently auditioned the AudioQuest Skys AudioQuest Cheetahs for about a week. Both the Skys and the Cheetahs are Solid Perfect Surface Silver (21AWG for the Cheetahs vs 20AWG for the Skys), use Teflon Air Tubes (50% larger on the Skys), and use a Dielectric Bias System (36v for the Cheetahs, 72v for the Skys). Cables were XLR terminated.

Recordings compared:

k d lang: Hymns of the 49th Parallel (at 55dB reading on pre-amp)

Diana Krall: The Girl in the Other Room (at 55dB)

Rostropovich: Bach Cello Suites (at 70dB)

Sharon Isbin: Plays Baroque Favorites for the Guitar (at 57.5dB)

Cowboy Junkies: The Trinity Session (at 60dB)

Vivaldi: Four Seasons (Academy of Ancient Music) (at 57.5dB)

I had been using Tara Labs Air 1s on loan from my dealer since purchasing my new system 6 weeks ago. They sounded nice – good detail, warm sound, good soundstage, good dynamics. At least I thought they did.

Then I tried out some AQ Skys – what a difference! This was not subtle – it was truly jaw dropping. Other people I brought in the following days for a comparison were immediately and equally astounded.

The first thing I noticed was just a LOT MORE sound from the Skys – they seemed significantly louder. I don’t have a sound pressure meter, so I don’t know if they really were. I kept all comparisons at the same dB reading on my pre-amp for each CD with (although different from CD to CD). A little further careful listening revealed:

• Huge amounts of detail – I was hearing things I hadn’t heard before - background vocals and subtle echos from the church in which Cowboy Junkies was recorded (especially on “Walking After Midnight” and “Misguided Angel”); plucked/strummed strings on Vivaldi (toward end of first movement of “Summer); faint harpsichord in upper left of soundstage on opening of track 5 of Sharon Isbin

• Great “attacks” – the snap of the snares and the “tinking” of cymbals played on the crown on track 2 of Diana Krall, the plucked bass on track 3 of Diana Krall, the plucked guitars track 3 of on k d lang, extraordinarily sweet plucked guitar on Sharon Isbin (especially track 7)

• Great “bloom” – tremendous resonance on k d lang’s voice when she sings near the bottom of her range (“Helpless”, “Hallelujah”), great breathiness in Diana Krall’s voice (track 2)

• Distinct and firm bass – Track 8 of Diana Krall, great lower cello on Rostropovich (especially Suite 4), bass on k d lang “Helpless”

• Great overtones – plucked bass sounded more like a plucked STRING (as it is) than on the Taras (pluck was good, but didn’t seem to vibrate like a string would)

Switching back to the Taras’ everything now sounded lifeless and dull by comparison. It was all in there somewhere, just not THERE like in the Skys.

Now the Skys are easily double the price of the Taras are ($1800/pair versus about $700-800), so I wanted to see if I could get close to Skys with the AQ Cheetahs ($900/pair).

The Cheetahs were noticeably better sounding (to me) than the Taras, for many of the same reasons listed above for the Skys. They gave me probably “80%” of the performance of the Skys. I would probably have been delighted with them if I hadn’t heard the Skys. The Skys just gave me “more” of everything – more resonance on the cello (especially low notes), more “air” on Diana Krall and k d lang vocals, a bit more soundstage, more snap on the percussion and more ring on cymbals. Just overall fuller and richer sounding. Everything just sounded a bit more “alive” with the Skys, without sounding analytic or unnatural.

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Product Weakness:	none noted; perhaps a SLIGHT tendency toward sibilance (but it could have been in the recordings I was using)
Product Strengths:	Clarity/detail; soundstage; full, rich sound; allow overtones to come through; distinct and firm bass; great "bloom"

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Classe CA-M400s
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Classe CP-500
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Classe CDP-100
Speakers:	B&W Nautilus 802s
Cables/Interconnects:	AudioQuest Sky and Cheetah
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	classical, jazz (see above)
Room Size (LxWxH):	18.5 x 14.5 x 10
Room Comments/Treatments:	none
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 week
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	PS Audio UPC-200
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition

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