Audioquest Cable Review! Featuring the Type 4, Rocket 33, Rocket 44 

I nor my wife have observed any sonic difference between cables even though we have been listening to music for quite some time. Some cables do look prettier than others, though, for which reason one sometimes prefers an after market accessory over a freebie. And that is all there is to it. Keep the BS radar activated when buyng audio gear, listening to its beeps, and save yourself a big buck.

Storms Darwin , you can say that about all audio gear.

these "believers" will NEVER accept a blind test..sad but true

@@shaolin95 I do blind tests all the time. A lot of us do, but no one bothers to ask. But what I find most interesting are people that claim they can't hear a difference. In most cases they can but won't admit to it. And here's how if found out. I set up a cable demo to AB 2 pairs of interconnects. When I do the demo for cable deniers, they always say they can't hear a difference. After that, I ask them if they can hear differences between other components like amps and preamps. Their answer is almost always yes, they have no problem hearing differences. So at that point, I go over the equipment and set up to do an AB between 2 amps. After that demo, they could easily tell the difference between the 2 amps. What I didn't tell them is I just made it look like I was setting the amps up for the demo. In reality, I didn't change a thing, and played the same exact cable demo over again. Now they can tell you exactly what the differences are between the 2 cables. Why do they lie? I can't say. It must be some type of emotional thing where they just don't want to admit it.

This. And speaker impedance.

and capacitance - and lots of other factors that aren't so easy to put into numbers ...

@@antigen4 The capacitance is far too low to affect the audible frequency range. The other factors are confirmation bias.

my point is simply that simply because you might not be able to measure it with crude tools does not mean it's not there ... don't forget we are still very much in the stone age of electronics still ... pretty much the only tools we have are means of measuring voltage over time and resistance

there are even aspects we know about but do not know how to measure like 'reactance' - how components dynamically interact with each other to cause audible effects ... op amp stabilty with different loads blah blah blah

Thanks William. Part 2 of this video will be coming out in the near future. Gotta whole bunch of AQ analog interconnects to riff about.

What is the sonic difference would you say? I think AQ leans more detail oriented.

same for me... AQ has zero more detail... just more bling bling price ...

@@ericshutter5305 Same, more money no difference, JMO

@@HypnotizedAwake I never heard it. Now is it better than cheap unshielded?, yes in my opinion.

@@HypnotizedAwake I have Blue Jeans and Rocket 33. The 33 is about half a step to a step more laid back and more neutral, with more detail. A thinner sounding signature. The Blue Jeans is warmer, thicker sounding, a half-step/step more forward, and not as detailed. Running on Audio Monitor Silver 5i, I like the Rocket 33 more.

Thanks Sky! :)

Jumper cables would cut the top end of the sound spectrum. They are too thick.

Илья Основиков no they won't. A pair of jumper cables has very low capacitance. It won't cut off the high-end at all.

It's not because of capacitance but due to the skin effect. However it might not cut that much because jumper cable still has plenty of copper on a wire surface.

Илья Основиков Skin effect is not truly an issue at these frequencies. And, yes, at that guagen there is plenty of copper..

I don't know. Skin effect calculator ( chemandy.com/calculators/skin-effect-calculator.htm ) shows that at 20 kHz a current penetration into a copper wire will be only 0.46 mm (0.018") deep from a wire surface. If, let's say, jumper cable wire is 1/4" in diameter it has total cross-section of 31.67 sq. mm and only 4.43 sq. mm of that wire will be conducting current at 20 kHz. That's only 14% but still quite a bit of copper.

I own an Audioquest cable. It was less than a $100. I like the light thin quality to it. Good product

You will never really know until you buy some cables and try it yourself.

1) You’re speculating based on YOUR OWN BIASES. Go listen to some high-end cables from Audience or High Fidelity Cables in a high-end system in a room with good acoustics. Then listen to the same system with cheap cables. If you don’t hear a SIGNIFICANT improvement from the better cables, I’ll respect your opinion. Until then, you’re just blowing smoke out of your ass. 2) Were the people at the CES show critically or casually listening before lunch and for how long? And what were the room acoustics and power conditioning like in the Wilson room. Both are generally notoriously bad at CES shows. You’re not providing enough information to assess what really went on.

