Audioquest Goldengates

tonyb

I never sit still when I'm not happy with the sound of the main rig. I really dig the MIT shotgun S3's I have in there now except for the lower bass notes. Having speakers that can do low bass extremely well, that's a problem for me. Not being able to secure another set of IC's yet, I decided to waste 80 bucks, run over to BestBuy and pick up some Golden gate IC's.

The GG's do lower bass extremely well, but thin. Seemed to be the soundstage shrunk considerably, not as much detail as with the S3's either. High notes where acceptable but nothing to write home about. Musical notes seemed thin. Still....they had somewhat of a grove to them. A rhythm and pace that kept your toes tapping. They were a tad faster than the S3's, but the MIT's had more flesh to the notes, more meat on them bones, a more natural tone.

Comparing 80 buck IC's to one who's retail was 4-5 hundred though, I wasn't expecting much. In spite of the drawbacks I mentioned, the GG's still had a certain appeal to them. They may work well in a less revealing system. So the hunt is still on for a cable that can do it all...and do it well. Next up....Analysis plus crystal ovals.

I've had the copper ovals before....did everything the S3's did but those darn lower bass notes. Why is it I can get hard hitting lower bass from the cheaper IC's but not the more expensive ones ? I'm not happy making such big trade-offs. I'm in the process of purchasing some crystal ovals so we shall see. Suppose to be a different animal than the copper ovals.

drumminman

If DIY appeals to you I know of a recipe that does it all well in my rig. Incredibly smooth, detailed, great low bass. Requires a soldering iron, and ~ $250 of parts.

tonyb

250 in parts ?? There's a lot of higher end cables in that real estate....used of course.

tonyb

See Skip....I can't stand rolled off bass, soft bass, mushy bass, smearing of bass. I want it to sound natural, not subdued in any sense. If cheap IC's can do this, why can't some of the higher end ones do it ?

I haven't given too much thought into PNF, but I know some of you guys like them a lot. Could just be the old "different strokes" and all that. If any compromise is to be made, I'd rather have the higher end rolled off some than the lower end. Kinda like if you had a subwoofer....would you settle for rolled off deep bass ? Probably not I would imagine. Well, my speakers are like having 2 subwoofers in them....slow or sloppy lower bass isn't a characteristic of them, so I won't settle for that at all.

Awhile ago, I had some Audio Metallurgy AG-O IC's in the mix, gave me everything I was looking for in an IC. Unfortunately after moving stuff around one day, they stopped working. I must have done something, I dunno. Try finding a pair on the used market....like trying to find an SRT control box. Now I just have an Audio Metallurgy GA-0 digital cable in the mix and the IC spot has been a carousal as of late. Was also looking for some Reality cable IC's to match the speaker cables I have, and like, but those too are hard to come by.

BTW I should have noted in the GG review, they weren't broken in yet. I only have about 20 hours total on them as of now. They may get better, but not that much better worthy of a permanent home. Maybe I'll give them a whirl on the Kitchen/deck system just for giggles.

drumminman

tonyb wrote: »

250 in parts ?? There's a lot of higher end cables in that real estate....used of course.

Very few cables I've heard at much higher price points can equal them.

tonyb

drumminman wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

250 in parts ?? There's a lot of higher end cables in that real estate....used of course.

Very few cables I've heard at much higher price points can equal them.

So what does the cost include ? What kind of wire is used ?

pitdogg2

I'd be very interested in that also I've made my fair share and love to try new that way so Drummin if you do not want to let out the secrete hit me by PM.

voltz

I made 1 IC's using Furez locking Connectors and Furez cables with a sleeve I got from ebay. and never made another as I hate soldering LOL. I have enough to make 2 full pairs and their just sitting their speaker cables are fun IC's for the more gifted!
Since its the only one of its kind I wonder if it is priceless?

tonyb

Not a fan of the Furez stuff, but as long as it works for you, rock on.

drumminman

tonyb wrote: »

drumminman wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

250 in parts ?? There's a lot of higher end cables in that real estate....used of course.

Very few cables I've heard at much higher price points can equal them.

So what does the cost include ? What kind of wire is used ?

I made two sets of these (Oppo to linestage/ linestage to power amp) with the original recipe which used teflon 32 awg silver and Eichmann Silver Bullet RCA's. I'm thinking about making another set with the new KLE plugs, which, by many reports sound better than the Silver Bullets (which I find to be quite good). I also would use one of the higher grades of silver wire that Chris sells on his website.

Silver gets a bad rep at times, but it's really the geometry of the cable or how the silver is used that's more of the factor. This IC is super low in capacitance.

VenHaus Finesilver IC's : http://www.venhaus1.com/diysilverinterconnects.html