Audience vs Audioquest

Audioquest Hurricane is a very full, bottom heavy sounding cable. I had several and the more I added the more of this effect I heard. It could be a pro or a con depending on how your system is balanced. The bass is big with great texture and detail but can be overwhelming. Natural and full mids. Highs are laid back and at times can sound slightly pinched. The cable is best on amps and or power conditioners. I didn’t like it on my DAC and it was OK on preamp. Soundstage is deep but the width of the stage is average and can become overcrowded. I sold and bought this cable few times thinking I was wrong but in my system I don’t hate it…just don’t love it. Dragon is supposed to be much better but I have no experience with it. 

Audience is better balanced overall and to me sounds better without giving up anything to the Hurricane. It’s still warm and natural sounding with better separation and soundstage (I tried older AU24SE). I’m currently using AU24SX speaker cables and they’re amazing. I tried the XLR but ended up preferring Nordost Tyr 2. 
 

I would recommend auditioning in your own system. There are folks here who love the Hurricane and I am pretty sure @ghdprentice will chime in as well. He owns and loves these power cords. 
 

It’s all personal preference and system dependent. So take what I said here with a grain of salt. 

Thanks ..I appreciate your perspective.

BTW- What a spectacular system you have...beautiful room.

thank you so much @krelldog! You have a wonderful setup as well!

@krelldog 

I have/had Frontrow, Hurricane, and Dragon in my system. As audphile1 stated, that's how the Hurricane performs, one of my favorite cables. The Frontrow is quite neutral (this is my least favorite in my system). The Dragon is on a different level altogether. It takes a little getting used to. It does not have the bass/midbass of the Hurricane, but the sound is so pure and "real". As much as I love my bass, I enjoy more how the Dragon presents. 

Jeff -Did you ever try Audience Au24 SX power cords ? Just wondering where that would slot ?

@krelldog take a look at this write up…I find his assessment of Hurricane and Furutech DPS-4.1 pretty accurate. It’s how I would describe the sound of these two cables.
https://audiobacon.net/2019/08/17/27-audiophile-power-cables-reviewed/

I have both Audioquest and Audience. I have more Audioquest (mostly Tornado) but for my best connections I have Front Row Audience. I also have some Black Cat and Transparent Reference in my system as well. Based on my equipment, I have tried to go with what cables match best after demoing.  Overall I prefer my Front Row over Audioquest.

Hope this helps!

I haven’t tried Audience PCs in my system. As the guy who put the Premium Power Cord survey together a few months back, it put a big smile on my face to see contributors with exceptional systems (and pretty good ears) taking a deep dive into the sonic characteristics of some of the best examples of premium PCs on the market.

Well done.

Thank you.

I have Audience power cables and one Pangea, so I’ll be watching this thread.

@krelldog 

No, on the Au24 SX. If you can, try demoing a Dragon to see what it is like. Unfortunately, they are so crazy expensive!

This is a test, trying to reproduce blocking of a post I tried to submit a couple of hours ago.

That post included this link, which although dated, reviews 27 power cords, including Audience and Audioquest.

https://audiobacon.net/2019/08/17/27-audiophile-power-cables-reviewed/

Okay, it posted, so now I'll rewrite the text I lost the first time:

I have lots of experience with Audience cords and cables, rising from the SE's through SX's to a full loom of Front Rows over several years. Every change brought significant improvement. But I don't have any experience with the more advances Audioquest cables, so I can't offer comparisons.

However, after I got to a full loom of Front Rows, I tried one Snake River Signature Amp cord. (See the review above of 27 power cords, which persuaded me to try one.)

Swapped in place of a Front Row power cord, the Snake River yielded a dramatic improvement - clearer air, much more depth and dimensionality, cleaner and less bloated images (I hadn't heard the bloat prior to this comparison), and high definition way into the back of sound stage. It was as if someone turned on the lights back there and suddenly I could see the drum kit in detail.

Then I gradually replaced the whole loom with Snake River Signature cords, getting the same kind of improvement every time. And I sold the Front Rows as I went, pocketing a nice dividend because the SR's were significantly cheaper than even used Front Row prices.

I tried Audioquest Hurricane high current power cables on my amp, DAC and power conditioner. In the end, the only place I kept a Hurricane was on my power conditioner. In my audio system, the AQ Niagara 3000 power conditioner mated with an AQ Hurricane HC PC is a match made in heaven. Happy listening.

@kennymacc - What cables did you end up with for your components in lieu of the Hurricanes that tried out?

@oczed - I ended up with an Audioquest Firebird souce on my DAC component.  The AQ Firebird is end-game for me.  I'm all done now.

What about your amp?

@oczed - I use an JPS Labs Aluminata PC on my Hegel H590 integrated amp.  I'm all set.  Happy listening.