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AudioQuest Wind High-end Cable Review

SpaceMonkey

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But it doesn't have any batteries like AQ Wind has. I can hook that up pretty easy though. What can I get for it then? $3,000???
Probably. You have to keep in mind that after certain price point batteries become a nuisance and don't add to sq at all. So more pure cables are better then :)
 

Vasr

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There is a method to the madness in the pricing. It is so out of the ballpark (like $500 canapes) of anyone who thinks about value/performance that these are purchased primarily by those for whom it is just folded into the price of a ultra-high-end (read very high price) system and never noticed. Nor are such people likely to complain publicly about how their $2k cables don't sound any different.

If priced at $200 or so level some more-money-than-sense "audiophiles" may actually buy this with their $15k amp and create a lot of bad publicity that they "don't do anything different".

Given some recent events, there might even be a money laundering scheme going on with these things with oligarch money, who the heck knows...
 

vkvedam

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Mind you, there was more air when listening to the Wind. But then my wife who was in the kitchen informed me that the dogs had left the patio door open and whether I was OK if she closed it. Once she did, the air factor disappeared
:p:p:p
 

PeteL

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There is a method to the madness in the pricing. It is so out of the ballpark (like $500 canapes) of anyone who thinks about value/performance that these are purchased primarily by those for whom it is just folded into the price of a ultra-high-end (read very high price) system and never noticed. Nor are such people likely to complain publicly about how their $2k cables don't sound any different.

If priced at $200 or so level some more-money-than-sense "audiophiles" may actually buy this with their $15k amp and create a lot of bad publicity that they "don't do anything different".

Given some recent events, there might even be a money laundering scheme going on with these things with oligarch money, who the heck knows...
https://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-R...&qid=1603788897&sprefix=audioquest+red&sr=8-2

Those considerations don't even stop them. They have models at 30, 50, 100, 200, 300, 500....and so on
 

tecnogadget

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The legal system on a worldwide basis is not catching up with this snake oil issue audiophiles have been suffering for years :facepalm:.

Could it be mostly because nobody finds out ? High quality audio reproduction is a hobby where it’s members are very scattered around. As a personal experience I’ve never stretched hands with another individual with the same interest or involvement as I have, pretty much all interaction is trough this worldwide forums.

This kind of practices should be regulated, It should not be possible to come up with plain false claims of your product, why the same thing on different markets is considered fraud ? Remember Volkswagen Dieselgate ?
 

marcom22

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Mind you, there was more air when listening to the Wind. But then my wife who was in the kitchen informed me that the dogs had left the patio door open and whether I was OK if she closed it. Once she did, the air factor disappeared.

ahahahhahahahahah you are great @amirm
 

A800

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The legal system on a worldwide basis is not catching up with this snake oil issue audiophiles have been suffering for years :facepalm:.

Could it be mostly because nobody finds out ? High quality audio reproduction is a hobby where it’s members are very scattered around. As a personal experience I’ve never stretched hands with another individual with the same interest or involvement as I have, pretty much all interaction is trough this worldwide forums.

This kind of practices should be regulated, It should not be possible to come up with plain false claims of your product, why the same thing on different markets is considered fraud ? Remember Volkswagen Dieselgate ?

No one forces anyone to buy overpriced crap.
If they are stupid/ignorant enough it's their own fault imho.

"plain false claims of your product" = marketing/you will find it in almost any ad

"Dieselgate", etc. = ploy to sell e-cars
 

LearningToSmile

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The thing that stands out the most about this cable given the price is that it can't even be called audio jewellery - other than the thickness it's got nothing premium in its looks, and the DBS doohickey is cheap and plastic looking. And that... strain relief? or whatever it is on one end just looks like someone took one of these foam mesh covers that protect fruit in some stores from getting banged up and dyed it black:
36431740-side-view-yellow-apple-with-foam-mesh-protected-cover.jpg


So if someone is buying it they're not buying it for the aesthetic or craftsmanship, they're buying it specifically because of the bogus claims.
 

bidn

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Excellent test, it is so great to have such deceitful (and super expensive) rip-off exposed!

