AudioQuest FireBird HC Power Cables

And how do they compare against other (slightly cheaper) offerings such as Shunyata Sigma NR?

Night and day. The AQ’s are highly transparent, resolving and dynamic. The Shunyata’s are dead quiet, black backgrounds, with a slight warmth in the lower mids. Smooth on top. Cables are all about synergy and matching with a system. I frankly don’t think one is better than the other. Shunyata in my home system is just what the doctor ordered for my horns: low noise, meat on ‘dem bones, smooth on top. On the MBL’s, Magico’s, Harbeth’s, it comes down to personal taste, with some choosing the characteristics of the AQ - transparent, dynamic, resolving and others choosing the characteristics of the Shunyata. One is chocolate, the other is vanilla.

The MIT we leave as another great pairing with Magico. Strictly Magico. Love the 2C3D cables on the M2’s!!
 
Night and day. The AQ’s are highly transparent, resolving and dynamic. The Shunyata’s are dead quiet, black backgrounds, with a slight warmth in the lower mids. Smooth on top. Cables are all about synergy and matching with a system. I frankly don’t think one is better than the other. Shunyata in my home system is just what the doctor ordered for my horns: low noise, meat on ‘dem bones, smooth on top. On the MBL’s, Magico’s, Harbeth’s, it comes down to personal taste, with some choosing the characteristics of the AQ - transparent, dynamic, resolving and others choosing the characteristics of the Shunyata. One is chocolate, the other is vanilla.

The MIT we leave as another great pairing with Magico. Strictly Magico. Love the 2C3D cables on the M2’s!!

System synergy is the key and as you said very subjective.

Personally , I’ve had great success with Shunyata on power and MIT handling interconnects and speaker cables.

Speaking of MIT cables and Magico Is there a technical reason why the pairing works well ?

I’ve asked that question to both companies and they kinda deferred to each other.

I’m thinking it has something to do with sealed cabinet speakers and networked cables.

But, I’m not an engineer.

I’ve heard MIT on another sealed cabinet brand and the preferred MIT as well on that speaker.
 
Night and day. The AQ’s are highly transparent, resolving and dynamic. The Shunyata’s are dead quiet, black backgrounds, with a slight warmth in the lower mids. Smooth on top. Cables are all about synergy and matching with a system. I frankly don’t think one is better than the other. Shunyata in my home system is just what the doctor ordered for my horns: low noise, meat on ‘dem bones, smooth on top. On the MBL’s, Magico’s, Harbeth’s, it comes down to personal taste, with some choosing the characteristics of the AQ - transparent, dynamic, resolving and others choosing the characteristics of the Shunyata. One is chocolate, the other is vanilla.

The MIT we leave as another great pairing with Magico. Strictly Magico. Love the 2C3D cables on the M2’s!!

Hi Mike,

I‘m about to give my system a AQ Hurricane/Firebird treat! :)

Thought first about all Hurricane 2m, for wall, DAC and integrated amp. Now I had the idea to spend a little extra and get a 1,0m Firebird for the DAC.

1.) => Do you know from experience, if there differences between the difference lengths? Would you go for the 2,0m Hurricane or the 1,0m Firebird?

2.) With the Hurricane for wall and amp I would have to option to use the wall Hurricane for a future mono set-up and replace the wall link with a 1,0m High Current Firebird. Do you think this is a smart move? In general, from your experience where in the system would you place your Firebirds, if some cables would be Hurricanes?

Kind regards :)
 
Hi Mike,

I‘m about to give my system a AQ Hurricane/Firebird treat! :)

Thought first about all Hurricane 2m, for wall, DAC and integrated amp. Now I had the idea to spend a little extra and get a 1,0m Firebird for the DAC.

1.) => Do you know from experience, if there differences between the difference lengths? Would you go for the 2,0m Hurricane or the 1,0m Firebird?

2.) With the Hurricane for wall and amp I would have to option to use the wall Hurricane for a future mono set-up and replace the wall link with a 1,0m High Current Firebird. Do you think this is a smart move? In general, from your experience where in the system would you place your Firebirds, if some cables would be Hurricanes?

