Audioquest Comet Speaker Cable

This double star quad geometry “Flat Rock” cable does not look normal on the outside, and it is not at all normal on the inside. A sophisticated combination of extraordinary materials and extremely refined design lets Comet… to equally honor all types of music.

CONDUCTORS: 

All eight of Comet’s conductors are solid. Electrical and magnetic interaction between strands in a conventional cable is the single greatest source of distortion, often causing a somewhat harsh, dirty and confused sound. Solid conductors are the most important ingredients enabling Comet’s very clear sound. Whether a conductor is solid or stranded, skin-effect is a prime distortion mechanism in speaker cables.Comet very simply keeps this effect out of the audio range by using conductor sizes that are below the threshold for audible distortion.

SOLID PSC+ COPPER & PSS SILVER: 

Comet uses a carefully finessed combination of Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC+) and extremely high purity Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors. All conductors are solid, which prevents strand interaction, a major source of distortion. Surface quality is critical because a conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the electric fields within a conductor, and for the magnetic fields outside the conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other coppers.  The superior purity of PSC+ and PSS further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor.

DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM (DBS, US Pat #7,126,055): 

All insulation slows down the signal on the conductor inside. When insulation is un-biased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time sensitive multi-octave audio.

AudioQuest’s DBS creates a strong stable electrostatic field, which saturates and polarizes (organizes) the molecules of the insulation. This minimizes both energy storage in the insulation and the multiple nonlinear time-delays. Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast. The DBS packs batteries will last for years. A test button and LED allow for the occasional battery check.

GEOMETRY: 

The relationship between conductors defines a cable’s most basic electrical values (capacitance and inductance). However, even when those variables are kept in a reasonable balance, the relationship between conductors can be varied in ways that greatly effect the sound. The dual spiral construction of Comet allows for significantly better dynamic contrast and information intelligibility than if the same conductors were run in parallel. The specific 4-cross geometry used in each half of Comet maximizes this advantage.

SST (Spread Spectrum Technology): 

Any single size or shape of conductor has a specific distortion profile. Even though radially symmetrical conductors (solid round or tubular) have the fewest discontinuities, any particular size does have a sonic signature. SST is a method for significantly reducing the awareness of these character flaws by using a precise combination of different size conductors. The four different SST-determined conductor sizes used in Comet allow an exceptionally clear, clean and dynamic sound.

CONDUCTIVE INSULATION: 

The four negative conductors in Comet are insulated with partially conductive carbon-loaded polyethylene. This remarkable material damps radio-frequency garbage from being fed back into the amplifier. The sonic benefit is exactly the same reduction in hash and better dimensionality that comes whenever RF garbage is reduced in an audio circuit.

BIWIRING: 

Comet is an exceptional Single-Biwire cable. When the halves are separated at the speaker end, the double quad-helix design turns Comet into a true double-biwire set thanks to the magnetic autonomy of each quad-helix. On it’s own; one quad would be a little light-weight in performance as it is biased towards treble finesse. The other quad is biased toward the bass; it’s more forceful and lacking ultimate resolution. Together they form a completely optimized full range design, which was the first priority; but when separated the dual star quads let Comet be a maximum performance double-biwire in a single cable.

TERMINATIONS: 

AudioQuest offers a wide range of high quality connectors that allow Comet to be securely attached to any type of equipment. Quality is in the low distortion sound, not necessarily in the eye-candy effect. AQ ends are either a dull looking gold or silver because these metals are plated directly over the connector. There is no shiny and harsh sounding nickel layer underneath. AQ PK-spade lugs are soft because better metal is soft, and facilitates a higher quality connection. For pieces requiring a banana plug or BFA connector the AQ PK-BFA/Banana provides unprecedented performance over conventional brass versions.

A combination of these major ingredients, and many more subtle details add up to explain how even a reasonably priced cable like Comet can sound so good.