AudioQuest Big Sur

AudioQuest Big Sur

The AudioQuest Big Sur uses PSC+ copper which is even purer than the PSC copper used in the Golden Gate. In addition, the plugs use "Pure Purple Copper". This copper is, like the PSC+, even purer than OFHC copper which many other cables often use.

MASSIVE PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER + conductors (PSC+): Perfect-Surface Copper+ has an amazingly smooth and clean surface. Patented metal-processing technologies protect the surface of the conductor at every stage of the manufacturing process, from drawing to production. When high-purity copper with few oxides is kept as soft, pure and smooth as possible, you get a fantastic PSC+ conductor with low distortion. The result is a sound quality that is even more focused and simply even less in the way. For more than 30 years, AudioQuest has pioneered the use of superior metals, but even we were surprised by this huge jump in performance made possible by Perfect-Surface technology. PSC+ clearly outperforms previously available copper metals, regardless of price. All Big Sur conductors are solid. Electrical and magnetic interaction between the wires in a conventional cable is the main source of distortion, often resulting in a somewhat ragged and harsh sound. Solid conductors are fundamental to the very clean sound of the Big Sur.

INSULATED POLYETHYLENE ISOLATION: Any solid adjacent to a conductor is actually part of a non-perfect circuit. Cable insulation and circuit board materials absorb energy (loss). Some of this energy is stored and released again as distortion. Big Sur uses air-foamed Polyethylene insulation for both conductors because air absorbs virtually no energy and Polyethylene has little loss and also has a favorable deformation profile. Thanks to the air in foamed-PE, it causes far fewer out-of-focus effects than other materials.

METAL-LOW NOISE-DISSIPATION SYSTEM (NDS): 100% shielding is easy. Preventing captured RF interference from modulating equipment ground potential requires AQ's Noise-Dissipation System. Noise-Dissipation System prevents much of the captured RFI from reaching the equipment ground potential.

DOUBLE-BALANCED A-SYMMETRIC GEOMETRY: Designed specifically for single-ended applications, it provides a relatively lower impedance from ground and a richer and more dynamic experience. While most single-ended cable designs use the same conductor for both ground and shield, the Double-Balanced design separates them for cleaner and quieter performance.

COLD WELDED PUUR 'PAIR-COPER' RCA PLUGS: This plug design allows for a connection without solder, a common source of distortion. Because the plugs are not machined but pressed, a metal with low distortion can be chosen without regard to machinability. Purple -copper offers a cleaner, brighter sound than the nickel-plated or OFHC metals typically used in competing manufacturers' plugs.