Review Audioquest Redwood bi-wire loudsp. cable


In 2001 I bought the Nordost Valhalla loudspeaker cable. After testing a couple of expensive cables the Valhalla was superior. In a few seconds I knew I would buy it. In speed, resolution and drive it was unique. I was the 2nd person in Holland who bought it. But...how good it was it still had it's flaws. I was aware of this right from the start. The tests I did with 100% Valhalla were dissapointing. Why? because instruments are so much smaller in proportion and sharper focussed in real. This I learned at the concert room of one of my best friends. He is still one of my best friends. He had a room for about 60 persons with a Steinway Wing. He gave classical concerts of 2-3 persons. Often with a singer. I was surprissed how much smaller in proportion and how much more intimate a voice or instrument sounds. I thought it would be a lot bigger. What I always did was closing my eyes and using 2 fingers to make a proportion of the voive or instrument. A voice came to me with so much intimacy. I was pulled to a voice or instrument like a magnet. With 100% Valhalla voices were not that sharp and often a little to big in proportion. But I also lost the invlovement in the mid freq. In real a violin had so much more emotion than played with Valhalla. It did not change wenn I used other speakers or amps and sources. I still had the same problems. I am a perfectionist and only interested in the best. Because good never wil be good enough for me. The other problem was that you will loose depth wenn you used 100% Valhalla. With other interconnects the stage always became deeper. For me Nordost alwsy has been a tool which is very talented but incomplete. Because you miss some parts what should be there for the absolute sound. I sold Nordost for 8 years. I always used it my way. I sold it a lot with Kimber interconnects. This made the stage bigger. Individual focus a lot sharper and the mid freq. a lot more musical and realistic. With all the demo's I gave people always choose for the Nordost/Kimber combi instead of full Nordost combi. A client always has the freedom to choose. A few months ago I sold my Valhalla after 12 years of duty. i wanted to go tot the next level. This time I knew one thing for sure. I want a cable which is complete and will be superior to the Valhalla.

I sold Audioquest also for a long time. Before the Valhalla I owned the Diamond+ loudspeakercable. I sold Audioquest for over 6 years. Then Audioquest went from the radar for some years. In 2010 I did some tests with Audioquest interconnects. I was strucked, had I missed something. it was so much more complete than wenn I owned it and sold it. From then on I did test many new Audioquest cables. And I bought many of them. These days it has become the most important brand in cables for me. Why? because it is more complete than other brands. It has more talents/properties than other brands in cables have. I always had to use more brands to get the sound I was looking for.

So let's talk about the Audioquest Redwood. About 5 weeks ago I lend the Audioquest Redwood loudspeakercable. It was time to look for a new cable for many years of absolute sound in my room.

Mannnn.....it hit me in only 2 seconds. I said; this is another world. It is that much better. After 1 min and 25 second of the first number I played I said; so I will buy this cable. It was that easy. It did open the door to the music I know well so much further. So what makes it different compared to other cables?

It has more talents, it even has new talents I never heard before in all the tests I did.

It has by far the sharpest individual focus I ever heard. It reminds me of the intimacy I felt and heard at the classical concerts at my friends house. This is the focus were I always dreamed of. This is how I knew it could and should be. This comes so much more closer to the real focus of instruments and voices. It is as the singer and band is playing in Full 3D in front of you. Instruments are small in proportion and very easy to point out were they are on the recording during listening.

It has the quickest and shortest slamm in the low freq. I ever heard. I was surprised that it was that much better in speed compared to my Valhalla. Wenn I was ready at 5.15 in the morning last the week at the audioshow at Veldhoven. I had to do a Audyssey Pro measurment. There was no time for sleep. But who cares wenn you are having fun. And yess I had a lot of fun. One of the first number I played was Vitamine of the Tour De France album of Kraftwerk. I never heard this number with this precision and speed. I became so emotional because I was aware it was this special in timing. At that time I know I would have the absolute sound of the show. Many people came to me to congratulate me witht the best sound. Always nice to hear, but I already knew of course.

Soundrealism, this part is also that good. I always use classical music to judge about this part in music. It gives me the involvement and emotion I feel wenn I listen to classical music in real. Wenn I listened to Janos Starker playing Bach: Suites for Solo Cello. I heard the sound of a cello as it should be. It played deep behind my speakers with the intimacy and 3d imaging to die for.

Soundstage; it is deep and wide. It even plays with ease beside my loudspeakers. But....what is the most unique thing about the stage is that within the stage instruments are so much better focussed and imaged. Most other brands miss the sharp individual focus. This will make you loose intimacy and the distance between you and the music will be bigger. Instruments are well separated from eachother. You can run threw the recording during listening. You just focus on one part of the recording that easily.

3D imaging, it is by far the best realistic and sharp individual focus by a loudspeakercable I heard in my life. This cable also has the best blacks I ever heard by a louspeakercable. This is an essential part of the stunning 3d image. It makes the image so much more stable.

Low freq. it is fast and the definition of the lowest freq are defined with great precision and you can hear all the different layers of it.

Mid freq. voices and instruments have great texture and a lot of emotion. The involvement in the mid's sounds like a voice or instrument sounds in real. Mid's are open. 2nd and 3th voices on recordings are very easy to focus at during listening.

AUTHORITY,I write it in big letters because it is that special. I never heard a cable what makes the overwhole sound of your system so much more controlled. From the lowest freq till the highest freq there is no harshness. Even wenn I play at extreme high volumes it still will be played with the best Authority. You can play so much louder than you normally can.

Resolution; this cable gives you a lot of extra information in the highest freq. The difference in resolution compared to other brands is that it makes it superior in were it is at the recording. It is so much better focussed and touchable. Normally you can hear the space and resolution but you do not know were it is coming from. The articulation of voices is in the same league as Purist Audio. Till know I do not know any brand which are this good in articulation. For this part I always use; Bruce Springsteen with Brothers under the Bridge. I can hear all the sss, ttt and th endings of Bruce with ease. Wenn I use this number at expensice highend sets I alway miss so much information. Like the articulation of his words are not even there. For me Bruce Springsteen is God in music. In live performance there is no person with the drive and passion he gives at his concerts. Last year he performed 4 hours and 7 min without a brake. Springsteen ( Dutch last name) is for me the highest level in live music on this planet. Bruce Springsteen playing acoustic is by far the best level in live music for me personally.

I am more than happy with my new loudspeakercable. I listen for many hours to music every day. it is that addictive for me. The Redwood brings me a lot closer to the absolute sound. I hear many new things in my recordings I know well. For the extra talents and quality it give to my system it is even a bargain. Without it the difference in sound realism would be of a much lower level.

Bobby

11-4-2013

128x128bo1972
We have idea's to make professional movies of review's we make. Soon I will make some. I will make them in dutch and in english as well.
I have just purchased a pair of redwoods.  I auditioned them against valhalla2.   My system is the closest to a live performance that it has ever been.  Whether I listen with a 14 watt unison research tube amp or a 1000watt devialet, these cables sound spectacular.  
Audioquest do have a very good tonal balance my favorite are diamond ic, dragon speaker cables, and the one I have sterling speaker cable, this cables posses 3D ...but lately Iam impress with High fidelity stuff,,,