QEDqe3280 (New) Audio Cable 0.6 m Red

These QED Reference 40 XLR were my second trial of using XLR cables between preamp and power amplifier. The first time I used some Designacable Starquad XLR cables, purchased for about £30 from Amazon, unfortunately they gave a poorer sound than my RCA cables, warmer and smoother but with a loss of detail and smearing of transients. I had expected them to sound the same as the RCA cables, the fact that they were not at least as good as the RCA cables was puzzling. I went back to using RCA cables but was left wondering if the quality of a cable could make a difference.Later I decided on trying some XLR cables again as I was getting some excessive hiss from the speakers, the hiss could be ameliorated by making adjustments to the position of the various cables behind the equipment, moving the power conditioning block to an angled position proved helpful. But it was very easy to disturb the cable positions and so bring back the interference hiss.On this occasion I decided to avoid budget XLR cables and purchased a pair of these moderately priced QED Reference 40 XLR cables. I ordered one pair from Amazon (not the Amazon marketplace), and installed them for the front left and right channels from my Marantz AV8802A pre-out to my Primare I35 amplifier (the amp being used as a power amplifier in this case).My initial thought was that there was little difference between these QED XLR cables and the QED Graphite RCA cables I had been using, but most importantly there was certainly no loss of quality. However, when listening to a large scale orchestral work, such as Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique on the Nezet-Seguin recording (BISSACD1800), I found a noticeable improvement in sound quality. There was more detail, body and impact to the music, especially noticeable in the final movement ' Dream of a Witches Sabbath Night'.Over the next couple of weeks, I listened to a lot more music, and was increasingly surprised at just how much improvement the QED XLR cables were making. I certainly did not like going back to the unbalanced RCA cable. The Beethoven Spring Violin Sonata played by Faust and Melnikov (HMC902025.27), as an example of a small scale work, seemed more detailed and smoother.My enhanced enjoyment of the music encouraged me to buy another pair for the right and left side channels and a single QED Reference XLR Digital cable for the centre channel (these analogue and digital cables seem identically made).The previous hiss from the speakers, when no music was being played, was noticeably reduced with the XLRs. I tried to measure the difference with a sound meter placed in front of the centre speaker and switched the cable over - there was about 1.5dB less noise when using the XLR cable. Previously I could hear the hiss from about 20-23 cm but with the XLRs I could only hear the hiss from about 9-10 cm.There was a viewpoint in audiophile that circles that XLR only made a difference when used in long runs of several metres or more, my experience contradicts that. Today we typically have far more pieces of equipment, bringing more power cables, more interconnects, more Ethernet and HDMI cables and so on. This makes interference much more likely to occur than before, hence balanced cables are now more likely to reduce noise and improve sound compared to unbalanced, even over short distances.These QED Reference 40 XLR cables were well worth the money, the plugs, which appear to be standard Neutrik but with a different colour and the QED logo added, fitted easily and crisply into my equipment. Perhaps XLR cables from other suppliers such as Audioquest or Chord would have been equally as good sounding as these QED ones but I have never listened to those. ( I avoided the Audioquest because they do not use Neutrik plugs but rather one of their own design, which looks impressive but I was concerned that it might be an overly tight fit into the Neutrik sockets on my equipment).

Xlr interconnect is better in big lengths. My xlr interconnect 0.6m is the same with qed performance rca 1.5m cable, to my ears. Try it back2back. It sounds better in your mind knowing that you spend double. If you measure it with special tech might be better, but to my bare ears sounds identical both cables. Very good quality though, as expected.

The leads made a genuine difference to my ears, its not night and day, but worth the money to me. Some say xlr are not worth it, but id never go back now. I switched between my £50 rca leads and xlr, the xlr had a fuller deeper sound. It also reduced brightness a touch. Used to connect audiolab 8300 cd-amp. Its so clear and powerfull im very happy. Also has lifetime warranty.

All good

Good quality product at a reasonable price. Made a big difference to the audio quality of my system. Arrived promptly.

Although expensive is an excellent cable for the price.