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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: sideshowbob on June 21, 2003, 11:34:37 PM
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I thought this was interesting. Sorry for any possible errors, as I retyped it from the July 2003 ad in Stereophile magazine. The AudioQuest website will be open in July.
""Batteries on a Cable? The world of audio/video cables has long been famous for hype and mystique...and for sometimes profound and important variations in performance. Into this clutter of both reason and irrationality, AudioQuest introduces an astonishingly simple solution to a universally acknowledged problem.
From the occasional "flat earth" engineer to listen-in-the-dark music enthusiasts, the effect of insulation on performance is universally acknowledged. The techinical term "dielectric" exists because no insulation (other than a vacuum) is perfect. All insulation is a dielectric when in the presence of an electric field. The difference between an ideal, perfect insulator and a dielectric is distortion and loss.
The grossest errors caused by "dielectric involvement" are caused when the dielectric has not been given sufficient time and voltage to stabilize. The incorrect term "break-in" is often used to describe why electronics and cables need to be turned on continuously for two weeks before reaching maximum performance. "Break-in" properly applies to mechanical phenomena, such as a motor or a loudspeaker surround. Cables and capacitors do not break-in, rather, their "dielectric forms," meaning that it takes time for the dielectric material to adapt to a charged state.
AudioQuest's patent pending Dielectric-Bias System(DBS) puts all of a cable's dielectric into a comparativively high voltage DC field...continuously from the time the cable is terminated. The exceptionally simple design puts a wire down the middle of the cable which is simply an extension of a battery's anode. This wire is attached to positive (+) at the DBS battery pack, and not to anything else. It is not in the signal path and has no interaction with the signal.
Depending on the model of interconnect (analog or digital) or speaker cable, an existing shield or outer spiral of conductors is used as the DBS cathode by connecting it to a negative (-) at the DBS battery pack. In some models there is no preexisting outer conductive layer, so a shield conductor is added solely for use as the ground plane of the DBS system. For all the models which have dual purpose outer conductors, it is mere coincidence and cost-saving that these conductors are able to serve simultaneously as DBS cathode, and in their normal function as shield or negative conductors. The negative side of the battery is nothing; it's just an empty reservoir. Again, there is no interaction with signal flow and no extra connections are introduced to the signal path. The battery(s) are doing no work and last as long as the ones on a storage shelf, though the DBS pack includes a button and LED so that one can confirm battery status.
The benefit of maintaining a bias on the dielectric at a substantially higher voltage than is ever maintained through normal use is dramatic. Even a cable which has the loudest music or pink noise continually travelling through it, never has fully formed dielectric. If you have ever experienced the significant performance difference between a product when it was new or not used for a couple of weeks, compared to two weeks later...simply imagine the same improvement doubled or tripled!
There is no new language to this phenomenon. It is simply more of the same. I hope when you have the opportunity to experience AudioQuest DBS cables your response will be the same as mine when I put the first prototype in my system; "Ahhh, thank you!" Sincerely, Bill"" (AudioQuest CinemaQuest 2003 ad)
Sorry, I am not affiliated with AudioQuest in anyway. I just ordered a pair of these cables 5 months ago and they will arrive this coming week. I can return them immediately if I don't like them or can't tell a difference, etc., which is nice ;) They look interesting and was wondering everyone's input. Thanks......Jason
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AudioQuest Rocks!!!!! ;D
Dave
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I picked up my Mont Blanc's today. After an hour or so of moving things around, I can now enjoy :) These are beautiful cables....thick, bi-wired, and with a small external battery capsule attached towards the amp end. I will update any findings as I listen more. They do sound quite good with the MHT100/MC352/N802's combo upon first listen to the DSOTM SACD and Zenyatta Mondatta SACD 2 channel mixes. Happy listening everyone!!! Thanks........Jason
Edit:
The SACD source is a Marantz DV8300. A truly great "all in one" machine that plays EVERYTHING.
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you're out of control
:realhappy:
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you're out of control
:realhappy:
And loving it :spin:.....Jason
Edit:
The AudioQuest DBS battery pack, stated in the article above, IS available on almost all AudioQuest speaker cables and interconnects....not just the Mont Blanc's. I was "sold" the Mont Blanc cables after hearing about them with the DBS pack months ago....a blind purchase. As the product is new, info has been hard to find. Sorry to confuse. Thanks :) Jason
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pics of the Mont Blanc's.....
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so ummm... how do they sound?