AudioQuest Red River, Mackenzie & Yukon XLR : Cables? It's at Good Value!
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Where does your Value Quotient lie as regards HiFi cables?....It can vary, but common threads exist within groups as to what represents value.
I was keen to ascertain if relative budget XLR cables could cut the mustard as well as my premium £1000 Chord Signature XLR tuned array cables, in my system. In this test I look at Red River, Mackenzie and Yukon Cables from AudioQuest.
I get an answer myself and I invite you to consider ;
-What represents value to you?
-The diminishing returns that exist between relative budget and premium cables in many systems, and;
-Do you really need to spend excessively on HiFi interconnect cables?
-The performance of these AudioQuest cables against pricier alternates.
-The stellar performance on offer from AudioQuest considering price.
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Thanks very much for watching.
#audiophile #hificables #audioquest
what are the sonic differences between the Yukon & the Mackenzie?
🤔Can Anybody pls Explain what is AudioQuest is talking about SureGrip300 Beryllium copper vs SureGrip500 Purple Copper vs SureGrip1000 Red copper. What is AudioQuest trying to Say what the Difference!! Details Explain pls😥
Use cables to length...............................
Odds are the stock cables will be too long or short, whether they be patchcords or power cables. So since new lengths are necessary, might as well get decent ones. There's no excuse for a Rat's Nest back there.
Acid Jazz. Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
I got the Audioquest Red River Chinch 1m to connect my Denon DVD 3930 5.1 analog multichanel out to the AV Processor and i think they are ver good for the price.
Although I hold a slightly different perspective, this is a well done video. Thanks.
Tech Rider thanks very much
I use the AQ MacKenzie XLR,s on a £20k system & find them excellent
I find it’s all I need at a similar type set up
Thanks buddy.Dan in NZ
Rule of thumb? Maybe 15% to 20% of the cost of your system.
I got Yukons and Rocket 88. Made a big difference than my old cables. Balanced on the RME dac was a big improvement too.
Love your video format. Well done.... There are so many opinions out there as to make ones head spin off. You make a lot of sense in matching whatever cables for your system. Also if it makes you happy to buy cables that cost more than your system, Go for it. Just not me. Thanks. ( also late to the party )
It’s funny, I have a little SMSL THX 888 SH-9 amp and SMSL SU-9 DAC and spent nearly $300 on the Mackenzies and another $70 on my Audioquest USB DAC cable. The Mack’s cost as much as the SMSL amp! LOL.
I think what Paul from PS Audio says is correct, it’s synergistic. The little crap stack I have probably isn’t going to reveal much difference with the Audioquest cables, but it’s also not going to be held back. I have $309 Meze Classic 99 headphones that are holding me back more than anything else.
To me, the Mack’s made sense as I can repurpose them when I upgrade.
Cheers!
Eventually my first mid to high level hifi is probably gonna be the schiit bifrost to a freya and out to the diy amp camp amp mono blocks and the zu dirty weekends with audioquest cinamon digital cables red river XLR cables the Y3 power cables and speaker cables I don't think they will make up that much of a difference but I also like build quality of aq cables
Well, it’s been 2 years since your comment. What did you do? I have a Freya N and Bifrost 2/64 and up until this week I’ve been running mid-grade cables by Pine Tree Audio. I have $3,000 in Audioquest Water RCA and XLR cables that are on the way that I just purchased over the holiday weekend. I can’t wait to see the difference. I also picked up a AQ Diamond USB cable *yeah, $700 cable*, but I got it as an open box. It’s between my Blue Sound Node and the Bifrost. It made a tremendous upgrade.
@@aa5az423 currently my system sits at a elac debut b6.2 with a Bic F12 subwoofer and a Cambridge AXR100 with a transparent labs performance power cable and their hardwired speaker cables
I'm sorry for being late to the party, but I wanted to comment. My local dealer sold me a set of Mackenzie 1m XLR's at a 60% discount today ($140/pr). They were a display pair and the store is moving locations. I figured I'd give them a try and compare them to several other sets I own which range from the $125/pair price-point(Kimber Hero) up to $2000 (Belden Iconoclast UPOCC).
I inserted them between my Mola Mola DAC and my Parasound JC2 preamp. I'd describe the AQ cables as vibrant but not bright. I'm liking what I'm hearing. Tonally rich, detailed but not hyper-detailed the way the Belden UPOCC XLR's are. Definitely feeling the "Goldilocks" quality with these. I might have to pick up a second set to try between my amp and pre.
Thanks for the vid. Very good advice!
SamsonSlayer thank you in my attempts at this balanced reviewing project!
I watched a video recently that showed several of the Audioquest rca cables of differing branding and price points being disassembled and spliced open to show what was used internally. Connections weren't soldered, simply press fit and the internal copper and shielding was the same on all three.
Maybe tbh I wouldn’t do cable reviews anymore. They are still good value , I know they crimp without solder for a reason.
@@13thnotehifireviews7 It's questionable - ua-cam.com/video/QqKZtYZaFkY/v-deo.html
Hello 13th Note HiFi Reviews
My Plinius Hautonga + Toko system is connected by 0.5 Audioquest Red River XLR. Is there much difference with the following model, the Mackenzie?; Or to feel that difference would you have to use a more expensive model?
Thank you.
I found so but you are definitely best served trying yourself too. Happy listening. 😁
Great video.
thank you.
Would you recommend chord signature xl or audioquest rocket 88 for kef reference speakers?
