Audioquest Rocket 88s Review

Posted by TGT (A) on February 24, 2015 at 12:18:37

After an absence of about 20 years my Tara Labs Time and Space speaker cables made an appearance in my system displacing my Blue Heavens. As I recalled, they sounded pretty good 20 years ago. I was shocked by the change. The sound was noticeably more dynamic with greater front to back depth.

So impressed with the change that I decided to try a set of 21st century solid core cables thinking they might be even better than the Tara Labs, so I settled on the Audioquest Rocket 88s.

My comparison is mostly to the Nordost Blue Heavens. I haven’t had the Tara labs in long enough for a fair comparison.

Following several days of listening sessions, I compared my notes to the claims made by Audioquest regarding the sound of these cables:

1)"hear deeper into the nuances”….. Well I hear a deeper soundstage

2)“eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity”….. The sound does seem smoother and there is an increase in clarity. They remain smooth at higher volumes.

3)“reduction in “hash” and better dimensionality” …Not sure about hash but there is better dimensionality. I noticed greater front to back depth to the soundstage. This was the first improvement that I noticed.

4)“Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast” …..I do hear a bit more detail with much greater dynamic contrast.

5)“allows for significantly better dynamic contrast and information intelligibility” …Agree with both of these especially dynamic contrast.

6)“allow an exceptionally clear, clean and dynamic sound.” ….. Agree especially a more dynamic sound.

In addition, I notice a greater sense of ambient information surrounding the instruments deep in the soundstage. Sudden transients are quicker and have more snap. Lastly, there is greater fullness and authority in the low end.

I have learned that the effect of speaker cables on sound is (in part) a function of the electrical features of the amp and speakers. It may be that the 88s just happen to integrate a bit with better with my amps and speakers than my other cables.

These cables are among my best audio purchases.

Oppo 105D or Sony SCD-XA5400ES, Emotiva XSP-1 Gen 2, Coda Model 11 or PrimaLuna Prologue Seven Monoblocks, Thiel CS3.6s/ Velodyne SP sub, Interconnects: Kimber KCAG, Nordost Red Dawn and Solar Wind, Canare Star Quad XLR interconnects. PS Audio Power Plant Premier.

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Topic - Audioquest Rocket 88s Review - TGT 12:18:37 02/24/15 (3)

RE: Audioquest Rocket 88s Review - dirtyvinyl 21:07:04 03/09/15 (0)

RE: Audioquest Rocket 88s Review - Chris K. 17:56:00 03/08/15 (0)

RE: Audioquest Rocket 88s Review - fantja 15:27:37 02/24/15 (0)

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