CONDUCTORS: All four of GO-4’s conductors are solid. Electrical and magnetic interaction between strands in a conventional cable is the single greatest source of distortion, often causing a somewhat harsh, dirty and confused sound. Solid conductors are the most important ingredients enabling GO-4’s very clear sound. Whether a conductor is solid or stranded, skin-effect is a prime distortion mechanism in speaker cables. GO-4 very simply keeps this effect out of the audio range by using conductor sizes that are below the threshold for audible distortion.

PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+: GO-4 uses extremely high purity Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors. All conductors are solid, which prevents strand interaction, a major source of distortion. Surface quality is critical because a conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the electric fields within a conductor, and for the magnetic fields outside the conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other coppers. The superior purity of PSC+ further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor.

GEOMETRY: The relationship between conductors defines a cable’s most basic electrical values (capacitance and inductance). However, even when those variables are kept in a reasonable balance, the relationship between conductors can be varied in ways that greatly effect the sound. The spiral construction of GO-4 allows for significantly better dynamic contrast and information intelligibility than if the same conductors were run in parallel. The specific 4-cross geometry used in GO-4 maximizes this advantage.

SST (Spread Spectrum Technology): Any single size or shape of conductor has a specific distortion profile. Even though radially symmetrical conductors (solid round or tubular) have the fewest discontinuities, any particular size does have a sonic signature. SST is a method for significantly reducing the awareness of these character flaws by using a precise combination of different size conductors. The four different SST-determined conductor sizes used in GO-4 allow an exceptionally clear, clean and dynamic sound. A combination of these major ingredients, and many more subtle details add up to explain how even an affordable cable like GO-4 can sound so good.

DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM (DBS, US Pat #7,126,055): All insulation slows down the signal on the conductor inside. When insulation is un-biased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time sensitive multi-octave audio. AudioQuest’s DBS creates a strong stable electrostatic field, which saturates and polarizes (organizes) the molecules of the insulation. This minimizes both energy storage in the insulation and the multiple nonlinear time-delays. Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast. The DBS packs batteries will last for years. A test button and LED allow for the occasional battery check.

TERMINATIONS: AudioQuest offers a wide range of high quality connectors that allow GO-4 to be securely attached to any type of equipment. Quality is in the low distortion sound, not necessarily in the eye-candy effect. AQ ends are either a dull looking gold or silver because these metals are plated directly over the connector. There is no shiny and harsh sounding nickel layer underneath. AQ PK-spade lugs are soft because better metal is soft, and facilitates a higher quality connection. For pieces requiring a banana plug or BFA connector the AQ PK-BFA/Banana provides unprecedented performance over conventional brass versions.