AudioQuest Red River Interconnect Cable - RCA to RCA

Red River Is the Rivers-Series Cable Built Around a Third Conductor

AudioQuest's Red River sits second in the Rivers series, above Chicago. It is a two-cable design, one lead per channel. Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+, a dedicated ground wire and cold-welded gold plugs set it apart from the entry cables.

Other length & termination options are available. Call us to discuss your needs.

Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+, Direction-Controlled

The wires are solid Perfect-Surface Copper+, which AudioQuest calls PSC+. AudioQuest draws the wire with a very smooth surface and says this cuts the distortion caused by grain boundaries. Solid wire also removes strand interaction.

The wire is also direction-controlled. AudioQuest says drawn wire has a grain with a direction. It listens to every batch, picks the direction, and marks the jacket with arrows. Point the arrows at the amplifier and noise drains where AudioQuest intends.

Hard-Cell Foam and a Separate Ground Conductor

The insulation is Hard-Cell Foam, injected with nitrogen to form air pockets. AudioQuest says the stiff foam holds the signal pair in a fixed geometry along the whole cable. Air stores almost no signal energy, so little is released late as smear.

Each cable carries one signal conductor and a separate ground-reference conductor. The ground has its own wire, so the shield never has to double as a signal path.

The Cold-Welded, Gold-Plated Plug, Explained

Red River ends in AudioQuest's own gold-plated RCA plug. It is cold welded, not soldered. A press bonds the plug to the wire under high pressure. AudioQuest calls solder "a common source of distortion." The cold weld keeps the wire's character right up to the contact.

Around the cable is AudioQuest's Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation. AudioQuest says an ordinary shield drains radio noise straight into the equipment's ground and pollutes the reference the signal is measured against. The metal layer absorbs the noise before it gets that far.

What Reviewers Are Saying

What Hi-Fi? reviewed Red River on May 13, 2014 and gave it four stars. Plugged into the magazine's reference system, "there's immediately a greater sense of space and dynamics compared with budget cables."

The verdict was plain about the trade. What Red River "lacks in smoothness and subtlety, it makes up for in scale and dynamic scope," the magazine wrote, calling its boldness the only real criticism.

Who Is This Interconnect Best For?

• You want scale and drive — What Hi-Fi? heard a broad soundstage and driving sound, so music fills the room
• Your left and right jacks sit far apart — Red River is two separate cables, so mono amplifiers and wide racks are no problem
• Your sources sit near power supplies — the separate ground wire and metal shield drain noise, so the shelf stays out of the music
• You want no solder in the path — AudioQuest cold welds the plug to the wire, so the joint is metal on metal
• You want the smoothest sound — What Hi-Fi? found Red River bold, at times forward. For refinement, step up to AudioQuest Mackenzie or call us

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Run Red River from a line-level output, a DAC, streamer, CD player or phono stage, to a line-level input on your amplifier or preamp. Point the arrows on the jacket toward the amplifier. Push each plug straight on until it seats. Pull it off by the barrel, never by the cable.

Then listen.

Measure the Path, Then Add a Little Slack

Measure the route the cable will really take between your components, around shelves and behind the rack. Then add a little slack. As audio legend George Cardas puts it, "A cable that's just long enough usually turns out to be just not long enough." Keep the left and right cables the same length. We recommend a matched pair.

RCA or XLR? Check Both Ends

If both components offer balanced XLR jacks, we recommend using XLRs. If one has only RCA jacks, use RCA, and skip the adapter. You only get the possible benefits of a balanced output with a pure XLR-to-XLR connection.

A Long Run Between Components?

If your amplifier and speakers sit far from your source, we recommend a long interconnect over a long speaker cable. A really long interconnect affects system performance less than a really long speaker cable.

When Is It Time to Upgrade?

An interconnect often stays in a system for years, so it is easy to overlook. Look again when something else changes: a new DAC, streamer or phono stage, a better amplifier, or a move to components with balanced XLR jacks.

Pairs Well With

An interconnect is one link in the chain. It usually joins these categories.

• Integrated Amplifiers — the usual input end
• Digital-to-Analog Converters — DAC output to amplifier
• Phono Preamplifiers — phono stage to line input
• Speaker Cables — the last link to the speakers

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cold-welded, gold-plated plug?

AudioQuest's own gold-plated RCA plug. It is joined to the wire by pressure, not solder. AudioQuest names solder as a common source of distortion.

Why a separate ground wire?

Each cable has one signal wire and a separate ground-reference wire. AudioQuest says this keeps the shield out of the signal path.

Which way do the arrows point?

Toward the component that receives the signal, normally the amplifier or preamp. AudioQuest sets the direction of the wire and says the arrows let noise drain the right way.

Is Red River sold as a pair or a single?

Both. Each channel is its own cable, so we list a stereo pair and a single for mono runs and center channels.

What warranty does AudioQuest give?

A limited lifetime warranty to the original owner, for cables bought from an authorized US dealer. AudioQuest will repair or replace a defective cable that has not been abused. Keep your proof of purchase.

Is there a step up?

AudioQuest Sydney is the next rung. It moves to air-tube insulation, a carbon shield and silver-plated plugs.

Need a Different Length or Connector?

The most popular configurations are shown on this page. If your system requires a different length or termination, call our audio experts. We’ll help you choose the right configuration and arrange a custom cable for your system.

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