Audioquest Evergreen HDMI Cable - 0.6m

These cables are awesome. Definitely well made and they are very flexible (especially compared to my previous Monoprice ones I had prior to these). I bought two of these cables, each being two feet long, as I had a friend who gave me this same model Evergreen cable for free (and the blue one pictured) but it was way too long for my use. I’m gonna give that one away to a friend so he can use it for his setup in the future. The connection is super snug and they look great, I really like having these colors in my setup rather than just all black ones. These cables made my setup sound noticeably better. And before you say anything, yes, the amplifier has enough ventilation.

... und das gilt auch für das "Evergreen". Ich gehörte bisher nicht zur Glaubensgemeinschaft der "Kabelhörer". Nachdem ich aber dieses Kabel gegen die Standardstrippen an meiner schon etwas älteren Anlage (die aber jetzt mit neuen, sehr guten Lautsprechern ausgestattet wurde) ausgetauscht hatte, war ich doch positiv überrascht: Das Audioquest führt im Vergleich zu vorher zu einem sehr transparenten und präzisen, tendenziell schlanken aber dennoch druckvollen Klang. Das Kabel empfiehlt sich womöglich insbesondere, wo ein zu basslastiges System etwas gemildert werden soll. Das Evergreen ist ziemlich zierlich, das gilt auch für die Cinch-Stecker. Trotzdem und auch angesichts ihrer gatten Oberfläche lassen sie sich noch einigermaßen gut stecken und abziehen, da die Kontakte eine optimale Passform haben. Die Stecker haben Richtungspfeile - aber nach Umstecken habe ich keinen signifikanten Unterschied bemerkt. Preis/Leistung ist absolut in Ordnung (viel mehr würde ich für ein Kabel aber auch nicht ausgeben).

Do you want truly good quality cables for not a lot of money? Well, dream on, because that is not something which actually exists on this planet. What does exist, however, are Audioquest cables. Audioquest offers all the sound quality a sensible, non-psychotic audiophile actually requires, and does so at an attractive price point* within reach of everyone**. *applicable only to entry-level audioquest products. higher-level products range from exorbitantly expensive to totally unaffordable. **everyone who’s earnings place them in society’s upper-middle class. Equipping a large, multi-component stereo using durable cables which are also aesthetically, and aurally pleasing can rival the cost of a small luxury sedan. Those cables exist for really only one purpose... To provide definitive proof for the commonly used expression, “there’s one born every minute”. Of course, they do offer a slight increase in sound quality, but nowhere near proportionate to their ludicrous price tags. Those who fall for this trickery fail to realize the subjective nature of sound quality. There is an easy formula behind the sometimes elusive goal of quality sound... a formula in which money plays much less of a role than many believe. Sure, one needs to drop money on high quality components and speakers, but not luxury sedan money. Only the most insecure of people require the type of validation only a sky-high asking price can deliver. The next important element in the sound quality formula is not necessarily something one can buy, for it is intangible. Although a false form of this element can be obtained through ridiculous overpayment, the real thing is a product of knowledge, research and experience. The element I’m referencing is confidence. Confidence in both the components which make up your system, as well as your ability in choosing the correct equipment for your requirements. It’s really that simple. Quality components purchased in an informed manner will always produce high quality sound when installed properly, if the listener believes in the system to which they’re listening. A system with a dramatically higher price tag will of course sound a bit better in a side-by side comparison, but not proportionally... and how often is a $500,000 system going to be sitting next to yours? I noticed one reviewer stated that the Audioquest cables he had long since returned for being “noisy”. He probably would have been better off, had he returned the noisy components which made up his buzzy system, than returning those Audioquest cables. No intact interconnect cable can create noise on its own, it can only induce noises which shouldn’t be there in the first place. You can’t go wrong with sensibly-priced good quality components... and you’ll never need $10,000 interconnects to mask the noise they aren’t producing. Some believe the most consequential elements in the quest for superb sound quality are the interconnects used. As I mentioned, interconnect cables which are durable, aesthetically and aurally pleasing will fill this role perfectly. There is no requirement to foolishly overspend on any part of your system, unless you suffer from chronic insecurity... In such cases, the path to superb sound quality is paved with thousands upon thousands of dollars. It won’t be as real as a system in which you’re naturally confident, but don’t worry, you won’t be able to hear the difference.

Initially, clarity has improved and more detailed information in the sound can be clearly discerned. As I run-in the cables over 24 hours of continuously playing, the sound mellows from bright sounding to a more subtle and non-intrusive kind of sound reproduction. By 48 hours of continuous use, my floor-standing Paradigm Reference floor standing speakers seemed to have "disappeared". The room fills with music which "seemed" to come from everywhere instead of uni-directionally from the speakers. Gear used: Soundcard - Traktor Audio 6 (Audioquest Evergreen RCA interconnects from soundcard to pre-amplifier) Signal fed into: McIntosh C712 pre-amplifier Power amplifier: McIntosh MC7100 Interconnects between pre-amplifier: Silverlink Crystal RCA interconnects Speaker cables from power amp to speakers: Silverlink Crystal Type of music: ambient to electronic to pop to rock to classical to ethnic

A few weeks ago i purchased a Tower interconnect , which is the base model of the Audioquest range , and although i found nothing particularly outstanding about the performance initially with a bit of use and more extensive listening i started to appreciate the way it managed to bring subtle improvements in clarity , soundstage depth and separation to the music without shouting ' look at me ' . I've always liked the way solid core cable seems to ( subjectively ) tighten bass response which in turn brings about improvements in timing and rhythm , but this type of cable ( at sensible prices ) is not so easy to find as it once was , the downside being extra care is needed when handling due to it's relative inflexibility and it is easily damaged. I have been using the Tower in a secondary system but having purchased a new rack to house my main system in the lounge with only 24 cm between the shelves i needed a shorter cable to link my cd player to the amp so i ordered a 60 cm length of the Evergreen , which is next up in the Audioquest range . Differences between Evergreen and the Tower , other than the obvious colour , consist of a braided outer sheath and slightly thicker copper cores. Used with a system comprised of Onkyo CDP 7030 - Marantz PM 5005 - Monitor Audio MR 1 's and Van Damme speaker cable the Evergreen displayed the same characteristics of the cheaper Tower but with slightly more bass weight and a subtle but noticeable increase in fine detail. The main criticism of the Audioquest cables though aren't related to the sound but the ridiculously tight fit of the plugs. Almost everyone that uses these cables complains about this and although they slide on easy enough when it comes to removal they exhibit a vice like grip and utmost care is needed not to damage them or the sockets they are plugged into. This could be made much easier by having some sort of ' grip ' moulded into the plug surface , the plugs themselves are about half the size of most other types and combined with the smooth surface makes removal ( especially in the confined rear of most racks ) extremely difficult and frustrating. In summary then , a good cable at a relatively modest cost , that produces subtle but noticeable benefits. Just make sure you position your equipment where you want it to stay before plugging in or risk damage trying to unplug . I 've given 5 stars based on sound quality alone but if i could refine that the plugs would get 3 .