AudioQuest® Chicago 100.0 m PVC Spool (328 Ft)

Chicago analog interconnect uses Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) Conductors in a Double-Balanced Geometry, Hard-Cell Foam insulation and a Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System (NDS). Chicago exhibits our most recent thinking on plug design, featuring Cold-Welded terminations that use pressure to join a cable?s conductors and plug, thereby reducing the distortionthat would be introduced by using damaging heat or foreign materials like solder. Chicago features high-quality gold-plated RCA plugs (XLRs are not available). With Chicago analog interconnects, long-lasting quality and beautiful sound are now more affordable than ever.

Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) Conductors

Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) allows a smoother and clearer sound than cables using regular OFHC (Oxygen-Free High-Conductivity) copper. Solid conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of distortion. The surface quality is critical because a conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the electric fields within a conductor, and for the magnetic fields outside the conductor. LGC has fewer oxides within the conducting material, less impurities, less grain boundaries, and definitively better performance.

Hard-Cell Foam Insulation

Hard-Cell Foam (HCF) Insulation ensures critical signal-pair geometry. Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy. Some of this energy is stored and then released as distortion. Hard-Cell Foam Insulation is similar to the Foamed-PE used in our more affordable Bridges & Falls cables, and is nitrogen-injected to create air pockets. Because nitrogen (like air) does not absorb energy and therefore does not release any energy from or into the conductor, distortion is reduced. In addition, the stiffness of the material allows the cable's conductors to maintain a stable relationship along the cable's full length, producing a stable impedance character and further minimizing distortion.

Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System

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 "shields the shield," absorbing and reflecting most of this noise/RF energy before it reaches the layer attached to ground.

Double-Balanced Geometry

Specifically designed for single-ended applications, 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.