Audioquest Water vs Kimber KCAG


Until a couple of weeks ago I was using a mixture of AQ and Kimber interconnects. In this configuration.

Music Hall mmf 9.1 (Lyra Delos) to Audio Research PH8 - Kimber KCAG .5m RCA.
ARC PH8 to ARC LS27 - AQ Niagara RCA.
ARC LS27 to Musical Fidelity M6prx amp - Kimber KCAG XLR

This combo was well broken in and sounded great. Neutral, wide open stable soundstage, micro-dynamics, everything good. I just added an OPPO Sonica DAC and wanted to buy another IC XLR from my trusted dealer. While I was there the dealer offered me a good deal to trade in my two Kimber KCAGs on a pair of AQ Waters. I get great advice and support from this dealer and I trust them very much as they have never steered me wrong and they generally do not try to sell me anything that they don't believe is a clear upgrade.

I replaced the KCAGs with Waters in my system and after only 5 or 6 hours I am disappointed. Lost detail, not as smooth, loss of warm mids, and a muddled unstable soundstage.

Opinions wanted please.

How long should I expect burn in to take?
General opinions on the AQ waters?
Did I make a mistake?
Any advice?
I really like the AQ Niagaras. They are silver like the KCAGs, am I missing the silver?

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

















pilrem

Showing 1 response by johndoe21ro

AQ make amazing cables be it interconnect, power, loudspeaker cables.. be it copper or silver... I've owned a lot of cables over the years and I couldn't recommend them more! 
My system: Triangle Magellan Cello II < AudioQuest Everest DBS 72V < BAT VK-600SE < AudioQuest NRG WEL DBS 72V < AudioQuest WBY XLR DBS 72V < exaSound e22 DAC w Paul Hynes SR3-12 Power Supply < Squeezelite w Logitech Media Server < UpTone Regen Amber < 2x AudioQuest Diamond USB DBS 216V < MacBook Pro i5 13' w Samsung 850EVO 512GB SSD < Omicron Harmonic Stabilizer & Gold SE/Classic < IsoTek Sigmas GII w IsoTek Optimum EVO3 < Furutech FT-SWS < HiFi Tuning Supreme 3