I like wordplays.
What would be the most appropriate nickname For this company ?
I have a few proposals In mind:
- HoaxQuest
- MoneyQuest
- FraudQuest.

I prefer FraudQuest and HoaxQuest, but I can't really chose one above the other, what do you think?
 

Ajax

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"Mind you, there was more air when listening to the Wind. But then my wife who was in the kitchen informed me that the dogs had left the patio door open and whether I was OK if she closed it. Once she did, the air factor disappeared."

That was very funny :D
 

BDWoody

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Excellent test, it is so great to have such deceitful (and super expensive) rip-off exposed!

I like wordplays.
What would be the most appropriate nickname For this company ?
I have a few proposals In mind:
- HoaxQuest
- MoneyQuest
- FraudQuest.

I prefer FraudQuest and HoaxQuest, but I can't really chose one above the other, what do you think?

FraudioQuest
 

bboris77

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Extremely high price is a dead giveaway when it comes to the snake oil status of a product. How can anyone sane think that a product which costs less than $50 to make in materials and labour can justify this price? There is no proprietary engineering or secret know-how at play here. It is really shameful that a large company blatantly misrepresents their products like this and targets vulnerable enthusiasts.
The only use for a product like this is to serve as an EMI/RFI detector in phono preamplifiers where high gain amplification is the norm.
 

Universal Cereal Bus

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The legal system on a worldwide basis is not catching up with this snake oil issue audiophiles have been suffering for years :facepalm:.

Could it be mostly because nobody finds out ? High quality audio reproduction is a hobby where it’s members are very scattered around. As a personal experience I’ve never stretched hands with another individual with the same interest or involvement as I have, pretty much all interaction is trough this worldwide forums.

This kind of practices should be regulated, It should not be possible to come up with plain false claims of your product, why the same thing on different markets is considered fraud ? Remember Volkswagen Dieselgate ?
Your goal will unfortunately encounter a number of obstacles. First of all there's no unitary ("the") worldwide legal system. Even international law (e.g., a treaty concerning fraudulence in hifi) is implemented and enforced slightly differently in each country/region.

Second, audiophile snakeoil only really engages consumer protection regulation. And, in the US, the FTC is too busy suing Google. The modern regulatory state--the bane of free enterprise and no-holds-barred bleeding edge innovation--is a true marvel of all consuming bureaucracy. FAA, FCC, FDA, EPA, SEC, NHTSA... the mind reels at the myriad regulatory regimes intersecting into unknown numbers of hurdles and hoops to be jumped over and through in order to bring a product to market. Yet audio cables manage to largely avoid all of this regulation. Why? Cuz audio cables aren't important. It's not falling out of the sky, or emitting EM radiation, or poisoning people, or harming the environment, or defrauding investors, or carrying a family of 5 at 80 mph. Or being a giant monopoly that potentially shapes and affects every single person's life. No, they're toys. For adults. Real toys for kids are more highly regulated.

Ultimately, lawmakers can only regulate so much because their constituents (i.e., corporations) won't tolerate over-regulation. We already live in a world full of regulation (it doesn't matter where you live, if you're on the internet, you're in a regulatory state)--there's really no need to make more rules about the unimportant stuff.
 

RayDunzl

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RayDunzl

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Blumlein 88

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I kept wondering about the name of this cable. Seemed odd, until I looked and it is part of the Element series. Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. And curiously the Wild Blue Yonder (the 5th element?).

They have Bridges and Falls series, and the River series.

I think they should have the Gold mine and Silver mine series. Named after famous mining camps. The Carson Hill and the Comstock Lode perhaps. Sutter's Mill, and Butte for another pair. Seems like there is gold and silver in them thar cables.
 
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