Audioquest Diamond interconnects

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

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.

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).

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.

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....