AudioQuest: Invest in the best
Don't be fooled by the hype about specially-designed component video cable—either it's a proper video cable or it isn't. And since AudioQuest has perfected audio/video cable technology, trust that they know what "proper" is. You may ask what makes AudioQuest cables that much more superior? Well, let me tell you. These cables are babied. They're coddled. Each cable's hand is held from its conception in Bill Low's head until it is carefully swaddled in product packaging and shipped off to your home.
Silver: The superior conductor
AudioQuest's mission is to provide a cable for every audio/video need as well as a price for every pocketbook, without sacrificing one iota of performance quality. And they've certainly achieved high-performance status with the YIQ1. The YIQ1 has twice the content of silver (2.5-percent) as the YIQX, which basically means that AudioQuest took the path of least resistance and paved it. What's the difference between silver-plated copper and pure copper? Well, let's take a step back and explain that pure silver is the very best performing material for audio, video or digital, but it's very expensive. So the engineers came up with a more cost-effective solution—silver-plated copper. Don't make assumptions though: high-quality silver-plated copper, when used in video, RF or digital applications, becomes an extraordinary value, allowing for much higher performance even in small quantities.
More of the good stuff
The YIQ1 utilizes a slightly larger, 24-AW gauge conductor to ensure distortion stays at a minimum, and Hard Cell Foam insulation injected with nitrogen reduces distortion caused by the insulating material and maintains a stable 75 ohms. For the YIQ-1, AudioQuest adds silver plating to the braid of the foil-and-braid shield for even more protection from distortion, and the gold-plated connectors (available with RCA, BNC, or DB-15 terminations) are professionally attached with superior AudioQuest solder.
Increase your YI-Q
AudioQuest YIQ component video cables are comprised of three identical maximum performance coaxial cables, one for each of the three component signals: Y, I, and Q. When a piece of equipment, such as DVD player, sources from these signals, the use of the three-in-one YIQ cable setup will provide superior performance over a two-channel S-video (Y/C) cable. Why? Because the S-video cable combines two of the signals into one and then separates them out again, which causes signal degradation—exactly what you're trying to avoid.
Get a grip
If you're investing in AudioQuest cables, you expect even the little things to rock your world—like the cylinder tips on the YIQ1. AudioQuest isn't going to put all that R&D into their cable technology and then drop the ball with a bad connection. So these babies are gold plated, just like the connector, for exceptional performance as well as for gold's noble, anti-corrosive properties. And each cylinder sleeve has perpendicular cuts that allow for a tight, solid connection—which makes for a tight, solid signal between your components.
Damage control—let's compare apples. . .
It's important to know that an audio or video signal cannot be improved upon—it's as good as it's going to get once it leaves your amp, DVD player, whatever component you're running. So why bother with a high-end cable? Simple: the signal can't be improved, but it can be damaged. Significantly. A lesser-quality cable leaves your signal wide-open to instabilities. A lesser-quality cable is constructed of bundled, twisted strands of conductive material—up to 200 to 2000 strands per bundle. And as the signal wants to travel the path of least resistance (down the outside of the bundle), all those twisted strands inhibit the signal. They draw the signal from the outside of the bundle to the inside, where it fights to get back to the outside again. What's the result? Distortion. Lost data. Poor sound quality.
. . .to oranges
AudioQuest, on the other hand, engineers their cables with the highest quality, perfectly gauged solid-core, copper and silver conductors. And each conductor strand is slowly and precisely loomed, not twisted, into the final cable bundle—and it's important to note that the maximum amount of strands AudioQuest has used in their longest cable, for flexibility requirements, is 32 (that's a few less than 200, and a lot less than 2000). Once they have constructed the conductor, AudioQuest wraps it in the dielectric (a fancy word for the insulating material) to keep the cable at peak performance levels at all times by absorbing as little energy as possible in order to avoid the reintroduction of energy (distortion) back into the conductor.
The bottom line
What AudioQuest is doing is engineering cables with conductors that have all the proper attributes, for decreased distortion. They've arranged the conductors so the signal travels down a straight path, for decreased distortion. They've wrapped the conductor metal in a non-conductive material, to decrease distortion. The result is an astonishingly pure, very stable signal. Starting to make sense? AudioQuest loathes distortion. You'll love AudioQuest.