Travis Bishop 1) show booth isn’t ideal for demo Hi-Fi systems 2) people need to be very familiar with the specific sound system setup to notice the cables are swapped. If you don’t know how it should sound like, how could you know something’s swapped? 3) sound quality can be affected by temperature, humidity, warm-up time, EMI. A perfect scientific AB test is near impossible outside laboratory.

So what’s the difference between the AQ33 vs AQ44?

I'm sorry, there's no speaker cable that can bring anything more than 12awg lamp cord..

I think this is a very useful review. Well done.

Thanks. :)

I'm new to this but . In mu honest novice opinion I feel that the sound you hear is no1 dependent on the source and no2 the quality of the speakers used...as long as the cable is of quality copper and the suitable gauge it should not need ludicrously priced connects.

Zero Fidelity, I love your reviews and your honest practical info. But this just ruins everything. If you really believe expensive cables sound better or even different for that matter when no one has passed the blinded lamp cord test, it just casts a shadow over everything you’ve said. So it has nothing to do with you not doing a good job of describing the sound-it’s simply absurd to say a cable has a sound. But if you really believe that, I’d love for you to do a video on HOW a cable may even theoretically impart a sound. Otherwise, just remake this video and talk about how cool the cables look, the craftsmanship, etc...I’d actually buy nice cables for the looks and craftsmanship, but not for the “sound.”

Thanks for the recommendation! I am building a set of high end speakers and looking for affordable wire to build both internal and speaker connection cables. I ran some of the 4S11 cable across an LCR analyzer and was really happy with results. May save me a bundle on the overall build. At 2.30/foot a much better bang for the buck.

And?

I've NEVER met anyone who hasn't heard a SIGNIFICANT improvement when entry-level cables were replaced with good mid to high-end cables in a mid to high-end stereo system. Yet, I'm always reading comments on RU-vid from people who never listened to high-end cables or a high-end system in their life. And those are the ones who always talk about double-blind studies, scientific data, snake oil, and placebo effect. Same old, same old, year after year. In the meantime, I'll go on and enjoy my high-end stereo with high-end cables. BTW, a good electrical connections IS important so if someone isn't using DeoxIT Gold with foam swabs annually, those high-end cables are money down the toilet.

Too many unknowns to make a recommendation. What are your other components (speakers, amp, preamp)? What are you using for power conditioning? What interconnects are you using? What power cables are you using? What component platforms or rack are you using? Have you been deoxidizing all your connections annually with something like DeoxIT Gold and foam swabs? Have you been demagnetizing your CDs and system every couple weeks with something like a Furutech destat III? Interconnects make a more significant improvement than speaker wires. Ideally, you want to keep the same brand of interconnects and speaker wire. DH Labs and Audience make some of the best mid-end cables. But again, you didn’t provide any info about your system so it’s impossible to even guess what kind of improvement they would make. silversonic.com/products/speaker-cables/q-10-signature/ audience-av.com/cables/OHNO/

Type 4 isn't ten bucks. Lol. Either wya they're both very good cables, especially for tube amps

Thanks!

Thanks Eddie.

that is just your opinion, not everyone's opinion. You get what you paid for. If you buy cable from Home Depot, then you will have Home Depot's quality kind of sound. If that is what you want, then go for it.

Are you fully aware of how copper clad aluminum cable actually works? Seems not. The signal will be travelling through the outer perimeter of the cable and will be carried by the copper. That aluminum "base" is merely holding the copper. Maybe not the "home depot" variety, Try these and you'll understand: GearIT Pro Series 14 AWG Gauge Speaker Wire.

Is that right

No. It makes things sound clearer, images more precise, bass tighter, soundstage wider and deeper, background is blacker, etc. These are the qualities of a superior cable.

Not always true. I bought a very expensive pair of High Fidelity Cables Ultimate interconnect (albeit at a good discount). And they yielded a far more significant improvement than any component upgrade could for a similar cost.

buy not bye

And nobody will make ya. :D

It all depends on the quality of your set.

@Club Soda Not far off from what he said. Can we say that anything above like $100 is a little ridiculous?

