AudioQuest King Cobra Speaker Cables

AudioQuest King Cobra Speaker Cables 

DESCRIPTION

King Cobra Interconnect Pair

  • Three solid Perfect Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors
  • 3 x 21 awg conductors
  • Triple-balanced construction
  • 100% coverage shield
  • PE air tubes dielectric
  • RCA or XLR connectors

  • USER REVIEWS

    Showing 1-7 of 7  
    [Apr 21, 2014]
    Michael j.
    Audio Enthusiast

    Pay $110 , Compared. These to coincident cst ic ?
    The sound less. Just. A bit less air to the coincident cst ic
    But. The coincident cst cost $295 a pair .
    But sounded almost the same , very clean and relax
    I think it's need more break in perhaps another 48 hrs .
    I guess. I get. What I pay for. On the other side
    On xlr. For my. Hometheater use, it's. Great !
    Couldn't be happier !
    Just try it out for yourself ...

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Mar 30, 2012]
    Wen
    AudioPhile

    For the price, this cable does well but it's overall still veiled, like listening behind a thick curtain or at the back of the hall. There's little involvement and it misses out the deep ranges of the bass. The treble performs well, as does the midrange.

    I got what I paid for but I will be replacing these in the near future.

    OVERALL
    RATING
    2
    VALUE
    RATING
    4
    [Apr 16, 2011]
    Andrew
    AudioPhile

    Absolutely love this cable. Open with great definition,awesome low end and no fatigue. Give them a try! The sound of my system is just so liquid and highly detailed.Big up to Bill from audioquest...

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Feb 16, 2011]
    positivefiction
    Audio Enthusiast

    Bought a pair of the King Cobras in the hopes that they would replicate the magic of my favorite interconnects, the Audioquest Emerald, in a different application.

    In short, they do, and don't.

    In descriptive...

    The Emeralds are very balanced from top to bottom, with a pleasing balance and just the right amount of midrange weight that makes music sound downright seductive. The shortcomings, which I notice on rock, is that they are on the polite side of rhythmic attack, and their staging, while good, isn't the best I've heard.

    The King Cobras, at first, sounded good, but a bit hollow. They had good bass, and a sparkling treble that never got harsh or tinny or anything else that takes away from just serving detail up, and they served it up very kindly. But, the midrange seemed hollow, as though someone pulled two edges of fabric, leaving the center thin, while the bass and treble were overemphasized.

    So...I plugged the King Cobras into the preamp outs of my receiver into the HT inputs of my Classe Integrated, left them there for two weeks, then placed them into my CD player again. That two weeks, I had the Emeralds in that position, so now, broken in, I could give them a fair shake.

    The detail was still there, but now the midrange was breathing and filled out nicely. It wasn't the same weighty midrange I'm used to with the Emeralds, but more transparent without sounding hollow or thin. Somehow, the bass managed to get even deeper, and the highs, which were already very good, relaxed even more. Overall, it was a similar presentation, if not as seductively weighty in the midrange, but it introduced one element the Emeralds do not have...rhythmic punch. It doesn't go over the top with this attack by grabbing you by the throat and making a point of it...all the gentle staging and harmoonic rightness of the Emeralds exists in the King Cobras, only trading a bit of euphonic midrange seductiveness for better transparency and bouncy rhythm.

    The one thing that I'm most happy about with the King Cobras, listening to them as I write this, is they preserved the gentle presentation of fine detail I remember from older Audioquest models, without forcing it down your throat. Broken in, these cables came into their own, and while on certain songs, like jazz and vocals, I enjoy the more romantic sound of the Emeralds, the King Cobras added transparency and punch make up for it on rock and classical. Like moving forward a couple of rows, trading some of the ambiance of the hall but getting more transient attack and a touch more immediacy.

    Are they perfect? Who or what is? But they have a home on my CD player, while he Emeralds will go to my music server, to help bring some romanticism and weight to my slightly analytical sounding computer rig.

