You know you have audiophile system when...

@tuberist --that's my standard as well and i feel like i'm there w/ my system--most of the time--ya never know exactly on amplified instruments b/c live you're hearing them through PA speakers so i use acoustic records to judge.

@mceljo thanks for that info--i was too lazy to ask AQ but it's interesting that they say triple is best for balanced (which is not what i do) and double is better for RCA; however, i agree with you that it's unlikely i'll hear any difference if i went to Sydney from Red River.

@wyoboy  - I specifically asked them about the double vs. triple because with single ended cables there is only two conductors, so there isn't anything beyond double to be balanced.  It doesn't mean that a triple-balanced design can sound good with single ended connectors, but I think it would be expected to result from other design factors.  It's kind of a snake oil move to put single ended connectors on a cable designed for balanced audio as the result is just a more expensive cable that likely doesn't have the same performance value as it would for balanced audio.  Too many customers simply assume that farther up the line and more expensive is always better.  Sometime audio manufactures advertise things that simply don't pass the common sense test.  The fact that the Yukon interconnects are double-balanced for RCA and triple-balanced for XLR with all of the other features being the same made me curious enough to ask about it.

There's only so many ways to connect a cable with either two conductors or three conductors...

@mceljo Totally agree but that really hadn't occurred to me at the time b/c i bought the RR cables used for half price (never unboxed according to seller and i'm reasonably sure that was the case) so it didn't matter to me much--if i were buying AQ cables from scratch i would probably have gone with Big Sur or Sydney as i use single-ended for everything and price seems a good value for features.

@wyoboy - Sounds like you got a good deal and a solid value.

If I had it to do over I'd have gone with Golden Gate as a first step and then would upgrade to the Sydney.  The first step was an inexpensive step to prove to myself that upgraded interconnects would make a difference in my system.

I think of the attitude people have about High Fidelity along similar lines as the attitude some Americans have about the education of their kids. Some people think that they should have a say as to what their children will be taught. But those same parents often want their children to be "better educated" then they were themselves. So what if the parents are ignorant and under educated? We all can always learn more about audio and more about the world. Why draw limits? I would like to learn MORE about audio and MORE about the world.