You have to if you have big and expensive speakers that costs more than 2000$ And $20 isnt even expensive for a cable. If you can afford a pack of color inks that costs 40-50$ then you surely damn can afford a cable for 20$

@@nunyabiz2016 And How do you think cheap cable from china would be enough for a speaker that costs from 2000 to 30,000$?

This. Plus the fact that internally, nothing is golden soldered. Just plain tin.

Camdex utter B.S. Enough promoting this psycho babble. Millions of people around the world can hear the difference of well designed cables. If you can’t, that’s fine. Why troll audiophile videos if you’re not into it. The ear hears what it hears, period. No more of your B.S. please!

@@billdunn8542 Who the fuck are you posting that shit? It's been proven cables make no difference you fucking mong. Proven. The videos on YT. Watch it. Fucking idiots spending a fortune on cables.

@@johnratcliffe6438 Shut up bellend, people CAN hear a difference, if your cloth ears can't that's fine, nobody cares, And no, it hasn't "been proven" you pleb.

@@johnratcliffe6438 Well well...what an agressive little boy you are! Uttering BS like a little child who does'nt get what he wants. EVERY experienced audiophile can hear differences between cables, and even not so well trained ears can.( My gf does not share my hobby, but even she hears differences in a spot) No, not in every set and not between every cable, but there are hugh audible differences between a lot af cables. So please don't show your ignorence so clearly; that's painful....

@@paulb.3227 Do you really work for AudioQuest? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

There so much more that goes into manufacturing high-end cable than just using oxygen-free copper. A short response can't begin to cover it. But in the end, who cares. What really matters is what YOU hear. I can already tell you that you're not going to hear much difference from cheap DIY cable. But I've NEVER met anyone who hasn't heard a SIGNIFICANT improvement when entry-level cables were replaced with good mid to high-end cables in a mid to high-end stereo system. Yet, I'm always reading comments on RU-vid from people who never listened to high-end cables or a high-end system in their life. And those are the ones who always talk about double-blind studies, scientific data, snake oil, and placebo effect. Same old, same old, year after year. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my high-end stereo with high-end cables. If you want to upgrade your system with better cables, tell me what your system is and I'll make some suggestions.

@@LorenzoNW think you have got me wrong friend I know that cable makes a difference tosound and dynamics. But hi-fi gets a bit snooty and snobby. And generally nobody especially hifi reviewers include DIY option comparisons equally foyer never compare to made branded product.. Keep a very interesting topic polarised. I play around with different off the shelf cable like those who multiweave C5 or high grade mains transmission lines or coax etc etc. Now I appreciate hi-fi cable companies are equally trying to develop good sounding product but it all becomes confusing to the average person. Also in manufacturing the usual minimum markup is 5-6 times the manufacturing cost. So my point was and is that it would be good if reviewers would also getsome off the roll as reference point - such as a ofc 12 or 14 awg or maybe a high frequency digital coax with woven and centre core cable because some do offer great sound and dynamic improvements equal to more expensive custom made cables. My system is mid do but I have friends with up to £62000 systems and we have all still played with made and DIY and all have their place and there are sonic surprises. But nothing to get stressed and judgemental about eh? Also from testing direct wire contact I think is often better than bananas and spades but I am not knocking expensive cable or hi-fi equipment and I like exploring and making things.

@@humanitech I think cables are such a polarizing subject on RU-vid is because 1) Many if not most people looking at RU-vid audio reviews have entry-level systems and there’s an automatic sense of cognitive dissonance and anger when they see cables costing more than their entire systems. 2) They may have tried a heavily marketed cable like Monster on their stereos and of course, didn’t hear any difference. 3) They may have tried a truly better cable but their system wasn’t resolving enough to hear the difference. I’ve had people tell me they own great stereos only to find out they have a Denon receiver, KEF speakers, a cheap CD player, and no power conditioning. Whatever termination you choose, it’s important to deoxidize all your connections once a year with something like DeoxIT Gold and foam (not cotton) swabs. It’s also important to demagnetize CDs, components, and cables with something like a Furutech desert III. But most people have no clue as to what great sound even is.

especially alternating current...

@@daveh9474 Alternating current doesn't know which way to go?

