Harsh and flat sound

I was very disapointed when I came back home with this interconnect. Even if my first feeling was that it brought out more details than my older cable did, it has not been long since I pointed big failures (for my system, of course).
It sounded aggressive and dry. Then I tested the Wireworld Atlantis II and the change was obvious : I got every frequencies present, punchy dynamics with "classy" sound.

My system consits in :
Marantz 67 SE CDP
Cairn Aria HE int
Cabasse farella spk

Au revoir !

Similar Products Used:

Wireworld atlantis II

well constructed, detailed sound

not too pliable

I purchased one pair of 12inch Topaz for $60 taxes in from Creative Audio. Terminated with puresonic gold RCAs which fit quite snug into the terminals of both source and end. My first thoughts were that they are well constructed: the cable itself is sturdy and rigid and the terminations were solid.
After connecting, my first impression was not to good. It was not much better than the very thin interconnector supplied with my CD player. The dealer had suggested a run-in period, so I waited for a while to pass judgement. After several days of lengthy play time the Topaz started to open up. There seemed to be an urgent sense of clarity that came about the speakers. Everything was now quite detailed. Background sounds of the music were distinct, vocals were just beautiful, and the bass was pronounced yet very articulated. This was a definite improvement.
This cable does make bad recordings sound very bad. A couple of cds from my collection are poor ones from the early days. Although the tracks are some of my favourites, I can barely tolerate the sound. Even some napster recordings don't make the cut.
I think that this is a good choice for some budget or mid-fi systems. If the back of your equipment is tight for space, you may have some trouble, as I did. This is easily overlooked. Topaz in my system used:

between NAD C350 and Yamaha CDC775
to Paradigm Monitor 7 via Goertz HT 5ft biwired

Value is a full 5. $60CDN made a marked improvement to my lisetening experience. Overall, 4.5 since my experience with high grade interconnects is limited, but I am very happy with this purchase.

Similar Products Used:

manufacturer supplied stuff

relatively neutral sound; price

noticable lack of top end, slightly heavy sound

I was looking for a cable to bridge my pre-amp and
power amp (Nad 106 & Acurus A150). Because of the
placement, I needed 1 meter length. I had 1/2 meter Ruby,
a clearly more transparent cable, but were too short here.
I purchased the Topaz, and have been living with it for
2 years or so, but I've never been particulary satisfied with the sound. Between the CD player and the pre amp I had
a 1 meter length Monster 500 cable. These I had owned for
10 years or so. I recently switched places between the
Topaz and the 500. At first, the CD sounded pretty much
the same; the cassette deck (using the Ruby), actually had
a more open sound! This confirmed to me that the problem was the Topaz. The Cd player in this configuration actually
sounded better after a while (which seems odd; the cables
were already burnt in)
The Topaz has a remarkably tight sound, it just lacks the transparency of the Ruby. Still, having said that, it
would probably make a good used buy if the price was
right!

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest Ruby and Monster interlink 400 & 500

Great Sound for the money.

I'vew just upgraded to good equipment. An AR VT100MKII and AR LS-15, so what I hear I know to be true. I bought 2 pairs of the Topaz, upgrading from the patch cables that came with the original units. One for a CD Jukebox 200 CD player and one for my aging (But extremely sensitive) Pioneer TX-9100. What A difference on FM!! The channel separation is even more pronounced and it rolls of the highs very very nicely. As for the CD player, I found the sound somewhat harsh. Bass response was good and midrange was fair. Overall I rate them a 3 to 4 so a four it is.

Replacing my Monster Interlink 300 with these was definitely the right choice. I noticed right away that the treble was crisper and the bass was more "natural". The Monster's bass was excessively heavy and sluggish, and the highs were supressed. Not so with the Topaz. After a week of breaking in, I am totally happy with the my sound now. The Topaz cables work extremely well with my Onkyo CD to amp with JBL Control Monitors. Bravo!!

Nothing

Totally unbalance and flat sound

At first, i thought every reviews ever made on cables (digital or analog) was slightly subjective and never really believe them.
Until my friend lend me his interconnect (AudioQuest Topaz II) to me. Sound fo my system become muddled, unbalance and seems to produce lazy sound (compare to my budget QNect 2). It really got me...big time..that cable could make such a dramatic differences.

Bottom line....AudioQuest Topaz II is SUX, total waste of your money. GEt rid of it

Basically neutral sound, great value, good build quality for the money

Slightly rolled off top end

The Topaz, now discontinued, was a well priced entry level interconnect. I suppose there's not much point in reviewing it now that it's been discontinued, but smart buyers could find a pair for cheap on closeout. While nowhere near being transparent, the Topaz is nonetheless leaps and bounds above factory supplied component cables. It allows for extended bass reproduction, balanced midrange, and reduced grain in the top end. Imaging is greatly improved-one of the reasons I selected this cable was it's fantastic soundstage size, particularly height. Another quality of the cable is the increased sense of rhythm and pace in the music. The main weakness of the cable is that it seems to roll off the extreme high frequencies a tad. This can be a plus for people with too-bright systems, or lower end source components and/or amplifiers that exhibit grainy treble. The Topaz doesn't add sonic impurities like some other inexpensive cables I've heard. These cables, like most Audioquest cables, require quite a long time to break in. I recall at least 3 months elapsing before my new Topazes sounded like the demo pairs. Of the negative Topaz reviews I've read on this site, I attribute a lot of it to insufficient break-in time. I would recommending using the shortest length you can get away with- I use a 0.5 meter length. Also, system matching is very important-I can easily believe that these cables would not sound good in a particular system, but that's true of any cable. I've tried some silver cables that were overly bright and reduced slam in my system. On a friends system, they were fabulous. So all you can do is try out a lot of different cables. In summary, the Topaz has provided me with great listening pleasure for two years now, for not much money.

Similar Products Used:

AQ Turquoise, RS Gold, Nordost Blue Heaven

capacity to smooth out overly bright sounding equipment a bit.

curious underwater feeling...

I'm no audiophile, and i don't really have the cash to have a giant killing system- but i had a pretty negative experience with these cables. gladly, i bought them used for very little money. i was using them as ic's for my cd player hoping that the general 'smoothing out' (i euphemize) most've noted would tame a player that's aging, and to my ears, a little bright- a philips cd60. ran it for a while, and out of curiosity, i just swapped it out into my preamp on a jag. my first reaction was 'hmm.. mellow.' then i swapped in my homemade cat 5 cables. whoa.. big difference. all of a sudden, everything seemed a lot less congested. in went the transparents again. best yet. just to make sure i wasn't fooling myself, back went the topaz.

i believe i had that reaction that kids generally refer to as 'uck'.

they've been relegated to tuner duty, definitely, my own systematic kp- prism 22's turned up in the tape deck.. i believe dante specified this particular order of hell years ago..

sadly- the general congestion and cramping of music- and i don't just meen lack of nasty tizz or flash that one could mistake bright cables of offering- is just.. well, ucky. they're mighty controlled, and definitely a sound.. but i can't really imagine a flattering use of these.

associated gear:
thorens td 115
c-j pv 7
adcom 5200
b&w 601s
kimber 8vs biwired
transparent 100's
ho-made cat 5 cables- gary markowitz style!

Similar Products Used:

tara labs prism 22s