AudioQuest Brave Heart Banana Speaker Cable

The Audioquest Brave Heart features proven design elements. It replaces the famous Audioquest William Tell speaker cable. It retains part of its technology, while adding numerous technical and structural innovations.

Audioquest Brave Heart: Features

The Brave Heart is slightly wider than the Lone Ranger (14.1 mm outer diameter vs. 11.6 mm for the Lone Ranger, per polarity). It benefits from the same design separating positive and negative cables physically. This technology results in a quieter cable offering a more precise and dynamic sound reproduction.

The AudioQuest Brave Heart features ZERO-Tech technology offering zero characteristic impedance. ZERO-Tech technology eliminates impedance mismatches between the cable, source, and connected load, allowing smooth energy transfer and remarkably effortless musical rendering.

Conductor diameter is larger than on previous models, increasing from 2.62 mm² (William Tell) to 2.99 mm² of PSC+ copper for lower impedance, a more linear frequency response (regardless of the speaker's impedance curve), and a more powerful sound.

The Brave Heart features a very high quality polypropylene dielectric that dissipates noise over a wider bandwidth. Additionally, it reduces distortion and limits harsh sounds.

Audioquest uses a thick carbon-loaded PVC with a graphene layer. The 4% silver drain cables further improve RF noise dissipation.

Audioquest Brave Heart: Conductors

The Audioquest Brave Heart uses solid single-strand conductors. These solid conductors prevent strand interaction, which is a major source of dynamic distortion. These conductors use solid PSC+ copper of extreme purity. PSC+ copper limits distortion caused by grain boundaries present in all metal conductors. These solid conductors are exclusively made from PSC+, the finest and purest copper used by Audioquest.

All conductors feature an air-filled foamed-polyethylene jacket. The advantage is that air absorbs almost no energy and polyethylene has a very low distortion profile. These direction-controlled conductors effectively drain RF noise away from sensitive amplifier circuits, directing it where it is least harmful or non-existent.

Audioquest Brave Heart: Bias

The Audioquest Brave Heart is equipped with the patented Dielectric-Bias System (DBS). This consists of inserting two wires into the cable insulation with a voltage of plus and minus 72 volts! This is provided by a battery pack attached to the cable via velcro. Since there is no current draw and batteries have very low self-discharge, they last for years and are very easy to replace.

A test button with a LED is present on each DBS box.

The insulation is also a dielectric that can act as a filter. Active bias minimizes dielectric noise and linearizes the filter, significantly improving induced RF noise dissipation across the entire bandwidth.

AudioQuest's 72 V Dielectric-Bias System polarizes the dielectric (insulation), greatly reducing dielectric noise (energy stored in the dielectric released untimely and at other frequencies). The DBS system also linearizes radio-frequency noise dissipation (making it more consistent over a wide band).

Audioquest Brave Heart: Connectors

These Brave Heart speaker cables are equipped with solderless silver-plated 1000 Series banana connectors. They ensure superb contact with very low electrical resistance.

These bananas are made of extremely pure red copper. The bare copper is immersed in a pure silver vat to ensure excellent plating quality. These plugs do not use metal to avoid inducing RF noise into the conductors. The absence of metal in the connectors prevents any re-emission and capacitive coupling of RF noise into the cable. The red copper banana connections are cold-welded.

On the plug bodies, "Amp" and "Speaker" markings indicate the correct connection for each plug.

Audioquest Brave Heart: Test and listening

The build quality of the Brave Heart is absolutely flawless. The cables are flexible and easy to handle, and the banana plugs are very well made and robust.

The Audioquest Brave Heart delivers powerful, articulate, and highly accurate bass. Ultra-low noise level prevents masking details and subtle harmonics.

The Brave Heart offers a very high level of detail and precision. Midrange clarity is remarkable. Vocals fill the room effortlessly with surprising presence. Definition in this part of the spectrum is unprecedented in this product category. Instruments sound larger, more assertive, and above all more realistic than usual. This part of the spectrum is also rendered with surprising dynamics. Percussion impacts (snare drum, congas...) are reproduced with striking realism.

This superb midrange is paired with silky, precise, and energetic highs. Yet despite this precision and clarity, no harshness or distortion is felt.

The soundstage is very wide, tall, and considerably deep. Layering of sound stages is superb, making it easy to follow musicians and instruments.

Overall, music feels more alive, intense, and realistic, allowing the listener to immerse deeper into music. Dynamics are truly realistic and playback offers surprising authority in the low end.

The Audioquest Brave Heart is a magnificent speaker cable offering fantastic resolution, texture, and bass control. It outperforms the William Tell, which was our benchmark until now, across all registers. It allows a system to move from good sound quality to exceptional sound quality.

With Brave Heart, AudioQuest proves it is possible to combine technology and musicality. This cable could well become the new entry point to the Mythical Creatures range while shaking up a few established references.

Our favorite!