AudioQuest Chicago

Pair of RCA interconnects in LGC copper with Hard-Cell Foam insulation

Chicago is an analogue interconnect with RCA plugs, made to link audio sources to amplifiers and receivers. Sold as a pair, one cable for the right channel and one for the left, it uses solid-core Long-Grain Copper wires laid in a specific direction.

Its construction combines Double-Balanced geometry, rigid foam insulation and a metal-layer shield that dissipates high-frequency noise.

Conductors and geometry

Long-Grain Copper (LGC) has fewer oxides, impurities and grain boundaries than OFHC copper; the conductors are solid wires, with no interaction among strands. Any drawn metal has a directional grain structure: with Direction-Controlled technology the wires are oriented so that induced noise is drained away from the points where it would create distortion, and arrows on the plugs show which way to fit the cable. The Double-Balanced geometry, for single-ended links, uses a ground conductor distinct from the shield and lowers ground impedance.

Insulation and noise reduction

Hard-Cell Foam insulation is a rigid foam in which injected nitrogen forms gas pockets: nitrogen, as air does, absorbs no energy and gives none back to the conductor. The rigidity of the material keeps the spacing between the wires constant along the whole cable, so impedance stays stable too.

The metal layers of the Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation system absorb and reflect a large part of radio interference ahead of the grounded shield.

Terminations and lengths

The gold-plated RCA plugs are cold-welded, using a high-pressure process that needs no solder. The pair comes in nine lengths.

• Plugs: RCA at both ends.
• Lengths: 0.5 m, 0.75 m, 1 m, 1.5 m, 2 m, 3 m, 4 m, 5 m and 6 m.
• Pack: two cables, right channel and left channel.