AudioQuest Victoria Audio Cable with DBS Review

[vkvedam]

The person who bought it should be sending this review link across to Audio Quest asking for a refund plus interest

 

[GXAlan]

There is an audible and measurable difference between unshielded interconnects and shielded ones. I took an iPhone video showing audible hum which varies by moving the cable and is only present when LED ceiling lights are on.

I can send the cables to @amirm for testing. I will compress the video file down for attaching to this forum.

 

[LTig]

There is an audible and measurable difference between unshielded interconnects and shielded ones. I took an iPhone video showing audible hum which varies by moving the cable and is only present when LED ceiling lights are on.

I can send the cables to @amirm for testing. I will compress the video file down for attaching to this forum.

Nobody would dispute this. OTOH it's stupid to use unshielded interconnects for audio in the first place.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

photon torpedo does in Star Trek TV series. That is science fiction though.

Wait what…...photon torpedoes are science fiction ?!?!?

 

[restorer-john]

The configuration I received is unusual in the way it has RCA connector at one end and some kind of 5-pin at the other end

So you used a 5pin 180 degree female DIN adapter at the DIN end?

 

[JeffS7444]

What are the margins on these boutique cables like?

Enough to pay for the most expensive magazine ad space month after month.

 

[GXAlan]

Nobody would dispute this. OTOH it's stupid to use unshielded interconnects for audio in the first place.

Yeah, but those "ribbon" style cables are pretty popular, regardless.

 

[SoaDMTGguy]

I provided the cable for this review, after purchasing it thinking the DIN was a phono DIN. I got it on eBay for a good price, regardless of the DBS. I was getting set to resell it on eBay when I thought "Hmm, maybe Amir would like to test this. I've always wondered if DBS does anything measurable..."

 

[D700]

@amirm are you sure you didn’t test it upside down?

 

[AudioSceptic]

So you used a 5pin 180 degree female DIN adapter at the DIN end?

Strange that Amir would (pretend to) not recognise the plug and yet be able to connect it for testing.

 

[SoaDMTGguy]

Strange that Amir would (pretend to) not recognise the plug and yet be able to connect it for testing.

In a PM to me he said he connected probs from his tool directly to the pins, since he wasn't able to find an adapter.

 

[Adam Bernau]

The DBS in the name is clearly to be translated as Dual Bullshit System

 

[Ron Texas]

I have a back ache. If I rub snake oil on it will it get better?

 

[amirm]

So you used a 5pin 180 degree female DIN adapter at the DIN end?

No, I did not have a mating connector. So I used a set of probes to connect to the pins and connected the other side of the coax to the analyzer. Would have been the same deal with the DIN connector except I avoided whatever losses it would provide.

 

[amirm]

Strange that Amir would (pretend to) not recognise the plug and yet be able to connect it for testing.

There are a million 5 pin connectors. I have dozens of them and tried them, and none fit. So while I guessed it was DIN, I did try it to be sure and say so.

 

[restorer-john]

There are a million 5 pin connectors.

I hate DIN connectors, every single one of them from the evil little two pin ones they used for speakers, and all the combinations of pins and angular spacing. Nearly as much as Scart connectors and my personal favorite in the "virtually impossible to terminate", the S-VHS (Y/C) mini connector.

Thank goodness they have pretty much all gone the way of the dodo.

 

[Racheski]

The problem must be that Amir's system is not revealing enough to detect the SQ improvements from the Victoria. Amir, please ask Elon to send you out to that wormhole by Saturn so you can return in a couple decades when better equipment exists. Please watch Interstellar for exact location.

 

[Coffee_fan]

Beyond this review, which is great to see, I am a bit skeptical about cables (or conditioners) for several reasons:
* Balanced cables - well, they are balanced correct?
* Power cables - Problem is that (1) it is not gonna solve the cable the electrician put going to my outlet, (2) not gonna solve the cable that goes from the back of my amp to its power supply, which in most case is just standard cable.
* Power conditioners - close to previous line, possibly they "may" offer some protection, but OTOH, I do not know whether they will hold back my amp when it really needs power.
* Digital cables - The bits don't get re-ordered and async USB is async, so jitter should not be a factor. Same for Ethernet.
* I have read many accounts where firm believers are left in dis-belief after doing real blind tests on cables, of various types (power, speaker, you name it).

So, what's left:
* RCA analog cables (like this one) - possibly these are the only cables where it's worth spending some $ not $$ or $$$$ to get some shielded cable.
* Speaker cables - same reasoning as previous.

In general, most cables are always sold with a bunch of "perceptual" subjective opinions, but no real measurements. I will buy into cables, if somebody shows me that they have some objective repeatable data set that shows they do make a difference.

 

[Coffee_fan]

... Paul McGowan strike me as being out of their league and lost (and believing this dumb crap) more than anything else--but probably they just don't want to know the inconvenient truth at this point--but these folks are something else.

I like Paul's blog and I like his friendly tone. He seems like an honest guy who has his POV based on his experiences. I don't need to agree with everything he says, though I enjoy the conversation. To me there is no one size fits all as we all have our tastes and regardless of how many measurements are published, there will always be room for I like this and not that. I do like however very much the measurements @Amir is doing, because then I can decide with full knowledge whether to shell out the bucks anyhow.

 

[Dialectic]

I like Paul's blog and I like his friendly tone. He seems like an honest guy who has his POV based on his experiences. I don't need to agree with everything he says, though I enjoy the conversation. To me there is no one size fits all as we all have our tastes and regardless of how many measurements are published, there will always be room for I like this and not that. I do like however very much the measurements @Amir is doing, because then I can decide with full knowledge whether to shell out the bucks anyhow.

Paul may be trying to be honest, but he spouts things that are untrue. If he is honest, he knows nothing about audio.

I don't advise others on subjects I know little or nothing about. That's clearly not a reasonable thing to do.

Yet Paul, if he is not a mere huckster, is dispensing advice as though he is an expert, through a blog and a YouTube channel. He also sells things that conform to the incorrect views he propagates.