Review Audioquest Hurricane (part 2)


AudioFacts frequently tests new products. Because for us this remains one of the most beautiful parts of our beloved profession. Our drive for perfection keeps us sharp because we're always looking for new products for our customers. During all our testing over the past nearly 20 years we rarely discover a product which surpasses all our expectations.

Thanks to Tru-Fi we can understand all the properties and talents of Audioquest cables optimally so we can use them all. It makes the impact of a power cable so much greater. The way we use a powercable, it becomes just as important as a component.

The Hurricane immediately shows that it lives up to its name. From the first moment on you realize that you are listening to something really special. This cable overwhelms you with its utmost precision and speed. The music you know well directly sounds 2 levels higher from the beginning.

Constantly there is that surprise during listening and the big smile on your face.

In timing and speed the Hurricane made a huge step compared to the Audioquest NRG-1000 and also other more expensive power cables. Each attack is so much faster (and shorter). All your music is being played with significantly more grip and AUTHORITY. We never encountered this degree in ease and additional control (due to a powercable) in this price range before.

You can even observe more diversity (layering) in sound. Diversity in sound is the most determining factor that influences the human emotion. Voices turn out to have more layers than we thought. Instruments gain a more natural and realistic sound. And voices become silky and more fluid than ever before.

The degree of 3-dimensionality of the sound image becomes larger. Since 2009 AudioFacts creates and sells only a 3-dimensional sound stage. Because humans also experience and perceive sound in a 3D spectrum. Thanks to the increase in resolution the stage becomes deeper and wider. Making voices and instruments more apparent and free from each other. So you can even walk through the recording during listening.

Voices and instruments are even more compact and therefore more intimate. The physical tangibility of both voices as instruments are even more authentic. In reality both voices as instruments are played very directly and displayed in small proportion.

Thanks to a lower noise floor the Hurricane creates an even better black level. This is the space between the voices and instruments of a recording. When the sound becomes more tangible and more voices and instruments get a stature (shape), we speak of a higher black level.

What also impressed us with the Hurricane is the huge increase in resolution (details) which can now be perceived. The space in which the recording is made is now very easily observable. Also the articulation of voices becomes more clearly audible. Even the decay around voices and instruments becomes clearly observable.

Regarding to the frequency range you immediately hear that the response of both the Monitor Audio Pl-500 as the Platinum subwoofer goes even deeper than before. You feel the increase in power and energy of the low frequencies. When the low frequency range of an audio system increases, often the degree of emotion becomes larger. In addition you can even hear an increase of information and layers in the middle and high frequencies.

Thanks to our research and developedment of Statement Audio Pro-measurement, differences in height of voices and instruments become more clear to observe. This allows you to better perceive the harmony of voices and instruments together. It makes the music more emotional and intense. The Hurricane creates an even higher degree in diversity of the height of voices and instruments.

It is more than clear that Audioquest have made a big step with the Hurricane power cable. At the price of 1599 euro (for 1 meter) we have never auditioned a power cable of this unique and high quality.

The impact and influence of the Hurricane in an audio system is rather big and decisive. And it makes clear more than ever that power cables should be an essential component in any audio system. The price of 1599 euro (for 1 meter) is more than justified by the large step in quality gained.

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I wonder if we can change the plugs with something like the Furutech NCF plugs without ruining the design of the power cord ??? I wasn't too thrilled when I seen what the plugs looked like when I received my cord.. It still improved the sound though..
oem-wheels,
I agree about the improvements in sound...more to come. I want to be honest in my assessment; therefore I must talk about their weaknesses too. My dealer told me to take a piece of electrical tape and put it on the plug to get a tighter fit. It works, I just don't feel I should have to do something like that to have a tight connection. 
So, I ordered two Hurricane power cords and one Tornado. I have one Hurricane going from my amp to the power conditioner and one from the power conditioner to the wall(Shunyata outlet). I use the Tornado on my DAC. I want to be as succinct as possible without hyperbole!
I like to preface my findings with "in my system" and "in my room".
Simply put the new Audioquest power cords lower the noise floor. I'm not talking night and day, but to a degree that allows everything to be more easily heard. Music has weight to it and minor details are more apparent than ever. My frame of reference with power cords is relatively small...I've had Wireworld Silver and Platinum Electras, Shunyata Alphas and Sigmas, and Audioquest NRG-4s in my system. I'll order two more Hurricane power cords and call it a day. Although the differences aren't night and day, these are the type of improvements so many of us drool over and spend lots and lots of money for.
@ricred1 Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the AQ cables.  Curious if you have any insight regarding SQ differences (or simple performance differences) compare between Hurricane, Tornado and the earlier tested Thunder?