AudioQuest - Big Sur RCA to RCA 2.0 meter

AudioQuest’s Big Sur RCA interconnects sit in the entry tier of the company’s offering, but they already display the meticulous engineering and premium materials typical of the brand.

The cables employ Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors, a refinement over ubiquitous OFC. The “Perfect-Surface” part refers to a polishing process that reduces microscopic surface irregularities, which in turn minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries inside the metal. In practice, PSC+ transmits signal with less added harshness or blur compared to standard multi-strand OFC, where strand interaction and grain junctions can smear fine detail.

They are insulated with Foamed Polyethylene (Foamed-PE). Every dielectric (insulating material) indeed “stores” and later “releases” a bit of energy, which shows up at the audible level as timing smear or softening of transients. Foamed-PE has a very high air content, and since air stores virtually no energy, this reduces dielectric absorption. The result is less “haze” and more precision in note attack and decay.

The Asymmetrical Double-Balanced Geometry means the cable has separate paths for ground and shield. Many inexpensive RCAs combine the two, which makes the ground plane more vulnerable to noise. By keeping them apart, the Big Sur maintains a lower impedance ground, translating into less contamination and a presentation that preserves microdynamics and low-level detail.

Noise suppression is further enhanced through a Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System. Most shields just redirect RF interference into the Ground, where it can modulate the signal reference and cause audible distortion. AudioQuest’s approach adds an intermediate layer that absorbs and reflects much of that RF energy before it ever reaches the Ground. It’s essentially “shielding the shield,” keeping the ground cleaner and the signal path more stable.

Finally, the cold-welded, gold-plated pure purple copper connectors ensure reliable contact without solder, which can act as a non-linear joint. Cold welding avoids that bottleneck, and the use of high-purity copper plus gold plating means both conductivity and corrosion resistance are maximized. Mechanically, the terminations feel solid and secure, with no flex or weakness at the joint.

The outer jacket—a black nylon braid with brown highlights—feels durable and flexible, balancing ease of installation with long-term reliability.