There is little doubt that the deliberate obscurity of whatever ’quantum’ process is used, or the optimistic descriptives (’superconductor’) will unavoidably generate great skepticism, or even derision. And saying that the QSA effect lingers on and exponentially decays even after the cable has been removed strains the limit of even a fervent cable-believer is willing to swallow.
If you are not a cable believer than you will not get much oxygen here on a cable-specific forum. But if you are, then these relatively inexpensive cables should not be dismissed so readily.
I recently purchased a single Discovery PC out of interest, knowing full well that if it didn’t turn out well I would get a refund (less shipping), so 95% risk-free.
I use pretty much a full loom of ’fake’ Audioquest Dragon cables...many power cords, interconnects, speaker cable and HDMI cable that have fundamentally changed my system from one where I listened mostly bored, to one I an excited to listen to daily. Previously I had used a mixture of Pangea PC, Cardas speaker cables and custom silver interconnects.
By my standards this was not inexpensive-probably $3000+ worth. But starkly illustrated how cables can make or break a system with the Dragons decidely elevating the performance.
So I put the QSA cable on the Gustard R26 (that has been fortified by a LHY clock and a Gustard U18 DDC). I was advised to put it closer to the source, like the modem, the wifi router or even a switch, but I thought maybe the DAC would make a good testing bed.
I know the sound of the system very very well, so I am convinced what I am hearing is not expectation bias.
Immediately the first thing I noted was the imaging now widened and gave me credible images outside of the plane between the speakers. So SOMETHING was happening. However I found voices to sound overly chesty and the bass to be quite lumpy. So it was not an instantaneous jaw-dropping experience.
After 24 hours I noted that dynamics were faster and more in-step with the music. Vocals however remained colored and would have been unacceptable if they had remained that way.
After 4 days of continuous playing, things got very much the better. Bass is now deep yet nimble, and outperforms the much thicker three-braided-wire Dragon PC. Vocals now projected very well and sounded just real. Dynamics cracked in a way that I had not heard before. Treble performance was at least as good as the Dragons, but certainly not hugely better (it was already very good). Imaging is even better than the Dragons and does not wonder around if you move your head from side to side-so I suppose you can say it sounds less ’phasey’.
What is harder to describe however is that there is now a sense of ease and balance that is more inviting to listen to. Even 320 bps radio streams were that more fun to listen to.
True fact....I now find myself listening to an entire album instead of bouncing from track to track, like an audio buffet bar.
I was seriously thinking about upgrading from the R26 to Gustards latest R30.
But instead I may buy another 3-4 of these power cables and save a few grand in the process.
Anybody want to buy some lightly used fake Audioquest Dragon PCs?