Why all the attitude???
I have to state for the record that some of the responses to what seems like a reasonable topic simply blow me away. I don't get what you have to loose by listening to someone else's opinion. If you don't have a valid argument simply insulting the persons opinion only shows a complete lack of intelligence. Note that most of the insulting responses are from people who can not even form complete sentences or spell. Feel free to use the spell check.
As to the topic at hand. I too am a huge fan of Audio Quest. I assure you, I am no dealer. I am a financial planner if you must know. I was very skeptical, at best, before I forked over the dough for my cables...Audio Quest
CV-8 speaker wire to fronts and center
Type-8 to surrounds and rear surrounds
Eagle Eye Digital interconnects
YIQ-3 component video cables
Optilink-3 (where toslink was the only option)
NRG-3 power cables
Diamondback sub kit
I thought I had pretty descent cables already, and really could not see the advantage. I also took 26 hours of psychology in college and know the powers of the brain to influence your decision based on preconceived perceptions. I was fortunate enough to locate a dealer who would let me demo cables for an entire weekend on my own system. Rather than A/B them on myself, I did a blind A/B for my wife. She was not privy as to which cables were A and which were B. I only asked here to describe any differences she saw or heard. We went through each type of cable one by one to see if any advantage could be seen and or heard. Also, for the record my wife would prefer me buying just about anything other than more "crap" (her words) for my theater. One by one, she was blown away with either one cable or the other. In fact, in the case of the Eagle Eye compared to my mid level Tara Lab digital coax, we started with the Tara Lab. We listened to a variety of music...Norah Jones, Allison Krauss, Pink Floyd etc...Some live, some recording studio. We then listened to the same music with the Eagle Eye for a few hours. I then switched back to the Tara Lab. I never told her which cable she was listening to. After the switch from the Eagle Eye to my old Tara Lab, she looked as though someone had just made her eat an entire lemon with the peel still on. I too was shocked at the difference, but I consider myself an audiophile and she does not. She told me in detail why she preferred the B cable (Eagle Eye) to the A cable (Tara lab). For the record all was played on the same equipment at the same level in stereo only. I was surprised to hear my wife say things like "did you turn on the sub? Did you turn on the surrounds? Did you turn up the volume?" The answer of course was NO NO NO. Without exception she preferred the Audio Quest cable to my existing cables. Some effect were not as dramatic as the Eagle Eye, or the switch to the YIQ-3 component video cables, but all were impressive. Another words, dramatically increased imaging, a fuller, richer and warmer sound, dramatically increased black levels, etc...When I informed her the Eagle Eye alone was a $650 cable, she said it was well worth it. This is coming from someone who previously thought the last thing I needed to spend more money on was home theater "crap".
Maybe my test wasn't scientific enough for some of you. Maybe all the science in the world wouldn't be enough for you. The point of my post is merely to back others who have said to listen for yourself. Were a blind fold and let someone else A/B the cables for you. Until you have, you don't even have a right to an opinion. After all, my mother swears she can't see a difference in HD vs. standard def TV. Is she wrong? I certainly thinks so. Most people on the planet would agree. But she has BAD EYES. So to someone who is almost legally blind I can understand were she is coming from. At least she looked before making her decision. Listen and look for yourself. Are my cables the best on the planet? I don't know. I know they are the best I've heard within my budget to me, and that's all I need to know.
FYI...other components
Marantz SR7500 Receiver
Sony DVP-S9000ES DVD Player
DirecTv HR 10-250 HDTV DVR tuner
Panamax line conditioner
Richard Grey RGPC 400S
Sharp XVZ 2000 U DLP Projector
110” Stewart Greyhawk Reference series screen
Monitor Gold Reference 20’s
Monitor Gold Reference Center
Monitor Gold Reference GRFX Surround
Monitor Gold Reference GR 10’s
Definitive Technology Super Cube II
My room is 16' by 30' and has been acoustically treated thoroughly.
Happy hunting.
