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New High Value Entry-level Cable with "Solidity and Refinement"
Chicago is the new, high-value entry-level member of AudioQuest's expanded River series of interconnects. Chicago has Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) conductors, Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam Insulation, AudioQuest's Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System (NDS), Double-Balanced Geometry, and Cold-welded termination with high quality gold-plated plugs.
Unlike other AudioQuest interconnects in this price range, which consist of two cables 'melded' into one cable, Chicago consists of two separate cables. This is a great entry-level solution for situations and applications where the inputs or outputs on your device aren't located right next to each other.
"Punchy, Smooth and Refined "
"Punchy, smooth and refined – an agreeable choice for any budget hi-fi system," notes What Hi-Fi? magazine, April 6, 2022.
"In our system, the Chicago conveys the bluesy instrumental in Melody Gardot’s Amalia with decent helpings of solidity and refinement. The cello strings and ‘humming’ have body and substance in what is a nicely focused and present soundstage, while the shakers and delicate strumming that come in beneath her well-focused vocal all manifest with decent clarity."
"Every Nuance Matters"
"Drawing inspiration from the transformative spirit of Chicago, this interconnect cable is engineered to turn everyday sound into an extraordinary symphony," reports theaudiotailor.com.au, April 15, 2025. "For the discerning audiophile, every nuance matters, and this cable delivers with technical precision and uncompromising quality."
Chicago owner cjelo observes at forum.audiogon.com, February 8, 2022, "I recently picked up some AudioQuest Chicago interconnects to replace my BJC LC-1 interconnects and am considering getting a 2nd upgraded pair to cover my DAC and SACD player… I'm very happy with the AudioQuest Chicago cable that I have."
Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) Conductors
Solid conductors eliminate strand-interaction distortion. Chicago's solid Long-Grain Copper allows a smoother and clearer sound than cables using regular OFHC (Oxygen-Free High-Conductivity) copper. OFHC is a general metal industry specification regarding "loss" without any concern for distortion. LGC has fewer oxides within the conducting material, less impurities, less grain boundaries, and definitively better performance.
Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam Insulation
Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam insulation is used exclusively in most of AudioQuest's video and digital audio cables. Similar to Foamed-PE, it is nitrogen-injected to create air pockets. 'Hard' foam is used because the stiffness of the material allows the conductors in the cable to maintain the same relationship with each other along the full length of the cable, thus ensuring that the characteristic impedance of the cable is consistent.
Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System (NDS)
100% shield coverage is easy. Preventing captured RF Interference from modulating the equipment's ground reference requires AQ's Noise-Dissipation System. Noise-Dissipation System prevents a significant amount of RFI from reaching the equipment's ground plane.
Double-Balanced Geometry
The conductors in "Double-Balanced" Chicago cables ensure that the positive and negative signals have equally low-distortion conducting paths. The 100% coverage shield is never used as an inferior conductor.
Cold-Welded Gold-Plated RCA Plugs
This plug design allows for a connection devoid of solder, which is a common source of distortion. Because the ground shells are stamped instead of machined, the metal can be chosen for low distortion instead of machinability.
