About The AudioQuest Sydney Stereo 3.5mm To 2 RCA Audio Cable
The AudioQuest Sydney stereo 3.5mm to two RCA audio cable is the next step up the line from the Big Sur and is part of the Bridges and Falls range. AudioQuest do comprehensive listening tests and like Big Sur, Sydney has been around for quite a few years and still measures up when it comes to sound quality.
The AudioQuest Sydney stereo audio minijack-to-RCA cable is terminated by a silver-plated male 3.5mm stereo connector on one end and a pair of silver-plated stereo RCA male connectors on other end. You probably already knew that but we need to make sure we describe it correctly. Sydney 3.5 mini-plug series is designed to connect products like phones, tablets and even iPods to audio gear that has analogue RCA inputs. A quality cable can reduce distortion in your signal. To achieve this, Sydney audio cable utilises solid perfect-surface copper+ conductors in a double-balanced asymmetrical geometry with foamed-polyethylene insulation, a metal-layer noise dissipation system, and cold-welded silver-plated pure "purple-copper" RCA plugs.
The Inspiration For The Sydney Series
It is no surprise that this analogue-audio interconnect cable is named after the famous and dare we say beautiful Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is the tallest and widest steel-arch bridge in the world, and the fifth longest. You may also know that there is a smaller version spanning the River Tyne in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in north-east England and was finished in 1928 which was 4 years prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge - see the attached image taken by one of our staff on a trip a few years back. Now back to the cable! In all Bridges & Falls products, you'll find better metals and more sophisticated technologies — including Air-Tube insulation, Dielectric-Bias System, and Noise-Dissipation System — at lower prices than ever before. So, let's take a closer look at this up-market 3.5mm Stereo connector to a pair of RCA Stereo connectors.
Solid Perfect-Surface Copper + (PSC+) Conductors: Strand interaction is the single greatest cause of distortion in a cable. Semi-Solid Concentric Packed Conductors avoid many strand-interaction distortion mechanisms. Solid-core conductors offer a complete and compelling solution to this problem. Conductor metal quality is critical for the best cable performance. The conductor surface is the only area of the conductor with 100% current density at all frequencies. The smoothness of the conductor surface is imperative because the surface is a guide rail for the entire energy envelope. The best copper and silver conductor metals have fewer grain boundaries and low oxygen content for low distortion and high performance.
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 PSC+ conductor. PSC+ is manufactured by applying the same exceptional technology to an ultra-pure copper. The resulting sound quality is even more focused and simply less in the way. For over 30 years AudioQuest has pioneered the use of superior metals; yet even we were surprised by the huge leap in performance made possible with Perfect-Surface Technology. PSC+ simply outperforms all previously available copper metals at any price. All of Sydney's conductors are solid. 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 Sydney's very clean sound.
Polyethylene Air-Tube Insulation: Insulation is necessary to keep the positive and negative conductors separate and to give stability to cable geometry. Insulation is also a "dielectric" because it is inside the conductor's magnetic field. Dielectrics absorb energy, which after a delay is then released in the signal, causing smearing and distortion. Better insulation reduces distortion by absorbing less energy. All of Sydney's conductors use PE Air-Tube Insulation because air absorbs next to no energy, and Polyethylene is low-loss and has a benign distortion profile. PE Air-Tube Insulation causes much less of the out-of-focus effect common to other materials.
Carbon-based 3-layer Noise-Dissipitation System (NDS): This is the main upgrade over Big Sur. It's easy to accomplish 100% shield coverage. Preventing captured Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from modulating the equipment's ground reference requires AQ's Noise-Dissipation System (NDS). Traditional shield systems typically absorb and then drain noise/RF energy to component ground, modulating and distorting the critical "reference" ground plane, which in turn causes a distortion of the signal. NDS's alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetics "shield the shield," absorbing and reflecting most of this noise/RF energy before it reaches the layer attached to ground.
Assymmetrical Double-Balanced Geometry: Purpose designed for single-ended applications, Asymmetrical Double-Balanced Geometry offers a relatively lower impedance on the ground for a richer, and more dynamic experience. While many single-ended cable designs use a single path for both the ground and the shield, Double-Balanced designs separate the two for cleaner, quieter performance.
Cold-Welded, Direct-Silver Pated Pure "Purple-Copper" Plugs: This plug design is another upgrade over Big Sur and 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. Purple-Copper offers a cleaner, clearer sound over nickel-plated or OFHC metals commonly found in competing manufacturers' plugs. Direct-Silver Plating offers one more important step toward greater clarity and doing no harm to the signal.
About AudioQuest
AudioQuest has been the largest cable supplier to the high-end specialist market for several decades and is sold in over sixty countries. Founder Bill Lowe is especially pleased that this success has been possible despite his insistence that the foundation of the company, and the foundation of AudioQuest marketing, must be the performance of the product and when he visited Audio Trends a couple of years back we were convinced of this by his genuine sincerity. In the audio world, many professionals have learned that it is not always convenient to listen to the products they sell … they might learn something they don't want to know! Bill has always understood the challenge of basing the existence of AudioQuest on the performance of the product. However, to Bill, this is the only reasonable way to do business and the only acceptable way to combine his passion for music (and all things high performance), with his need to make a living.
Main Features & Specifications
- Product Description: Stereo 3.5mm mini plug to two RCA plugs
- Geometry: Asymmetrical Double-Balanced
- Metal: Solid Perfect-Surface Copper + (PSC+) Conductors
- Dielectric/Insulation: Foamed-Polyethylene Insulation
- Noise-Dissipation System (NDS): Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System
- Plugs: Cold-Welded, Direct-Silver Pated Pure "Purple-Copper" Plugs
- Jacket Colour: Dark Grey/Black braid
- Available Lengths: 600mm; 1 Metre; 1.5 Metre; 2 Metre; 3 Metre; 5 Metre; 8 Metre
- AudioQuest Product Code: AQ-SYDMR/.6
- Manufacturer's Australian Warranty: 5 Years - Does not cover misuse or abuse
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE