Audioquest Diamondback Audio Interconnect Cable

Many sophisticated design techniques, superior materials, and an exceptional termination system combine to make Diamondback possible. The result will put more than a scare into most cost-no-object cables.

Design Basics:
Diamondback is Double-Balanced. This means there are identical insulated conductors for the positive and negative connections, in addition to a separate conductor underneath the 100% coverage foil shield. The great advantage of this design, over even the very effective symmetrical conductor system in AQ Sidewinder and Copperhead, is that the shield is only attached at one end, providing extremely effective shielding without contaminating the quality of the negative conducting path.

Conductors:
Both of Diamondback's conductors are solid. Electrical and magnetic interaction between strands in a conventional cable is the greatest source of distortion, often causing a somewhat dirty harsh sound. Solid conductors are fundamental toward achieving Diamondback's very clean sound.

Metal:
PSC (Perfect Surface Copper) has an astonishingly smooth and pure surface. Proprietary metal processing technology protects the wire's surface at every stage of drawing and fabrication. When high-purity low-oxide copper is kept as soft, pure and smooth as possible, it becomes a wonderfully low distortion conductor. For fifteen years AudioQuest has pioneered the use of superior metals; yet even we were surprised by this huge leap in performance. PSC clearly outperforms previous AQ metals that cost over ten times as much.

Insulation:
Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation, circuit board materials all absorb energy (loss). Some of this energy is stored and then released as distortion. Diamondback uses air filled FPE (Foam Polyethylene) insulation on both conductors because air absorbs next to no energy, and Polyethylene is low-loss and has a benign distortion profile. Thanks to all the air in FPE, it causes much less of the out-of-focus effect common to other materials.

Terminations:
Diamondback's plugs are Resistance Welded to the cable in a process which sends 8,000 amperes of current through the junction of conductor and plug for 33 millionths of a second. The heat resulting from the resistance of the metals locally liquefies the conductor and the plug, creating a single material alloy where the two meet. An ideal connection that puts any solder to shame.

Diamondback's gold plated RCA plugs use a patented design that eliminates the distortion caused by the extra contact inside most plugs. Because the ground shells are stamped instead of machined, the metal can be chosen for low distortion instead of for its machinability. A combination of these major ingredients, and many more subtle details add up to explain how Diamondback can sound so clean, clear and dynamic.


Audioquest Brochure PDF


Audioquest Diamondback Brochure PDF