AudioQuest Golden Gate interconnects

[magiccarpetride]

Being in a bit of a dilemma lately (should I upgrade my tonearm or my cartridge or my phono stage?), and listening to dozens of apparently contradictory advices, I decided yesterday to make a lateral upgrade and replaced my Belkin interconnects with Golden Gate. I was just itching to make a change to my system, something small and inexpensive. Golden Gate hit the spot, being less than a $100.00 upgrade (plus the sales guy agreed to refund me the next day if I didn't like the product).

To be absolutely honest, I wasn't expecting any improvement. My intention was to replace my el cheapo Belkin interconnects, connecting my preamp to my power amp, with these new interconnects. At best, I was expecting to be in the position to notice (imagine?) some slight change in some almost imaginary minor details (I am not a huge believer in audio cables to begin with).

Much to my pleasant surprise, Golden Gate made substantial improvement to the sound! It really feels as if someone washed the window pane, or opened the window or turned extra light on. I'm amazed that such small investment could result in such improvement. Highly recommended :)

[Firebottle]

Excellent result Alex, just remember everything matters :)

[jandl100]

Try some more, source to preamp.
And then there's speaker cables.
And power cables.
AQ do a full range of each. ;)

There's no escape now!

[brian2957]

Great result Alex . Welcome to the cable club :)

[Bigman80]

Slippery slope lol

[walpurgis]

Speaker cables next?

[magiccarpetride]

Speaker cables next?

I'm currently using Nordost Blue Heaven to connect to my big Maggies. Pretty happy with the sound, so is there room for improvement (for a reasonable budget)?

[magiccarpetride]

Great result Alex . Welcome to the cable club :)

Thanks. This incident made me a convert ;)

[magiccarpetride]

Excellent result Alex, just remember everything matters :)

Thanks a good point. I've recently fallen into the 'only upstream components matter' trap. I was EXTREMELY skeptical that Golden Gate will make any audible difference. Was blown away with the magnitude of the improvement.

[magiccarpetride]

Try some more, source to preamp.
And then there's speaker cables.
And power cables.
AQ do a full range of each. ;)

There's no escape now!

I'm using AudioQuest Red River from my phono preamp to my preamp. I remember that upgrade also made very impressive improvement, but that made more sense to me (being into the 'upstream components matter way more than downstream components').

I'm using Shunyata for all my power cables. Fabulous product, makes a hell of a difference. Highly recommended.

[walpurgis]

I'm currently using Nordost Blue Heaven to connect to my big Maggies. Pretty happy with the sound, so is there room for improvement (for a reasonable budget)?

No need to change those. They are good!

[jandl100]

I'm using AudioQuest Red River from my phono preamp to my preamp. I remember that upgrade also made very impressive improvement, but that made more sense to me (being into the 'upstream components matter way more than downstream components').

I'm using Shunyata for all my power cables. Fabulous product, makes a hell of a difference. Highly recommended.

Ah, I just kind of assumed that as you were using cheapo/tat interconnects pre to power that all your other cables were of similar quality.
Assumptions, eh! :lol:

[Jimbo]

Good to hear the AudioQuest IC,s sound good. Not surprised as they seen to have invested heavily in this area and built a very good reputation for innovation and well made, good sounding gear at a reasonable price.

[magiccarpetride]

Ah, I just kind of assumed that as you were using cheapo/tat interconnects pre to power that all your other cables were of similar quality.
Assumptions, eh! :lol:

Those are reasonable assumptions. Many of us tend to improve our system incrementally, one step at a time. Hence I still had bog interconnects between my preamp and power amp. Eventually, that had to be replaced.

My next step should probably be power conditioning. Currently using some el cheapo component (paid around hundred bucks for it) -- now's the time to tackle that problem. Any recommendations?

[Manicatel]

I’ve now got 2 AQ cables in my system, & both (somewhat to my previous cynical disbelief) have made nice changes. I will certainly be looking to update some of my other interconnects with more AQ stuff as & when I can.
I’m not a fan of power conditioning mains blocks, sometimes they can be good but equally for some weird reason they can make things sound worse! From choice, I would just use well made mains blocks with decent cable such as belden etc. I try to avoid the ones with on off switches, led lights & fancy fuses or filters in.

[wee tee cee]

Alex,
As Alan rightly says every element makes a difference.

Balanced mains is bang for buck a bargain....airlink BMUs are tremendous value for money.

Dont know if they ship to your neck of the woods!!!