Audioquest Thunderbird RCA ?

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Has anyone gotten their ears on the AudioQuest Thunderbird RCA's? I am thinking of trying them to possibly replace my High Fidelity Reveal RCA's.

I have been using the Reveal for a couple of years, and I do like them a lot, but that stupid upgrade \ change bug has hit me again.

So far, I am still beyond happy with my Wireworld Eclipse Silver 8 speaker cables and found a nice synergy between the Silver 8 and the Reveal, but I still get that stupid itch and wonds up costing me some $.
Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.

Comments

  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,534
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    Blow it on liquor at Russ’s wedding instead!
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,873
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    Dskip won't bring them by the house unless I say I am buying them :D
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    marvda1 wrote: »
    Dskip won't bring them by the house unless I say I am buying them :D

    Whattttt? LOL. You can't decide until you hear them, right?
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • displayname
    displayname Posts: 1,132
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    He said Marvin won’t be able to resist them once he hears them, so he won’t bring them till Martin is ready to right the check.

    On the other hand, he said I could hear them whenever because he knows I can’t pull the trigger on them, lol.

    I’m excited to hear feedback as these get out there!
    Analog: MoFi MasterTracker > MoFi UltraDeck > Sutherland 20/20
    Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
    MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
    Discogs
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    That makes more sense! I am thinking of giving them a shot against the Reveal and Wireworld Eclipse Silver 7 RCA's I have on hand.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    Well, I pulled the trigger on them. I'm going to try them again against the High Fidelity Reveal. Here is a pic of the Reveal
    80gfbvpehgyn.jpg
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  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    And the AudioQuest
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    p5hk0qwmy3kh.jpg
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,802
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    When the light turns red does the music stop?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    I haven't listened to them yet and won't have a chance until tomorrow, but I have them burning in playing music from the internal drive on the Innuos Zen. I will give them a listen tomorrow.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    F1nut wrote: »
    When the light turns red does the music stop?

    Funny!!! They say the batteries last for years. No idea how often you have to test them.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,608
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    Curious to hear which sound best in your system.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,579
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    Love the RCA ends 👍👍👍
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,608
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    Is it actually two separate cables feeding into the barrel?! Interesting.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,802
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    Clipdat wrote: »
    Curious to hear which sound best in your system.

    Indeed, will it be the magnets or the batteries?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,100
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    Audioquest cables will always serve in my rig.
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    Right now they need more break in time. They only had about 12 or 14 hours break in. Off the bat, I noticed a little bit more volume, a increase in midrange, decrease in the top end and a slight increase in the bottom end. I have the Innuos running non stop and will report back in 2-3 weeks so they have enough burn in time. The magnets "magic" happened around that 400 hour mark. The construction on them is fantastic and I do like the ends over the HFC Reveal's. Another thing worth noting, for components that don't have a ton of room between the L & R RCA's on the pre, the AQ fit easier over the Reveal. The fat round end on the rca on the Reveal was a very tight fit. It probably is not a fair fight putting a 3k cable against a $900 cable but, sometimes synergy plays a big factor into things regardless of the price difference.

    I learned my lesson a long time ago just because it cost more, doesn't mean it will sound better in your system. Too many other factors lead into things.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    They AQ's are breaking in nicely. I have noticed that the top end is getting more air and space, the bottom end is more extended, more depth, and that mid still just pops out more than the HfC Reveal. I think another week or so should do it. I am going to live with them in the rig for a couple more weeks and then put the Reveal back in to see how big of a difference there is besides volume.

    Then, I need to decide to sell the Wireworld Eclipse Silver or the HFC Reveal. Both the Eclipse Silver 7 and HFC Reveal have qualities that I like, but I don't want to keep hording cables.

    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,663
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    @erniejade Any updates?
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    They are a fantastic cable! Worth the price of admission for sure. I need to do a write up of them when I am home from Florida.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,663
    edited June 2022
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    @erniejade Thanks for the feedback. Would be interested in your thoughts. I am going to be receiving the Thunderbird Zero speaker cables and one RCA interconnect soon.
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    Nice!!!!!!!. They would be a great match for the Legacy!. Just give them time to burn in. At first I thought they sounded OK vs my Fidelity Reveal but around the 200 hour mark, they slaughtered them. More open, more bass, just more of everything. Once burned in, I felt like I had a new speaker and not a new cable.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,663
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    erniejade wrote: »
    Nice!!!!!!!. They would be a great match for the Legacy!. Just give them time to burn in. At first I thought they sounded OK vs my Fidelity Reveal but around the 200 hour mark, they slaughtered them. More open, more bass, just more of everything. Once burned in, I felt like I had a new speaker and not a new cable.

    Thats great to hear. I'm looking forward to getting them.

    I am also adding a Norma 140 to the mix. In fact the 140 is in my room burning in now. Turned it on last night around 8pm. Skip let me try one in my system over the weekend and I was sold. Things is a changing in my system....

    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,873
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    tratliff wrote: »
    erniejade wrote: »
    Nice!!!!!!!. They would be a great match for the Legacy!. Just give them time to burn in. At first I thought they sounded OK vs my Fidelity Reveal but around the 200 hour mark, they slaughtered them. More open, more bass, just more of everything. Once burned in, I felt like I had a new speaker and not a new cable.

    Thats great to hear. I'm looking forward to getting them.

    I am also adding a Norma 140 to the mix. In fact the 140 is in my room burning in now. Turned it on last night around 8pm. Skip let me try one in my system over the weekend and I was sold. Things is a changing in my system....
    Norma IPA-140, that's a terrible sounding amp ;):D

    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,663
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    marvda1 wrote: »
    Norma IPA-140, that's a terrible sounding amp ;):D

    Thats why I left it on all night. Hoping it will start sounding better! :D
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,873
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    Did you stay up to babysit it?
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,663
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    marvda1 wrote: »
    Did you stay up to babysit it?

    I stayed up until about midnight. Then had to get to bed. It was a work night.

    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
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    That Norma I have heard many times. It really does have a fantastic open controlled sound to it. The Norma sometimes gets overlooked by the more popular big guns in the game but, it can take them on without breaking a sweat.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.