Audioquest Mackenzie XLR 1m

Moving from an RCA connection to a balanced connection changes the way noise travels between two devices. The principle is well known: two signals of opposite polarity, a separate ground, and an input stage that subtracts one from the other. The cable must still preserve this balance from end to end. This is the territory of the second tier in AudioQuest’s Rivers series, positioned between the Red River and the Yukon.

Three conductors and a separate ground

The Triple Balanced geometry is based on three independent conductors: one for the positive signal, one for the inverted signal, and a third reserved for the ground reference. The shielding covers the entire length and carries no signal. The distinction is far from cosmetic. On a cable where the shield serves as the return conductor, radio-frequency interference picked up by this enclosure modulates the devices’ ground reference, and this modulation ultimately appears in the audio signal. By separating the two functions, the Mackenzie leaves the shield with its sole role as a barrier. The same geometry is found on the RCA version of the cable, where the two signal conductors remain separate from the ground.

Solid copper with surface treatment

The conductors are made of Perfect Surface Copper+, the finest copper in the AudioQuest catalog, surpassed only by PSS silver reserved for higher series. The work focuses on the surface condition: the wire is protected at every drawing and manufacturing stage to remain smooth, with the brand aiming to reduce distortion caused by grain boundaries. This is what sets it apart from the Red River, which remains one step below in metallurgy.

All conductors are solid rather than stranded. AudioQuest’s argument concerns the electrical and magnetic interaction between neighboring strands, which a solid conductor eliminates by design. It is best understood for what it is: a matter of purity and geometry, not cross-section. At audio frequencies, skin effect remains marginal with such fine gauges.

Three carbon layers against radio frequencies

Achieving full-coverage shielding costs nothing. Preventing captured radio frequencies from reaching the devices’ ground plane requires more, and that is the purpose of the in-house noise-dissipation system. Three alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetics “shield the shield”: they absorb and reflect most of the unwanted energy before it reaches the layer connected to ground. The Red River makes do with dissipation through a metal layer; moving to the three-layer carbon network is the other structural difference between the two models.

In a contemporary hi-fi cabinet, the benefit is tangible: switch-mode power supplies, internet routers, Class D amplifiers, and lighting dimmers saturate the radio spectrum around the equipment, and this pollution eventually enters through the interconnects.

Firm, nitrogen-injected insulation

Hard-Cell Foam insulation is polyethylene expanded by nitrogen injection, creating gas pockets around the conductor. Nitrogen absorbs virtually no energy and therefore does not release it again as distortion, unlike solid PVC. The foam’s rigidity has a second function: it keeps conductor spacing constant along the entire length, stabilizing the cable’s characteristic impedance.

The trade-off is noticeable during installation. The Mackenzie is a firm cable, covered in a black and brown braid, which requires a few centimeters of clearance behind the rack and does not tolerate tight bends well. In constrained cable runs, it is better to allow some slack rather than force the bend radius close to the connectors. The Yukon, one step above, uses polyethylene air tubes.

Cold-welded connectors on purple copper

The male and female XLR connectors are assembled without solder. AudioQuest cold-welds the conductor to the pin, since solder is a foreign alloy inserted into the signal path. The ground bodies are stamped rather than machined: the metal can therefore be selected for its electrical qualities rather than its machinability. The contact is silver plated directly onto high-purity purple copper, without the nickel underlayer commonly used on standard connectors.

This construction has a practical consequence: the cable is made to order in the Irvine, California workshops and cannot be re-terminated at home. Non-catalog lengths and terminations must go through the dealer, with a lead time. The conductors are oriented in a direction determined by the manufacturer through listening tests, and an arrow printed on each connector indicates the connection direction, from source to destination.

Balance does not depend on the cable alone

One point deserves to be stated clearly: common-mode noise rejection is the job of the receiving component’s differential input stage, not the cable. The Mackenzie cleanly carries the two polarities; it does not create balance. Some devices fitted with XLR sockets convert the signal back to unbalanced immediately behind the connector; the connection works, but the expected benefit is reduced. Checking what the electronics actually do upstream and downstream avoids disappointment.

Where balanced connection delivers on its promises, it tolerates long cable runs without notable degradation, something RCA connection handles less well. By convention, the XLR output delivers a level around 6 dB higher than the RCA output of the same device, a difference that becomes noticeable when comparing two inputs by ear.

Where the Mackenzie fits in

The cable connects any device equipped with analog XLR sockets: digital-to-analog converter to preamplifier, preamplifier to power amplifier, network player or CD player to integrated amplifier, audio interface or console to active speakers. A stereo connection requires two cables, one per channel.

One caveat to keep in mind: this is an analog cable. A digital AES/EBU connection, which also uses XLR connectors, requires a characteristic impedance of 110 ohms and a cable designed for that purpose. Using an analog interconnect for this connection sometimes works, but can lead to read errors depending on length and sampling frequency.

Technical Specifications

Materials

• Metal: PSC+ (Perfect-Surface Copper+)
• Dielectric: Hard-cell foam
• Sheath: Quadruple braid in black, brown

Construction

• Geometry: Triple-balanced with dedicated ground conductor
• Noise dissipation system with triple-layer carbon

Connectors

• Terminations: Cold-welded, silver-plated

Dimensions

• Length: 1 m