Balanced Cables use two dedicated conductors to provide forward and return paths for signal. The ground connection in balanced configurations is accomplished by means of a third, dedicated, ground conductor. Balanced XLR connectors use large diameter signal pins. They are considered superior by High-End manufacturers and audiophiles to the very common RCA in that they sound better and provide a positive locking action. The Red River series in very affordable and would suit some of the modest priced valve and home theatre processors and power amplifiers available.
Solid Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC) Conductors: Perfect-Surface Copper has an astonishingly smooth and pure surface. Proprietary metal-processing technology protects the wire’s surface at every stage of drawing and fabrication. When high-purity low-oxide copper is kept as soft, pure and smooth as possible, it becomes a wonderfully low-distortion conductor. For over 30 years AudioQuest has pioneered the use of superior metals and PSC clearly outperforms previous AQ metals that cost over ten times as much. Electrical and magnetic interaction between strands in a conventional cable is the greatest source of distortion, often causing a somewhat dirty, harsh sound. Solid conductors are fundamental toward achieving Red River’s very clean sound.
Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam Insulation: Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam insulation is used exclusively in most of AudioQuest’s video and digital audio cables. Similar to Foamed-PE, it is nitrogen-injected to create air pockets. ‘Hard’ foam is used because the stiffness of the material allows the conductors in the cable to maintain the same relationship with each other along the full length of the cable, thus ensuring that the characteristic impedance of the cable is consistent.
Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System (NDS): 100% shield coverage is easy. Preventing captured RF Interference from modulating the equipment’s ground reference requires AQ’s Noise-Dissipation System. Noise-Dissipation System prevents a significant amount of RFI from reaching the equipment’s ground plane.
Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) Conductors: Solid conductors eliminate strand-interaction distortion. Red River's solid Long-Grain Copper allows a smoother and clearer sound than cables using regular OFHC (Oxygen-Free High-Conductivity) copper. OFHC is a general metal industry specification regarding "loss" without any concern for distortion. LGC has fewer oxides within the conducting material, less impurities, less grain boundaries, and definitively better performance.
Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam Insulation: Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam insulation is used exclusively in most of AudioQuest's video and digital audio cables. Similar to Foamed-PE, it is nitrogen-injected to create air pockets. "Hard" foam is used because the stiffness of the material allows the conductors in the cable to maintain the same relationship with each other along the full length of the cable, thus ensuring that the characteristic impedance of the cable is consistent.
Triple-Balanced Geometry: The three conductors in "Triple-Balanced" Red River cables ensure that the XLR plugs' positive and negative signals have equally low-distortion conducting paths. This 100% coverage shield is never used as an inferior conductor.
Cold-Welded Gold-Plated Plugs: Red River's XLR plugs feature new connectors and new pins. The connectors are fastened by cold welding — a solder-less process that uses high pressure and silver paste to minimise signal loss. This plug design allows for a connection devoid of solder, which is a common source of distortion. Because the ground shells are stamped instead of machined, the metal can be chosen for low distortion instead of machinability. By contrast, solder tends to impede the signal, and the heating of the copper conductor during soldering can negatively affect its performance.
Directional: Arrows on the XLR connectors indicate the preferred signal path from the source component to the input.
Key Features:
- Design: A pair of audio interconnects with XLR terminals on both ends
- Conductors: Three solid Long-Grain Copper conductors per cable for clean, low-distortion sound
- Insulation: Stiff Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam insulation stabilises the position of the conductors to maintain consistent impedance over the length of the cable
- NSS: Metal-layer Noise-Dissipation System prevents RF interference from reaching the equipment's ground plane
- Geometry: 3-conductor Triple-Balanced Geometry — the separate ground conductor ensures that positive and negative signals have equally low-distortion conducting paths
- Terminations: Cold-welded gold-plated XLR plugs
- Jacket: Black-and-red braid