@Mario Cantani It goes the same way the electricity goes.

I get your sentiment, but.........I make a lot of cables for people. Canare 4S11, 4S8, Mogami, solid-core variants all terminated with proper low mass copper banana plugs and I like them all and those I've made them for are pleased. I also have a ton of these companies you call scammers and very few of my very decent cables I've made match the performance of Tellurium Q Black II, Audioquest Rocket 33, Chord Company Rumour, QED XT40, Van Den Hul D352. I could go on. Why are they better, different, more detailed??? Well my experience is that configuration, strand count, overall gauge vs strand, solid core versus multi strand, copper vs silver plated copper plus the insulation on the cable affects tonality, measurable resistance. Chord Company Odyssey has the exact same wire inside as the much more expensive Chord Epic Twin. The insulation on Epic Twin is thick, lots of covering and I've had both cable at home for extended listing and they just don't sound the same at all and that is based solely on the covering of the wire and insulation. I mean Audioquest Type 4 is 4 single solid copper conductors which is somewhat different than the majority of cable out there at moment that is comprised of tiny multistrand conductors......and yes solid core cable sounds different to multi. Of the 7 or so big brand reasonably high price cable I've got here that I use as reference points against the cable I make my self with Mogami, Canare and a few other manufacturers, all those big brand ones you'd think as scams, sound totally different to one another based on = material used as insulation, material used as conductors, configuration of conductor, gauge of conductor, measurements in resistance inductance and capacitance. The relationship between resistance, inductance and capacitance measurements alone is significant on the sound signature. Yes, Canare 4S8 is insanely cheap and will get you quite a way in performance but its well known how good Canare and Mogami are. I've tried all sorts of cheaper wire that has made my system sound very muddy, Canare and Mogami the exception rather than the rule. And in my experience Mogami/Canare don't quite get you to QED XT40 detail levels. I wish they did, as I'd sell more Canare and could charge much more! Apologies for the essay ;-)

@@2791dles Proper response to a flat-earther imbecile. Well played.

Peter May LOL

GT Vitti you are right. All forms of copper, regardless of purity, oxygenation and age, once manufactured by different companies all catering to different price points and different customers, will all be the same. Because how could one copper be and different from the next? It's all copper! I mean chicken is chicken right? Even if one grew up on a farm eating seeds and insects, while the other grew up in a cage being fed modified animal feed loaded with steroids. And how water is water, even if one bottle was sourced at the base of a mountain, while the other was collected from the Coca-Cola factories, repurified, and bottled. Shaking my head at all these "electrical engineers..."

@@methuenboy25 And to make it more scary, he actually has people agreeing with him,

Jerry, get in that water and throw a ragged lamp cord connected to an amp in it. Then throw a fancy cable like this connected to an amp in it. See if the shock feels different and report back. :-)

I've NEVER met anyone who hasn't heard a SIGNIFICANT improvement when entry-level cables were replaced with mid to high-end cables in a mid to high-end stereo system. Yet, I'm always reading comments on RU-vid from people who never listened to high-end cables or a high-end system in their life. And those are the ones who always talk about double-blind studies, scientific data, snake oil, and placebo effect. Same old, same old, year after year. In the meantime, I'll go on and enjoy my high-end stereo with high-end cables.

LorenzoNW Do you work for Audioquest??? 😂😂😂

@@bobbiebreese9377 No, I think there are better cables at similar price points (i.e. Audience, QED, DH Labs, High Fidelity Cables).

Explain please

Kimber 8tc

acelakid94 if you find let me know too

Try Chinese companies; some of them manufacture fake Audioquest and Siltech cables :-)

So tell me great know it all, what high-end cables have you actually listened to? It gets so old reading comments from people pretending to act like they know what they're talking about. BTW, more and more high-end recording studios are using high-end cables. Once they hear the difference, there's no turning back.

Do a blind test. This guy would fail 10/10. I see myself as kind of an audiophile. BUT, im not crazy likr the rest of them. They are full of BS. Saying They hear this and that with different cables. I just bought the rocket 33, becouse i just wanted pre made cables, and these was the cheapest ones at 450$ i could buy a pair of cables that cost 3000$, i would not hear a difference. These audio ppl are just crazy.

