Description

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”. Like the PSC +, this copper is even purer than OFHC copper, which many other cables often use.
SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER + conductors (PSC +): Perfect-Surface Copper + has an amazingly smooth and pure surface. Patented metal processing technologies protect the surface of the conductor at every stage of the manufacturing process, from drawing to manufacturing. Keeping high purity, low oxide copper as soft, pure and smooth as possible gives you a fantastic PSC + conductor with low distortion. The result is sound quality that is even more focused and simply less in the way. For over 30 years, AudioQuest has pioneered the use of superior metals, but even we were surprised by this huge leap 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 somewhat frayed and loud noise. Solid conductors are fundamental to the Big Sur’s very clean sound.

FOAMED POLYETHYLENE INSULATION: Any solid adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Cable insulation and printed circuit board materials absorb energy (loss). Some of this energy is stored and released as deformation. Big Sur uses air-foamed Polyethylene insulation for both conductors, because air absorbs almost no energy and Polyethylene has little loss and a favorable deformation profile. Thanks to the air in foamed PE, it causes much less out-of-focus effects than other materials.

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

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

COLD WELDED GOLD PLATED PURE “PURPLE COPPER” RCA PLUGS: This plug design allows 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 having to take machining into account. Purple copper offers a cleaner, brighter sound than the nickel-plated or OFHC metals commonly used in competing manufacturers’ plugs.