Audioquest King Cobra - Review/ Demo

dorokusai
dorokusai Posts: 25,577
edited April 2005 in 2 Channel Audio
***UNDER CONSTRUCTION ***
CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
Post edited by dorokusai on

Comments

  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,201
    edited February 2005
    I'm gonna have to sign up for some AudioQuest interconnects. I hate to do but I hear so many good things about there products.

    Damn this cable program....:p

    Dan
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited February 2005
    Aaaaah. Can't wait to read your review. Those are the cables I wanted to get but ended up with a pair of Diamondback because they were much cheaper.

    Maurice
  • racer4551
    racer4551 Posts: 373
    edited April 2005
    Put me ont the demo list for the king cobra's.Interested how these will stack up against the AQ corals i just purchased.
    *HT PRE-PRO*:Rotel rsp-1068, *AMP*:Rotel RMB 1095 *DVD PLAYER*:Denon 2200,*CD PLAYERS*,Arcam Alpha Mcd 6 disk carasel,Hughes Hdtv receiver, Hughes hdvr2,*MAINS*:Polk LSI 15'S, *CENTER*:Polk LSIC, *SIDE SURROUNDS*:Polk LSIFX,*REAR SURROUND*:Polk LSI 7'S,*SUB*:SVS PB2+*.MONITOR*:Mitsubishi ws48413 hdtv,Monsterpower hts2500X2,,Sony playstation2,Harmony sst-659 remote
  • shack
    shack Posts: 11,154
    edited April 2005
    I expected the AudioQuest King Cobras to be good. I own some AudioQuest G-Strings/G-Snakes, Sidewinders and Diamondbacks and I am a fan of the brand. I was dissappointed the minute I put the King Cobras in the rig and turned it on. The best description I can use is "veiled". This seemed especially noticable to me with voices, both male and female, and not so much with instruments. The overall soundstage and imaging was good. The bass with this cable is extremely good. Very tight and detailed and is the best of any the cables in the Cable Swap. The construction of this cable is very good and in general the SQ is ok....much better that any of the generic mass market varieties out there. I kept going back to these cables to see if I would get used to the sound. I just could not get over the veiled quality that I perceived.

    To be fair...this could simply be that these don't sound like the AQs I own. Several people have commented that the AQs are a little too bright for their liking. It is possible that these are just a more laid back AQ.

    I expected these to be better than the AQs I own because they were higer up the ladder from a Co. I think highly of, they are more expensive, they are supposed to be better, etc, etc, etc. IMO they were not. Others may feel/hear differently. That said....Don't let my impressions keep you from demoing these cables.

    For all of those naysayers that say the differences one hears in cables are based on preconceived ideas of what you are expecting or want to hear....IMO this pretty much blows that theory out of the water.
    "Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right." - Ricky Gervais

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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited April 2005
    Thanks for the review. I was considering going up the Audioquest chain with interconnects. I have some Corals that I really like. I may hold off on doing that. Your experience is similar to the one I had with AQ speaker cables. Went from Mammoths to Type 4's and I preferred the 4's. With this hobby being so subjective, price is certainly not a good indicator of quality.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited April 2005
    Shack, I found the same going from Copperhead to Diamondback. I could tell that the DB was probably a more nuetral cable, but the loss in soundstage depth made them sound flat and lifeless. Bass also sounded a touch more realistic, but again, I did not like the 2-dimensional sound.

    Sometimes bigger isn't better.

    Early: If you're happy with what you've got, leave it alone brother...LOL
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited April 2005
    Shack, I found the same going from Copperhead to Diamondback. I could tell that the DB was probably a more nuetral cable, but the loss in soundstage depth made them sound flat and lifeless. Bass also sounded a touch more realistic, but again, I did not like the 2-dimensional sound.

    Sometimes bigger isn't better.

    Early: If you're happy with what you've got, leave it alone brother...LOL
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2