Kind regards :)

The Firebird has more detail, but it’s that copper/silver blend. I’m more of a pure copper or pure silver kind of guy. I think you will hear more top end from the Firebird and that you will have to decide if you like or not.

I do believe the 2m sounds better, but only slightly.

My honest opinion would be to do all Hurricane’s unless you can splurge for a Dragon Source 1m for the DAC. Then you’re really looking at a nice balanced overall improvement.
 
The Firebird has more detail, but it’s that copper/silver blend. I’m more of a pure copper or pure silver kind of guy. I think you will hear more top end from the Firebird and that you will have to decide if you like or not.

I do believe the 2m sounds better, but only slightly.

My honest opinion would be to do all Hurricane’s unless you can splurge for a Dragon Source 1m for the DAC. Then you’re really looking at a nice balanced overall improvement.

Thanks a lot for the quick feedback!

Okay, and why would you say it‘s needs to be a Dragon rather than a Firebird? I hope to get a little more details due to the added silver but not to have spend another 1,5k for a Dragon.
Another option would be to buy just a Hurricane source and re-use that for a Streamer a wanted to added in a year or so. Would you rather use the superior cord on the DAC or the Streamer?
... I know in the end it‘s system depended and one has to listen for oneself. Just try to get a good baseline understanding. Background: When I asked for 3 Hurricanes, I got 2 Firebirds and 1 Hurricane and could use only two since my power distributor has a different socket. So it‘s hard to listen to all the various combinations.

Anyway... I really appreciate your input, cause it gives proper insights from a person with first hand experience.
 
Thanks a lot for the quick feedback!

Okay, and why would you say it‘s needs to be a Dragon rather than a Firebird? I hope to get a little more details due to the added silver but not to have spend another 1,5k for a Dragon.
Another option would be to buy just a Hurricane source and re-use that for a Streamer a wanted to added in a year or so. Would you rather use the superior cord on the DAC or the Streamer?
... I know in the end it‘s system depended and one has to listen for oneself. Just try to get a good baseline understanding. Background: When I asked for 3 Hurricanes, I got 2 Firebirds and 1 Hurricane and could use only two since my power distributor has a different socket. So it‘s hard to listen to all the various combinations.

Anyway... I really appreciate your input, cause it gives proper insights from a person with first hand experience.

If you want more detail, the Firebird will deliver it. But the Dragon is worth saving for IMO. If gives you the extra detail without any excess bite.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Got a question with more restrictive budget :)
I am going for a Niagara (3000 or more likely a 5000) with Thunder High Current. Intending to run two Devialet 220pro in Dual mono with a Blizzard each.
Is that a good idea?
 
Ik wil een audioquest powercord aanschaffen voor een Accuphase preamp C3850...
Ik zou de keuze willen maken uit audioquest hurricane, firebird en dragon....,bij voorkeur uit de laatste2
Heeft iemand ervaringen of aanbevelingen met deze kabels
 
:exciting:
Ik wil een audioquest powercord aanschaffen voor een Accuphase preamp C3850...
Ik zou de keuze willen maken uit audioquest hurricane, firebird en dragon....,bij voorkeur uit de laatste2
Heeft iemand ervaringen of aanbevelingen met deze kabels

Hi there,

I‘m currently auditioning both a Firebird and Dragon Source at home on my DAC. The Firebird Demo is 1,0m and the Dragon 2,0m, although other users told me there is no real discernible difference between lengths. The Firebird is a real good cable, but when I swapped against the Dragon I felt it was in a totally different league. I have to admit that maybe the Firebird was not correctly phased out as was the Hurricane to the wall, but the Dragon felt much smoother (as Mike told me), the instrument were more focused and I also felt the decay of voices and instruments was longer and much more real. Give the 25-30% difference I would definitely chose the Dragon. But in the end it‘s about system synergy so get both and try for yourself. :)

Happy listening!!
 
Ik heb eigenlijk ook meer zin om voor de DRAGON te gaan
Bedankt voor de ervaringen met mij te delen, het gaat de keuze makkelijker maken....

Bedankt!!!

Translation:

I actually feel like going for the DRAGON
Thank you for sharing the experiences with me, it will make the choice easier ....


Thanks!!!
 
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