AudioQuest Red River Interconnect Cable - 0.5 Meter - RCA to RCA - Single

AudioQuest Red River Interconnect Cable - 0.5 Meter - RCA to RCA - Single

What It Does in Your System

A Short, Serious Link Between Components Sitting Side by Side

Red River carries the analog signal from a source component — turntable preamp, streamer, DAC, CD player — to your integrated amp, preamp, or receiver. At half a meter, it's built for gear stacked in the same rack, where a longer cable just means excess to coil up behind the shelf.

This is the Rivers Series, where AudioQuest moves up to its finest copper and a three-conductor geometry. It's an affordable interconnect that doesn't cut the corners that usually get cut at this price.

Perfect-Surface Copper+ for a Cleaner, Less Fatiguing Sound

Red River uses solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ conductors — AudioQuest's finest copper, with proprietary metal processing that protects the wire's surface at every stage of drawing and fabrication. Fewer grain boundaries means less of the distortion that puts an edge on the top end.

Solid construction also eliminates strand-to-strand interaction, the electrical and magnetic crosstalk that gives ordinary stranded cable its slightly harsh, dirty character. You'll hear smoother treble and better-defined instrumental texture.

Triple-Balanced Geometry Gives Ground Its Own Path

Most single-ended interconnects press the shield into service as the negative conductor, which is a compromise — a shield makes a poor signal path. Red River uses three conductors, with a separate ground-reference conductor so the shield never has to do double duty.

The positive and negative signals travel identical, equally low-distortion paths. Combined with AudioQuest's Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System, which absorbs and reflects most RFI before it reaches the layer attached to ground, the result is a quieter background and more retrieved detail.

Is This Right for You?

A quick check before you add it to your cart:

• This listing is one cable. A stereo connection needs two — one for the left channel, one for the right. Add two to your cart unless you're filling a gap in an existing run or making a single-channel connection.
• Half a meter is short. It's right for components stacked in one rack or sitting side by side on a shelf. Measure the actual path with the plugs seated, including the drop behind each component — if it's tight, step up to the 1-meter length.
• This is an analog line-level interconnect. It connects source components to amplification. It isn't a phono cable for a turntable's tonearm output, a digital coaxial cable, or a subwoofer cable — AudioQuest builds dedicated designs for each of those.

Setup & Installation

Connect one end to your source component's analog output and the other to a free line-level input on your preamp, integrated amp, or receiver. If you're running a stereo pair, match red to red and white to white so your channels aren't reversed. The cold-welded, gold-plated plugs seat firmly — push straight on rather than twisting.

AudioQuest's conductors are direction-controlled, so orient the cable per the arrows on the jacket, running from source toward amplifier. At half a meter there's little routing to do, but keep the cable off AC power cords where you can and give the connector bodies a gentle radius rather than a sharp bend where they leave each component.

Features & Specifications

Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ Conductors
AudioQuest's finest copper, with fewer grain boundaries and no strand interaction, for clearer sound than standard oxygen-free copper.

Triple-Balanced Geometry
A separate ground-reference conductor means the shield is never used as an inferior signal path, giving positive and negative equally low-distortion routes.

Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System
Absorbs and reflects most RFI before it can reach the layer attached to ground and modulate your system's ground reference.

Cold-Welded, Gold-Plated Terminations
A solder-free, high-pressure connection removes a common source of distortion right at the plug.

Specifications

• Type: Analog audio interconnect, RCA to RCA
• Length: 0.5 meters
• Conductors: Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+)
• Geometry: Triple-Balanced, with separate ground-reference conductor
• Insulation: Foamed polyethylene
• Noise dissipation: Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System
• Terminations: Cold-welded, gold-plated RCA plugs
• Directionality: All conductors direction-controlled
• Included: One RCA interconnect cable

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cables do I need for a stereo connection?
Two — one per channel. This listing is a single cable, so add two to your cart if you're connecting a source to an amplifier in stereo.

What does "Triple-Balanced" mean on an RCA cable?
It refers to three conductors rather than two. Ordinary single-ended cables use the shield as the negative conductor, which compromises performance. Red River adds a dedicated ground-reference conductor so the shield can just be a shield, and both signal polarities get identical low-distortion paths.

Can I use this between my turntable and phono stage?
It will pass the signal, but a tonearm output is a very low-level signal with specific grounding needs, and a dedicated phono cable is the better answer there. Red River is designed for line-level connections between source components and amplification.

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