I would recommend getting cheap speaker wire and then if you compare it to AQ or Chord and you think they are worth it, go for it. I would get cables on loan
@@13thnotehifireviews7 that's true, I can lend the cables from the shop where I bought the speakers and amps, I will try it and compare it than decide. Thanks 👍
I doubt anyone can hear any difference.
Ask someone to change XLR cables in your system and try to guess which cable it is.
That’s why I say go for good quality ones, that aren’t massive cost against price of system, but not crazy cable prices even on expensive systems where you often don’t get benefit. So I’m singing to your tune as well - probably. I don’t think the red river are expensive and buy used if they are. Bw
I advise to collect multiple cables and rotate. Thanks for the effort hear.
Manard H some validity in that when you start but a lot of audiophiles of modest or even quite premium systems when they have been doing this hobby a while just stick with the cables they have. Good quality is the order or the day, not trying to mind bend good improvements which aren’t really there.
It is always great to listen to people experience and opinions to have clean ideas
Thanks buddy 👍🏽👌🏼
Good video. The point on scaling the cost of cables in line with the cost of the actual system makes a lot of sense. Good car analogy as well. Cheers
Thank you
Excellent review.
Thank you. More happier with more recent ones tbh.
Way too long
Sorry you didn’t like that. Can’t please everyone though.
The BEEP was really hurtful to my ears. I do have a tinnitus, so have to be careful. Next time you do something like this please mute the volume.
Sometimes the dynamics in some videos this happens and you want the volume to be higher for effect. If you are listening on a hifi loudly I’d recommend turning it down or just listen on tablet etc. You should only have the hifi up to the loudest level you are happy with taking this into consideration.
If you search around on ebay you can pick up proper hifi cables for barely any more than generic Amazon stuff. They are much better made and any perceived sound quality improvement then becomes a bonus.
I agree buying used is a great idea for hifi cables as little to go wrong with them in any event
There is no difference between cables of the same thickness that matters. This is similar to a car -- you will get no performance benefit by purchasing fancy titanium-reinforced hand-made fuel lines of the same diameter. This is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact that can easily be proven, and that your viewers can prove themselves with any speakers, any listening material. Here's how:
1. Hook up both cables to your amplifier
2. Have a friend sit somewhere you cannot see (this makes it a double-blind test). Listen to your favorite music passages on BOTH cheap cables (I recommend Monoprice 12 gauge cables) and any expensive cable you like. The friend can use an A/B switch or they can manually swap the cables, but if they do that, they must take the same amount of time between songs whether they switch cables or not, otherwise you will know the cable has not changed because there was no delay switching them. You must never know which cable is which.
3. Sitting in the same position, record which you think sounds better. Tell your friend so he can write down which cable it was that sounded better.
Do this maybe 50 times.
Result: Both cables will be about 50/50, meaning you could not tell which was the expensive cable. This will happen every time. See for yourself, and save money on cables; instead, put it into better speakers, your car, the stock market, Bitcoin, etc.
Note: edited from a more aggressive stance.
That’s total bollocks I just wrote an article exposing dishonest people in hifi . These cables aren’t robbing people who spend the sums normal audiophiles do on hifi and they too like you have to earn a living
@@13thnotehifireviews7 I would like t o read your article and will gladly give it a fair shot.
Cables make no difference. Do an A/B test. Have a friend flip an A/B switch between whatever cables you want and Monoprice 12 gauge cables. Be sure you can't see your friend because his facial expression may tell you which is which.
Listen to any music you like. Listen to each sample with both cables. Have your friend randomly decide which cable is used forst. Do so for maybe 50 samples. Record which sounds best.
Spoiler: It will be about 50/50, as has been proven time and again by trained music reviewers.
The same applies to 24/192 recordings vs 16/44, for lossless audio vs a properly encoded high-bitrate lossy (like AAC, MP3, etc.), for connectors, for fancy $400 power cables, etc. Easily proven, consistently, every single time, period. Try it yourself. Seriously. Do it.
Not that I am trying to convince you -- you make money on this stuff. Those people that you say need to make a living too -- well, that is true, but so do psychics, faith healers, paranormal investigators, and fancy cable salesmen. Just because people need to make money doesn't mean they are providing any benefit to other people.
@@CharlesBurnsPrime I’m as much of your thinking as you probably think, but somewhere there exists a half way house,
@@CharlesBurnsPrime i don’t make any money on that review
@@13thnotehifireviews7 My assumption was a poor one, then. In that case, perhaps a double-blind test may lead to a refocus of your video work, or perhaps not. It's your time and your channel.
Please note that I do not generally consider all audio upgrades to be bunk, only those that can be proven so.
For example, I use Sennheiser HD-600 headphones rather than, say, those popular with people vulnerable to marketing tricks such as Bose and Beats (though Beats are much better now than they once were).
My speakers use a ribbon tweeter made by a small company in Serbia (RAAL) because their impulse response and waterfall graphs are amazing, better even than exotic plasma tweeters, and because the general philosophy of the manufacturer is one of striving towards the perfect product, not one of chasing fads.
Much high-end equipment is quite good. For example, I would take a Focal or B&W speaker over any Bose speaker, but there are many that are terrible. Wilson Audio, for example, makes magnificently loud, large, expensive, mediocre-sounding products (though some may be great; just none that I have heard).
AudioQuest is pure garbage 🗑
I don’t think so. Don’t spend a lot on cables but it’s always a question of relativity too.
Just like your comment 🤯