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    4
    [Aug 28, 2006]
    balloonknot32
    Audio Enthusiast

    Strength:

    Solid build quality. Flexible enough to put into tight spaces.

    Weakness:

    None.

    I think the AQ King Cobras are the best bang for the buck interconnects around. These cables are so good that my HT is full of them. I have 6 pairs in total along with a single subwoofer King Cobra. 5 King Cobras go to my Anthem MCA 50, 2 from my Sony SACD player, and 4 from my Pioneer CD recorder. The sound is so pleasant and open. I can listen for hours and not get fatigued or get a headache.

    The King Cobra subwoofer cable has to be the best subwoofer cable I've heard PERIOD!!!!!! The bass that my M&K V-1250 puts out is just so tight and fast. The bass hits you in the chest. My old AQ Sidewinder subwoofer cable was ok but doesn't even come close to the King Cobra.

    Anyone with a dedicated processor and amp shold demo the King Cobras. Fantastic cable.

    Similar Products Used:

    AQ Diamondbacks, AQ Sidewinder, various Ultralink cables which don't come close to AQ.

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [May 12, 2006]
    Fergymunster
    Audio Enthusiast

    Took awhile for this cable to reach it's full potentail.Well worth the wait.I can't talk about Bla Bla Bla about this and that and the other thing.All I can say it's one of the most significant links in my current system.In my opinion pay the extra $5 or so over the AQ dimondback as the dimondback is much less superior to the king cobra.If you go any further in the line up your getting into DBS territory.Also all the cables I buy are all AQ.Really don't look any further as the rest of the cable makers are just jumping on the band wagon.Enjoy

    Similar Products Used:

    CA auzr 640c v1; Creek 21se headphone amp : AQ NRG-2 PC : Sennheiser HD 650 with Cardas cable

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Dec 14, 2004]
    accurus
    AudioPhile

    Strength:

    Tonal Balance, Clarity, and Soundstage. Price.

    Weakness:

    None, especially when taking price into account.

    Well I started out my Audioquest interconnect journey with a set of Copperheads. Thse cables for the money and a bit beyond are impressive except when compared to other cables in the Audioquest lineup. I next tried a set of Diamondbakcs but when they were too short to reach between my components I then decided to shoot for the King Cobras in a what the heck kind of purchase. I am glad I made the purchase. If I had to describe th difference between the Copperheads, Diamondbacks, versus the King Cobra I would say that the Copperheads and Diamondbacks are revealing. By that I mean that they are actaully adding detail to music that I had never heard before. Symbols and extra kicks on a bass drum as audible and are just not smeared. The King Cobra maintains the quality of resolution, but adds in a tonal quality of smoothness and a loss of very light graininess that the other cables barely possessed. However that removal of light graininess and the real difference in tonal balance is what makes these cables appealing to me. The interconnects begin to smooth out rough sounding CDs and still give you the clarity of detail that the previous cables provided. I would describe the Diamondbacks as the pinnacle of in the lower end of the audioquest lineup when it comes ot adding clarity. The King Cobras just refine the tone of that clarity. After that it is DBS territory. I have compared these with a set of Cheetah Cables and was a impressed with the price difference: no. I was impressesed in the fact that the Cheetahs added more resolution and a bit bigger soundstage but the difference from $150 to over $900 doesn't impress me that much. To be honest the King Cobras seem to be the best buy since they add real tonal balance, good soundstage, and clarity that are the firm foundation of its suboardinate models, but adds tonal balance, that really gives it a sound that can't be beat by any cable for $150 and is hard to press me to buy better cables when comparing it to $900 Cheetahs. For $150 you are getting a good bang for buck value. I would recommend these cables for anyone whom is looking to get into mid grade audio. These cables give hifi sound at a mid grade price.

    Similar Products Used:

    Audioquest Diamondbacks, Cheetahs, and Copperheads.

    OVERALL
    RATING
    4
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    Showing 1-7 of 7  

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