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Audioquest SKY Interconnects

I see on eBay what I believe are copies of the AQ Sky interconnects for around $150-$200 used USD being sold out of China.  Does anyone have any experience with these cables?  Are they worth a try or would I be wasting my time?  The reason I am asking is that I would be probably using them in Vandersteen MP filters that I build for my Vanderteen speakers which allows me to use higher grade parts in the filters copies.  Previously I used AQ Diamonback ICs with great success but I sold those when I sold my Vandersteen model 5s.

Thanks for your input/advice.     
bigkidz
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
I never said it makes any difference. I mentioned it only to show that the same cables from US and China had different names and prices.  Still, cheap imitations most likely won't be of the same quality, no matter where made.

As for China, I type it on wireless Logitech keyboard (made in China), connected to MacMini (made in China) and to ViewSonic monitor (made in China). All wonderful quality.
eziggy
137 posts
 
One telltale sign that it is a fake is looking at the velcro bands on the DBS packs.  If they wrap around the DBS and/or have AudioQuest written on them in white, then they are most likely fake.  Just look at some pictures of authentic cables online and compare them to the eBay ones.

There are of course more precise copies, so this is just the obvious one.  I would try to stick to buying AQ cables used from well rated sellers or even better dealers if you are looking for authentic cables.  Even still I have heard of stories where highly rated people end up innocently selling Sky cables they thought were real and turned out to not be the case (refunds were issued as I recall).
tuberist's avatar
tuberist
951 posts
 
+1 Ziggy
dustsailor
28 posts
 
If you didn't like the sound of the King Cobra, then you might not care for AQ's higher offerings.
bigkidz OP
3,303 posts
 
@dustsailor I did you the Audioquest Diamondback for the filter I built as I had one single cable and just decided to use it.  It worked fine and I did not have anything to compare it to but the original MP filter.  To our ears, the one we built was better sounding.  I could not compare the cables on the filters as they are fixed.  Parts quality on the filter that we built was much higher (better capacitors than the original WIMA, and better resistors than the original ones) so that makes it hard to say.  I purchased the King Cobra's and in a few systems they were musical but not as open as the other cables that they were compared to at that time.  Since Vandersteen uses the SKY ICs on their filters and I current use those filters in my system, I wanted to match the ICs on the filters that I am building now.  I can use any cable for the filters and actually could be the filters with inputs and outputs to try any cables.
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