I am trying to choose between Audioquest's Mont Blanc & Gibraltar speaker cables. The Mont Blanc's have been discontinued, so it's hard to get a read on how they compare. Can anyone give me a sense of which is the better cable?
I am contemplating a single bi-wire set up - quad connectors at the amp & dual at the speakers. Would either of these cables be better suited for this set-up?
This question is almost impossible to answer. You need to listen to them with YOUR components since either one could be better than the other depending on your system. I would not want to spend any money at all without listing to the cable in question. Try to borrow as many cables as you can and determine your best for yourself. I would also take advantage of the money back guarantees from Anti-Cable, Morrow, and any others that you can find.
Yeah, thanks, that's the obvious reply - & I certainly would audition them if I could. But that's not possible, which is why I am asking for feedback from people who may have had the chance to listen to them both. My question was relative, about people's perception of the two cables, not how they would sound in my system.
if you are going to biwire them, the gibraltar will work better, as it was designed to be a single biwire cable. mont blanc, run full range may "better" gibraltar, but not if you use it as a single biwire.
if you are buying from a reputable aq dealer, they should be able to steer you in the right direction.
Decided against the "single bi-wire" option so I am going with the Mont Blanc as they seem like the better single run cable. Happy to post an evaluation if anyone cares. Many thanks for your input folks!
I am still using pre-DBS Audioquest Volcanos on the mid-treble of my Vandersteen Treo CT and AQ Caldera for the bass run. Same exact geometry. Volcano is all PSC+ copper and Caldera is a hybrid of regular PSC and PSC+. As of tomorrow, I will be using all DBS enabled AQ Colorado interconnects. Can't wait for them to get here.
+1 for Colorado, got a pair running into a phono pre. Had owned the Oaks for about a year and am now using Wildwood. I did demo the Gibraltar which made me a cable believer!
Thanks hifiman5. I had Oak with Colorado and it was a fine combo. I guess the reason I went with Wildwood and Wild Blue was I was so impressed that I wanted even more. I also have a few Niagaras mixed in.
Jafant, I use sterling and argent, this are both good, the Sterling has 3D character very very close to dragon, aq are hard to beat in terms of tonal balance.
DBS, the dielectric bias system really does make a difference. Once you break-in the dielectric, the DBS keeps them in that state even for protracted periods of time where no signal is run through them. What really opened up my ears to the concept was putting new alkaline batteries in my Colorado's and hearing the soundstage open up immediately. It was a stunner. Audioquest's designs have continued to evolve over the years...perfect surface conductors, teflon tube dielectric, spread spectrum conductors and now DBS. It makes me wonder what's next for them.
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