AudioQuest Yukon Interconnect Cable - XLR to XLR

Yukon Is the Top of AudioQuest's Rivers Series

AudioQuest's Yukon is the most refined cable in the Rivers series. It is a two-cable design, one lead per channel. It takes the Mackenzie recipe one step further: the copper moves out of foam and into tubes of air.

Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+, Direction-Controlled

The wires are solid Perfect-Surface Copper+, AudioQuest's highest grade of copper, which it calls PSC+. The wire is drawn with an ultra-smooth surface, and AudioQuest 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.

Polyethylene Air-Tubes and Triple-Balanced Geometry

Each wire runs inside a Polyethylene Air-Tube. The wire touches almost nothing but air. Air stores almost no signal energy, and AudioQuest says this leaves far less of the out-of-focus effect that solid insulation causes.

The layout is what AudioQuest calls Triple-Balanced. A third wire carries the ground on its own. The shield never has to double as a signal path. AudioQuest says both signal legs then travel equally clean routes.

The Hanging-Silver Purple Copper XLR Plug, Explained

Yukon ends in AudioQuest's Hanging-Silver XLR plug. The body is pure Purple Copper. The parts hang in the plating bath instead of tumbling, which AudioQuest says gives a more even coat of silver. The plug is cold welded to the wire, so there is no solder in the path. It latches into the jack.

Around the cable is a three-layer shield with a carbon layer. AudioQuest calls it Carbon-Based 3-Layer Noise-Dissipation. An ordinary shield drains radio noise into the ground, and AudioQuest says that dirties the reference the signal is measured against. The carbon layers soak up the noise first.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Christiaan Punter reviewed the RCA version for HiFi-Advice on December 9, 2015 and called Yukon "very open and airy. It really digs out the smallest details, without ever sounding harsh."

He summed it up as a "very natural sounding cable" with "a very open, airy, and refined sound." The upper bass, he noted, could carry more substance.

Who Is This Interconnect Best For?

• You listen for the smallest details — HiFi-Advice heard Yukon dig them out without harshness, so nothing is buried
• Your left and right jacks sit far apart — Yukon is two separate cables, so mono amplifiers and wide racks are no problem
• Your sources sit near power supplies — the carbon shield and a separate ground wire drain noise, so the shelf stays quiet
• You want silver at the contact and a plug that locks — the Hanging-Silver XLR over pure Purple Copper latches into the jack, so the last inch is silver and the connection stays put
• Your components have only RCA jacks — the Yukon XLR will not fit an RCA jack. Choose the AudioQuest Yukon RCA instead, or call us and we will match the connector

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Run Yukon from a balanced XLR output on your DAC, streamer, CD player or phono stage to a balanced XLR input on your preamp or amplifier. Point the arrows on the jacket toward the amplifier. Line up the pins and push until the latch clicks.

Then listen. Other and longer lengths available. Call for prices.

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 XLR plug does Yukon use?

The XLR version of AudioQuest's Hanging-Silver plug: silver over a body of pure Purple Copper, cold welded to the wire so no solder sits in the path.

What does Triple-Balanced mean?

The cable has three wires: positive, negative and a separate ground. AudioQuest says this keeps the shield out of the signal path, so both signal legs travel equally clean routes.

Why air tubes instead of foam?

AudioQuest says any solid next to a wire stores some signal energy and releases it late as distortion. Air stores almost none, so a tube of air keeps the signal cleaner than the foam in Mackenzie.

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.

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 Black Beauty XLR is the next rung. It moves to AudioQuest's Mythical Creatures family, with ZERO-Tech, a carbon and graphene mesh and Hanging-Silver plugs over Red Copper.

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