​@@chriss881000 they would fail to detect even an extra ADC -> DAC in the signal path let alone magical differences in cables, it's beyond laughable - Dunning Kruger effect in full force, trying to use speaker wires and power cables as a form of EQ tone controls.... gods save us, it is really embarrassing to see fully grown men fooling themselves (and others) with this utter nonsense that they spout, betraying a total lack of understanding of basic scientific / engineering principles

Smart man....You get what you pay for .. Cheap cables gives you piss poor quality everything!! And thats a fact...I replaced the older HDMI cables when I bought my M serious Vizio tv...Holy shit ..The OCEAN Audioquestr cables brought my tv to life.....Picture looks like the tv you see in the stores ..Especiall my 4k Apple tv shows AWESOME !!

That is the only thing to convince you: believe. Its like a religion. It looks awesome, it cost a zillion, it must be better. Thats the pitfall.

@@leewilson9890 Another believer. You must have had shitty HDMI cables, to get a result like you claim. More then anything, Digital HDMI cables do not make a difference, at all. That has to do with the way the HDMI signals work. Fact is, not one serious test have ever shown superdupa cables make any difference in the output signal. When the cable gets very long, thats the only way to loose quality; in fact, any kid can see that; you get artifacts allover the screen.

they won't work from all the added resistance. lol. more snake oil.

Man, you should really go into politics. We need more people like you!

Science of this kind consists of repeatable measurements. There is plenty of information about the capacitance, conductivity and resistance of cables that can repeated at home by you with simple equipment. If two cables measure within the same range where audible frequency at the given voltage are not affected, there is NO difference between them. If after this you claim to hear a difference, it is not the cable. If a cable is causing high frequencies to be dipped, this is higher capacitance for example. Effectively a low pass filter. Real changes are measurable. Listening is a conscious process, and often people will attribute differences based on confirmation bias. Go and read the absurd reviews of silver power cables and so on, things that literally CANNOT do anything unless all of the laws of physics are undone. I'm sure you could convince some people that putting a crystal on the speaker improves the bass. That doesn't mean they should be encouraged to do it, they should still be informed that this is nonsense, regardless of whether they want to believe it or not.

@ Yes. There are people trying to capitalize (scam) on others with bullshit. However, I'll have to disagree with "cables measuring (i.e. resistance, impedance, capacitance, inductance etc.) the same, there should be no difference and it's not the cable" statement. It is very narrow in context imho. Again, systems (whether passive or active) that you connect the cable with are more complex than you think. So the same cable may "react/respond" to different systems, differently. To elaborate further, some marketing bs that states a particular cable tames the high, extends the lows is bogus. It may be the case for a particular set of systems, but it's not true for every single system pairings out there.

@@findyourzero If you believe that two cables measuring the same can sound different, what is it you believe could make them sound different?

@ You missed the point of what I said above. And yes, I have tried different cables, can hear the difference it makes. If you don't hear the differences, more power to you and enjoy your music.

Exactly! But please don't bring true engineering into this conversation.

Harbeth. dude.

I've NEVER met anyone who hasn't heard a SIGNIFICANT improvement when entry-level cables were replaced with good mid to high-end cables in a mid to high-end stereo system. Yet, I'm always reading comments on RU-vid from people who never listened to high-end cables or a high-end system in their life. And those are the ones who always talk about double-blind studies, scientific data, snake oil, and the placebo effect. Same old, same old, year after year. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my high-end stereo with high-end cables.

@@LorenzoNW you can do whatever you want and enjoy your stereo however you please but don't try to tell us that so-called "high-end" "audiophile" cables are anything but fraud, if you gave one of these $1000+ speaker wires to a group of electrical engineers to critically examine they'd cry laughing at the performance claims made, it is utter nonsense of the highest order these products are aimed at the consumer market to fools who don't know better, to fix a "problem" that magically only exists in their consumer gear... meanwhile in the professional audio world the pro's with a background in engineering and science who actually know what they are doing and design the very equipment that the music is recorded and reproduced on are not stupid or uneducated enough to buy into this rubbish and correctly dismiss it outright any perceived advantage in your fancy cables is coming from your eyes and overactive imagination working together, not your ears

Rocket 44 has the same sound signature as 33 but more transparent and clear, sounds more fluid and nuanced. Absolutely essential with B&W Speakers is biwiring. Also, Rocket series cables in my view MUST be used biwired otherwise they'll sound unbalanced, and I suspect this is the case in reviews where they test fullrange versions and state Rocket 33 and 44 as being bass heavy and slow. In fact, they are two cables in one and are supposed to be used as such, one going to bass and one going to treble.

