Sydney
All cables in AudioQuest's Bridges & Falls Series place their left and right channels in a single jacket, and feature Asymmetrical Double-Balanced geometry with separate high-quality positive and negative conductors. This design allows for a thin, flexible, and uniquely versatile high-performance cable that can be terminated with a variety of today’s connections, including 3.5mm (male or female), DIN, and RCA. In Bridges & Falls, 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. Do keep in mind, however, that, by necessity, the plugs on Bridges & Falls cables are fairly close together. If the L and R inputs of your components are more than 3″ (7.6cm) apart, please consider models from the Rivers or Elements Series.
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 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 most audiophiles 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
Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy (loss). Some of this energy is stored and then released as distortion. 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-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. Metal and Carbon-Loaded synthetics prevent most RFI from reaching the equipment’s ground plane.
Asymmetrical 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 Plated Pure Purple Copper Terminations
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. 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.
