Audioquest Obsidan speaker cables- any thoughts-

bebop86 said:

Not much out there on these cables- seems they were very expensive and I can pick up a pair for a decent price- anyone have any opinions on them- thks

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Obsidian appears to simply be a newer version of the K2 - so it should be double star-quad, solid core PSS, net 12 AWG. Good for biwiring. I think Audioquest used to consider the K2 roughly the equal of Kilimanjaro (i.e. their 2nd to top cables below Everest some years ago), with the difference that K2 was recommended for single cable biwire applications, and the Kilimanjaro for full-range. A single K2 (or Obsidian) should be functionally equivalent to two runs of KE-4 (or AG-4).

I really like the AQ Silver though I haven't yet heard Garth's new line of speaker cables (his Hurricane PCs are lovely). The PSS silver speaker cables are always very expensive but are a LOT more detailed (and not harsh) than the copper versions. I've been running a double biwire with two pair of Kilimanjaro, and have been very happy. Before that I ran a KE-4 on top (half a K2) and Mont Blanc on bottom (basically a copper Kilimanjaro). That sounded good, but the 2x Kilimanjaro took everything up a big level. Back when I still ran the KE-4 + Mont Blanc, I auditioned a beautiful new set of AQ Redwood, and I though it was slightly better BUT my KE-4 / MB came really quite close (i.e. my 2x Kilimanjaro would probably win easily). The PSS silver just sounds amazing, but their prices on it go up every year. Absolutely crazy what they charge for the current line these days!

Also you'd have to be very very wary about buying any K2 on the used market - that particular model (like the Sky interconnects) was counterfeited up & down in China. The outer braid was an exact match but the internal wiring would not be silver. Shouldn't be an issue with Obsidian.

thks- the pair I am looking at is a bi-wire- Just rebuilt my system- using the duelund 12 gauge speaker wires for now but it sounds a little compressed lack of air for better words- do you think it would be a good match with my Mcintosh 601 amps and Dunlavy speakers-

so according to Audioquest they were a newer version of the KE-4 He said the K2 had 8 runs while the obsidian had 4 runs??????????????

never mind they just emailed me back it is the replacement for the K2