AUDIOQUEST THUNDERBIRD ZERO

Pair of 3m Pure Copper Acoustic Speaker Cables with Perfect Surface PSC+. Carbon-based NDS System and GND Noise Dissipation System. Configuration: Full-Range

Cable length: 3 metres.

To obtain the Bi-Wire configuration buy the Thunderbird Bass together

With the introduction of the Mythical Creatures loudspeaker cable series, AudioQuest has pushed even its own very high standards much further.

The same team responsible for the new AC AudioQuest audio cable series, AudioQuest founder William Low and Power Products director Garth Powell, has created what is simply the most transparent and immersive speaker. cables ever made. The Mythical Creatures ThunderBird, FireBird and Dragon series are not simply an incremental evolution; their introduction represents a category advancement in loudspeaker cable design.

Building on a solid foundation of familiar AQ technologies, Garth and Bill focused specifically on addressing one of the most vexing problems plaguing loudspeaker cable design: the mismatch between the amplifier's source impedance and the loudspeaker's load impedance.

All previous attempts to solve this problem of moving the characteristic impedance of the loudspeaker cable to a value closer to the nominal impedance of the loudspeakers have failed because the impedance of a loudspeaker changes with frequency and the output impedance of the amplifier.

By eliminating the characteristic impedance of Mythical Creatures' loudspeaker cable, current compression and signal transient (current) distortion are significantly reduced. The result is dynamic contrast, transient response and bass slam made seemingly effortless.

These new Mythical Creatures ZERO loudspeaker cables can be used in two ways: as ideal Full-Range cables or, in combination with a dedicated BASS cable, in a BiWire cable with unrivalled performance. The ThunderBird, FireBird and Dragon BASS cables incorporate our patented noise rejection technology.

If AudioQuest's new Mythical Creatures loudspeaker cables are used as Full-Range or BiWire, the sonic result is the sound of the amplifier doing its job without disturbing either current compression or radio frequency noise.

ZERO: no characteristic impedance for uncompressed current transfer

The integrity of any audio transient (peak-to-peak voltage swing and instantaneous current) supplied by a power amplifier to a loudspeaker has always been compromised. Whether the amplifier is a valve or a transistor, regardless of class of operation, the source impedance of the amplifier and the load impedance of the loudspeaker are never critically matched. The characteristic impedance of the loudspeaker cable is yet another culprit in a highly compromised non-linear electrical circuit. AudioQuest has always claimed that all cables cause damage because the output is never as good as the input. However, by eliminating the characteristic impedance of a loudspeaker cable, AQ's ZERO technology represents an unprecedented step towards reducing that damage. The result is greater dynamic contrast, improved response to audio transients and a bass slam made seemingly effortless because the cable does not electrically constrain (strangle) the music.

COPPER CONDUCTORS WITH PERFECT SURFACE PSC+

Solid conductors prevent strand-to-strand electrical interaction, the main source of distortion. Surface quality is crucial because a conductor can be considered as a guide for both the fields within a conductor and the magnetic fields extending outside the conductor. The incredibly smooth and pure surface of all AudioQuest Perfect-Surface metals almost eliminates roughness and significantly increases sharpness compared to lesser materials. The extremely pure Perfect-Surface+ copper further minimises distortion caused by grain boundaries that exist within any metal conductor.

CARBON-BASED LINEAR NOISE DISSIPATION SYSTEM (NDS)

Today's environment is saturated with radio frequency noise that is extremely difficult to filter out or reject. The frequencies of this noise from satellites, cellular and Bluetooth towers, etc., are so narrow that a conventional screen, or a shunt array or filter, is totally inadequate. Much of the low-level signal carrying the harmonics and spatial cues that define high-resolution audio is masked by radio-frequency induced noise. AQ's comprehensive linear noise dissipation system combines multiple screens and a carbon-based linearised resistive network that turns much of this noise into heat. By 'linearised' we mean that the system is equally effective over an extremely wide bandwidth, rather than only at selected frequencies, as is more common. The remaining bad energy is effectively discharged from the amplifier's sensitive circuits via directionally controlled signal conductors and shielding.

THUNDERBIRD BI-WIRING

When possible, running separate cables on the treble and bass 'halves' of a loudspeaker greatly reduces distortion. BiWiring keeps the large magnetic fields associated with the bass energy out of the treble cable, allowing the delicate upper frequencies to travel a less magnetically disturbed path, like letting waves out of the water when swimming. Rocket models of the AQ loudspeaker cable have two independent internal constructions, facilitating bi-wiring within a single cable. Type models of the AQ loudspeaker cable can be doubled, using one for the treble and one for the bass. However, doubling the cables in AQ's ZERO technology may be a minor improvement due to ZERO's unlimited bandwidth - the use of two full-range ZERO cables can actually allow more RF energy into the amplifier, while the use of a BASS cable with Bass and Midrange GND in combination with a ZERO cable for Treble significantly reduces total RF noise. The patented ground noise dissipation (GND) of the BASS cable discharges RF energy from the amplifier's output. When properly implemented, BiWiring has always been a way to achieve better performance for the same or less money. With GND, the improvements of BiWiring are considerably more dramatic. ThunderBird BASS with GND is an ideal cable for the bass and midrange inputs of a BiWirable or TriWireable loudspeaker when used in conjunction with ThunderBird ZERO, FireBird ZERO or Dragon ZERO Full Range on the treble input.

GROUND NOISE DISSIPATION (GND)

This highly effective patented noise suppression technology is distributed on the ground path in almost all AQ AC Power cables, as well as in the AQ Bass and Midrange speaker cables. The effectiveness of GND compromises audio above 10,000 Hz, making the dedicated Bass & Midrange cable ideal for remote use.

COLD-WELDED TERMINATIONS FROM 'MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES'

Mythical Creature's cables are cold-soldered to AudioQuest's extremely pure Red Copper Bananas and Forks. The bare copper is immersed (hung) in a pool of pure silver rather than being introduced into a lower grade solution. AudioQuest speaker breakouts and enclosures are not made of metal so as not to disturb the magnetic field of the signal and not to induce RF noise in the conductors.