Audioquest Dragon Thread

The improvements are the same whether between my PST or between my server. I have a Dragon on both. If you were using a RAL before, which is a very clear and resolving cable, probably better than just about any cable out there, the Dragon takes it to another level. It has even less noise and distortion, brings out more music, and makes details even more obvious. If you have a very high resolving system, you will really appreciate this cable.

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Not sure what you are using now. My dragon completely changed my system for the better. I was using the RAL. The dragon blows the RAL on my system.

I have PST to AC12 to DSD. But also have PWT. Was going to trade it in for the PST but the great opportunity came to purchase so still have the PWT. I also have the DSMP and just wonder what the sq differences would be using the Dragon with each in my system with the transport as the only variable.

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That’s very interesting. Just get a Dragon and find out. :grin: But kidding aside, I never had the PWT. But I had both the DMP and PST before I returned the DMP for trade in at the time and I was comparing the two. I seem to be enjoying the DMP with the Dragon more than the RAL with the PST. Maybe it’s all in my head, but that was how I felt at the time. That’s how much a cable like the Dragon can make to a system.

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11 posts were merged into an existing topic: Matrix X-SPDIF 2

Thank you all for the Dragon48 opinions! Paul, thanks for the Nick @ TMR hookup. So, my initial cable opinions - it’s Friday night, 10pm, FZ One Size Fits All.
HDMI cable upgrades have been very swift and amazing - basic cable to Harmonic Tech Plus, WW Plat7, which at the time was mind-blowing, then upgraded to RAL, which was big, and now Dragon48! I got it today, but had to post. So its had 8 hours of use… amazing out of the box. I look forward to next 200 hours. Hopefully this will work even better with next gen DSD II.

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Glad to hear you are on a productive upgrade path.

If you happen to still have your RAL and are willing to part with it for a fair price, please send me a PM.

I replaced the HDMI cable PSA shipped with PSA DMPs with a used PinkFaun HDMI cable I picked up from a fellow denizen of this forum. I found the PinkFaun to not be a significant upgrade. Depending on the track and my mood, it sounds a bit “cleaner”, but the improvement is not really material overall.

Given other’s experience achieving significant improvements with different HDMI cables, I am interested in trying to step up another rung on the HDMI cable ladder.

Enjoy your AQ Dragon.

Scott

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We were getting far from the Auidioquest Dragon so I moved a number of posts to the Matrix thread which seems more on topic for these posts. If I messed up as to where any of these posts should go, just let me know.

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@Elk - of course; apologies for moving off topic. :slight_smile: Definitely keeping my AQ Dragon 48!

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I am excited for my Audioquest Dragon 48 HDMI cable and my Wel Signature AES/EBU cable coming this week or next to replace my Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 HDMI cable and Wireworld Platinum Starlight 8 AES/EBU cable from my Perfectwave transport and Auralic Aries G2.1 streamer to my Directstream dac. The improvement should be nice. The Wireworld Platinum Starlight cables are decent but the Audioquest should be in another league. I have the Wireworld Platinum Starlight cables up for sale.

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I’ve sold my Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 HDMI cable and in waiting for my Dragon to arrive I installed my Audio Art Statement RCA digital cable between my Perfectwave transport and Directstream dac and the Audio Art Statement digital cable sounds significantly better than the Wireworld. I am excited for my Dragon 48 and WEL Signature AES/EBU cables to arrive.

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How is the Dragon HC power cable performing for you?

It has powered my P15 for a month and I think this is the best place to put it because it benefits the whole system. My system sounded so smooth yet revealing, and it motivated me to make more improvements. I added two purple fuses and did the 3M 7050 absorbers on P15 and PST (thanks vmax!) in the last month too. Each addition has improved the system further. But because these changes, I would not be able to assess how much the Dragon HC has improved further, but I knew it has continued helping the system more.

I tried the latest tweak from vmax by wrapping the copper RFI tape over my cheapest power cord from one end to the other, and the key is to connect the copper sheet to grounding of the male connector. Holly cow! This time I heard a better improvement from my first try. The Culler PC has got rid of the slight brightness and forwardness, and it sounded closer to my other top line cables.

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@Philip_Gan think i read latter in another thread you ended up with the dragon - wondering where you sourced it from - thanks Gareth just down the road in Geelong

G’day Gareth!

I suggest you email them and see if they’ll do a deal?
sales@avaustralia.com.au
Cheers,
Phil

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@Vmax is King of tweaks!

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I did the same path. The Dragon HC PC is such a step change it spurred me to further tweak improvements on the noise floor elsewhere in the system.

It is nice to hear you had as much success with the copper shield on the Cullen power cord as I did with my Wally Underwood Core Power Diamond and Diamond extreme power cords. I may order another roll of copper Tape for two more of my LPS cords a BAV and the Signal Cable Silver Resolution.

Do you run the BHK preamp? If so are you still planning the 3M AB7050HF absorber placement Serhan found to work well?

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Just to be clear (at least for my sake), is it not true that there are eARC versions and non-eARC versions of the AQ Dragon and we audio nerds want or prefer the latter?

Regards.

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I ran out on both the 7050 sheet and RFI copper tapes. The absorber works better on my PST than BHK pre, so that is where I used my last. I have another Culler cable to be used for the new PSA streamer, and I will need more tape by then to try.

Let me know how do you like it on the other two cables in future.

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YES there are 3 eARC HDMI cables.
There ARE 3 HDMI e-Arc 48Gbps 8K-10K : per the AQ Oct. 2021 price list
Vodka
Thunderbird
Dragon