Well, the Audioquest has been eliminated from the shootout. Keep in mind that synergy is different for different systems.
In my system, the AQ just doesn't fit in. It has a persistent upper midrange leanness to it that turns me off. The bass is good but not great, midrange is actually not bad, highs are not in the same league as the other cables, missing some glow and shimmer replacing it with a metallic flavor and glassiness, opposite of the effect that defines the cables that are extended yet refined sounding. Detail retrieval is pretty impressive.
Overall the cable sounds more analytical and hyper detailed on most recordings, acquitting itself nicely with male and some female vocals but just not fitting in with most other instruments.
The usual audiophile Diva's all sing with their usual pizzaz with these cables until they start hitting the upper notes and the stringed instruments and brass sections have an artificial sounding edge and a little too much bite for my taste. Piano recordings have a "cooling" effect in the upper registers and there is a little too much zing from acoustic strings.
I can see these cables possibly working with some very mellow sounding systems but not in mine. As I took notes, I kept coming back to the same feeling of persistent leanness and the desire to keep turning the volume down. The Wilson speakers just don't take very well to these kind of cables.
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