Audioquest Diamond interconnects

I've owned Ruby, Lapis in various iterations, Diamond, and for the past many years, Niagara and Sky. Diamond was very transparent and fast, more open sounding than Lapis, and with a wider frequency response range, but I did notice that electronic sheen or edge sometimes. If proof is in the pudding, I sold off my several pairs over time but ended up keeping a pair of late-edition Lapis, which had a more fleshed out and honest midrange I thought. I keep the Lapis as a tester backup and have had Sky and Niagara in my system for many years now (and Dragon for the speakers).

AQ Diamond 2x XLRs were my last commercial cable before DIY copper foils. The AQs stay mostly in a drawer. They're too laid back and uninvolving for most applications.

I've gone thru several IC iterations starting with the Copperheads, Diamondbacks, King Cobras, and then into their dbs line with the Columbias.

The Copperheads and Diamondbacks were my first NFW experience with the sonic offerings of cables. Good values.

In my rig, however, the King Cobras sounded sloppy, and the Columbias were too bright.

I found the Goldilock's "just right" set with an older set of Jaguars - amazing balance and super clean mid-bass.

Everything matters - so your sweet spot may be a different set to get the right system synergy.

Just stirring the pot....

I've had only the AQ Diamondsx3, and liked them better than any other non-AQ interconnects. Interesting that only the first reviewer found them bright or edgy and no one else. I found them to be the opposite, so I would also ask along with others what his associated equip is. Two other remarks: I'm glad I bought my AQs before China -- that should make them worth more than the $400 I paid 14 years ago! Also, I wonder how much actual silver content they do have.

Audioquest, to be competitive, moved production to China and changed cable names. Older Python became King Cobra for 1/3 of the price. Viper now is Diamondback, I believe. I had King Cobra - very neutral cable a little smoother in highs than Diamondback (both neutral).

Gentleman,

Very excellent responses. I find detailed comparisons like these very helpful. Given my own comparisons over the years I can say there have been times that I have agreed with both of your differing assessments ("detail,air,hard edge"........vs......."smooth,mellow,truthfull").Can't forget that used in the context of different systems it's not surprising that you each got a different take.Makes this hobby both fun and frustrating.

I have had a few pairs AQ diamond 3 a long time ago and found them to be anything but bright.... in my system they were ultimately smooth and mellow. I must say that through the years I have found AQ cables to be nothing but truthful to the signal given to them....if your equipment is not up to it the top line cables will reveal it ruthlessly. I compared the Diamonds at the time to quite a few newer AQ cables and would say they would be closer to AQ Anaconda (psc+) than anything else. The Anaconda bettered the diamonds with AQ Amazon bettering them by quite a margin again. The Newer AQ cables are once again a leap ahead....Niagra is the best buy of the new range in at the moment with cheetah being the best buy of the previous range in my opinon. Hope this helped

I had AQ Diamonds interconnects awhile back ( x2 )..Used them on tube equipment and can only give you my feelings on what my system sounded like to me and what I moved onto...I found I actually liked the Lapis x3 better than Diamond 2 ( had both at the same time ) ..I found that the Diamond had an edge to it that I didn't like..Lapis had less edge than the Diamond so I kept the Lapis for a longer time..I eventually went to Ridge Street Audio ( I think it was the RSA ref i/c ) a less costly i/c at that time .I found the Ridge Street RSA interconnect had all the detail,air and musicality of the Lapis or Diamond "without" the nasties that the AQ ( both ) interconnects had..I would assume under the right conditions the AQ interconnects would work fine,but for my ears and application at the time I couldn't tolerate the hard edge..I have since moved up the Ridge Street Audio line and am very happy.......