My Audioquest cable journey started off with some HDMI and Evergreen analogue interconnects for my (pretty basic) TV setup. I was actually quite impressed even by their second-from-the-bottom cables in a setup like that. Nothing at all to complain about at the price. The approach seemed to be my favoured one: Don't do anything overtly offensive to the sound. A sins of omission paradigm so to speak (according to how much you decide to pay). I've now had those cables in my TV setup for around 30 months now and remain extremely happy with them (and as an aside, the HDMI cable is very easy to route - something I cannot necessarily say about other brands).
I was thus enthusiastic enough to try the brand in a proper audio setup, so borrowed the Sydney, Victoria and Yosemite from the local dealer - three cables in the top half of the Bridges and Falls range. I did not audition the Angel as it was out of my budget.
What surprised me the most with the above audition is that I could hear very distinct improvements with each cable according to price. When I had read the specifications, I was honestly expecting the Yosemite to be over-priced and likely - to my ears at least - indistinguishable from the cheaper Victoria. Afterall, the changes are relatively subtle - that DBS box and a change to the insulation being the two main features. Yet there was a more obvious difference between the Yosemite and Victoria than the Victoria and Sydney. I considered a Victoria a disappointing upgrade from the Sydney but the Yosemite a very worthy upgrade from the Victoria. Certainly nothing like I was expecting as I plugged those cables in and actually listened.
Perhaps the most stark difference (at least to anyone who is not accustomed to hearing cable differences) manifested itself in the French work Escales by Jacques Ibert - the version with Paul Paray on Mercury vinyl SR90313. The opening forte bars of the first violins sounded relatively sour and abrasive with both the Sydney and Victoria yet sounded more like violins should with the Yosemite. If I were to nit-pick, the downside of the superb tonality and smoothness was a very slightly dry sound and perhaps lacking some subtleties in terms of microdynamics and overall detail. Nevertheless, I considered (still consider) this cable to be excellent for the price, so I bought it. It's been in my system for two years now.
The above experience now has me wondering about the Elements series. If you look at the specs of the cables in the two series, you might say that the main differences between a Yosemite and Earth is the latter is two separate physical cable runs (as opposed to one with the Yosemite) and the two DBS boxes (again, as opposed to just one with the Yosemite). Given how much difference I heard between the Victoria and Yosemite with such "small" physical differences, I cannot help thinking that the difference between the Yosemite and Earth could be just as significant. If it were, I might almost say the Earth is my perfect copper interconnect.
Has anyone here heard the Earth with classical (or acoustic) music or even better, compared it to the Yosemite? Or has anyone made any other comparisons between the Earth and Bridges and Falls series?
Thanks
I was thus enthusiastic enough to try the brand in a proper audio setup, so borrowed the Sydney, Victoria and Yosemite from the local dealer - three cables in the top half of the Bridges and Falls range. I did not audition the Angel as it was out of my budget.
What surprised me the most with the above audition is that I could hear very distinct improvements with each cable according to price. When I had read the specifications, I was honestly expecting the Yosemite to be over-priced and likely - to my ears at least - indistinguishable from the cheaper Victoria. Afterall, the changes are relatively subtle - that DBS box and a change to the insulation being the two main features. Yet there was a more obvious difference between the Yosemite and Victoria than the Victoria and Sydney. I considered a Victoria a disappointing upgrade from the Sydney but the Yosemite a very worthy upgrade from the Victoria. Certainly nothing like I was expecting as I plugged those cables in and actually listened.
Perhaps the most stark difference (at least to anyone who is not accustomed to hearing cable differences) manifested itself in the French work Escales by Jacques Ibert - the version with Paul Paray on Mercury vinyl SR90313. The opening forte bars of the first violins sounded relatively sour and abrasive with both the Sydney and Victoria yet sounded more like violins should with the Yosemite. If I were to nit-pick, the downside of the superb tonality and smoothness was a very slightly dry sound and perhaps lacking some subtleties in terms of microdynamics and overall detail. Nevertheless, I considered (still consider) this cable to be excellent for the price, so I bought it. It's been in my system for two years now.
The above experience now has me wondering about the Elements series. If you look at the specs of the cables in the two series, you might say that the main differences between a Yosemite and Earth is the latter is two separate physical cable runs (as opposed to one with the Yosemite) and the two DBS boxes (again, as opposed to just one with the Yosemite). Given how much difference I heard between the Victoria and Yosemite with such "small" physical differences, I cannot help thinking that the difference between the Yosemite and Earth could be just as significant. If it were, I might almost say the Earth is my perfect copper interconnect.
Has anyone here heard the Earth with classical (or acoustic) music or even better, compared it to the Yosemite? Or has anyone made any other comparisons between the Earth and Bridges and Falls series?
Thanks