So tell us what would be wrong then...Peter. And please tell us, if there is nothing wrong with a cable, how would that cable sound?

A cable transports a current, nothing more, nothing less. There is no difference in sound between a copper cable of home depot and these cables. The only way Zero Fidelity would convince me, is that I (or someone else) switch the cables and Zero Fidelity sais which cable is plugged in. If he is so sure he can hear the difference, it would be an easy task for him.

Ivar I replied to your question on Friday evening but it was not posted. I will try again. An interconnect or any piece of suitable wire connected between the audio source and an amplifier will have no audible effect on the signal arriving at the amplifier input. Audio cables should not have any "sound".Douglas Self has bwritten a very good article "Science and subjectivism in audio, aif you red adn understand this article all will be made, (forgive the pun), clear.

Peter May Thanks for the reply. First let me address your claim: ....will have no AUDIBLE effect on the signal arriving at the amplifier input. That is wrong. It should be: ...there will be no MEASURABLE effect. This is the main mistake the article makes if you ask me. By the way the article is mostly about amplifiers. Not cables. Let me explain my thoughts: 1. His point is mostly: 'If you can't measure it, it does not exist'. Basically he says (for example) that the ear can't detect small amounts of distortion, therefore we cannot hear differences. This presupposes that the differences, as heard in the above video, are only due to distortions. But do we know this is the right thing to measure because he also states: We don't know how music affects the emotions. So what should we measure? 2. His only argument on the subject of directional of cables is basically: It is not possible! (not very scientific) because it is AC. But the claim is not that AC is directional. The claim is that cables are directional. So whether you believe this claim or not he just makes a mistake here. 3. This one, I think, is really stupid. He does not approve of tubes because 'they have distortions and are expensive'. What kind of argument is that? Especially now that we know that our brain 'likes' distortion. My first 'audiophile' amplifier was a musical fidelity A1. All my friends liked the sound. But some reviewers (technicians) did not like it because: 'It measured terribly'. Measurement and perception are not the same. This is especially important if you think that all perception is subjective as the article more or less claims. I could go on and on, so if you are up to it here is one more: 4. The: subtraction test only shows the difference in signal, not in perception, and is therefore not really the best proof. Again because we don't know how emotions are affected (and measured). He just states that everything that cannot be measured is subjective. I cannot agree with that. And last but not least, it still does not explain the differences heard by so many people. I have demonstrated a fully copperwired system against a fully silverwired system (the same system) and 90% noticed the difference. Now it could have been that all these people where subjectivists. Yes, that could be.

+simonlebon Have you ever tried this experiment? Since you seem to know there are NO differences in sound in any cable you must have done a lot of experimenting. Or do you just think there cannot be a diference (based on just one parameter)?

Nope! I have next to zero experience with their 72v stuff. Sorry man!

Zero Fidelity 10-4- thanks for replying brother-man!

I have the Rocket 88’s. I recently moved my rack and had to more than double my speaker wire length from my Rocket 44’s, so I thought I would try the 88’s to compensate. They do sound better, smooth as silk, which is saying a lot because I’m now at 18’ long speaker cables. I was able to buy mine without the DBS for about half what the regular DBS cables cost, the seller buys the cable in bulk and terminates as needed without DBS to save cost. I assume I can’t name the seller, but they are one of the better known online sellers.

Exactly. Somehow these cables actually "improve" the sound. What a complete laugh

Hey Aaron. haha You certainly wouldn't be the first person to fudge the numbers on their sundry toys! I don't even bother mentioning the price of this stuff unless it involves cheap n' cheerful gear like the Polk T50's. :)

Aaron Sw I too am very guilty!