Audioquest Angel Jack/RCA DBS 1m

Few mini-jack cables feature pure silver conductors. The Angel is one of them, and sits at the top of AudioQuest’s Bridges & Falls series. This range stands out for its compact format, where both channels share a single jacket, designed for portable sources or installations where cable flexibility matters as much as transmission quality.

An ultra-smooth-surface silver conductor

The Angel uses solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS) conductors, the highest metal grade at AudioQuest. The advantage of a solid conductor rather than a stranded one lies in the absence of electrical and magnetic interactions between adjacent strands, a common source of distortion in conventional cables. The Perfect-Surface treatment is designed to reduce irregularities on the metal surface and limit the effect of grain boundaries, those microscopic discontinuities found in any metallic conductor. The expected result: more linear signal transmission across the entire audible spectrum.

Silver has higher electrical conductivity than copper, but above all, it is its ability to dissipate radio-frequency interference more evenly that justifies its use in this context. AudioQuest also applies directional control of the conductors to guide HF noise dissipation toward ground.

Insulation that relies on air

Any insulating material in contact with a conductor absorbs part of the signal’s energy, then releases it again with a slight time delay. This phenomenon introduces phase shifts that vary depending on frequency, a problem for audio signals that cover several octaves. The Angel partially sidesteps this issue thanks to FEP Air-Tube insulation: a fluoropolymer (FEP) tube that surrounds the conductor with minimal contact, with most of the space occupied by air. FEP absorbs less energy than most extrudable insulators, and air virtually none.

AudioQuest also differentiates the treatment of the positive and negative conductors. The negative conductor receives so-called “lossy” insulation (intentionally dissipative), with no air or FEP, because its role in the circuit is not the same as that of the signal conductor.

The 72V DBS system and its RF trap

The Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) is a technology patented by AudioQuest. A battery pack creates a 72-volt electrostatic field that continuously polarizes the cable’s insulation. This polarization stabilizes the dielectric molecules and reduces the non-linear phase delays mentioned above. The system operates outside the signal path: the batteries generate a potential difference, not a current, and their lifespan reaches several years. A test button and LED allow their status to be checked.

The Angel also incorporates an RF Trap derived from AudioQuest’s Niagara power products. This filter prevents radio-frequency interference picked up from the environment from traveling back toward the signal conductors via the DBS elements.

Three-layer noise dissipation

The NDS (Noise-Dissipation System) combines three alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetic materials. This multilayer shielding absorbs and reflects a large part of the RF energy before it reaches the layer connected to the device ground. In conventional cables, interference picked up by the shielding is drained directly to the ground plane, which can modulate the circuit’s voltage reference and introduce a form of distortion. The NDS approach aims to filter this noise upstream.

Connectors without solder or nickel

The Angel’s RCA connectors are made from pure red copper, directly silver-plated with no intermediate nickel layer. Nickel is often used as an adhesion barrier in conventional plating, but AudioQuest considers it a source of distortion and eliminates it from its high-end connectors. Assembly is done by cold-weld soldering, a compression process that avoids exposing the metals to heat and traditional solder alloys.

The connectors’ ground shell is stamped rather than machined, which makes it possible to choose the metal for its acoustic properties rather than for its machinability.

A compact format with a few constraints

The Bridges & Falls series groups both channels into a single jacket, resulting in a thin and very flexible cable. This format is well suited to connections with a smartphone, a portable player, or a portable DAC. On the other hand, the RCA plugs are physically close together. AudioQuest states that if the left and right inputs of the receiving device are spaced more than 7.6 cm apart, the Rivers or Elements series, with their separately jacketed cables, will be more suitable.

The name “Angel” refers to the waterfall of the same name in Venezuela, the tallest in the world with a drop of 979 meters. The chemical symbol for silver (Ag) completes the allusion.

Technical specifications

Connectivity and terminations

• Type: analog interconnect cable
• Connectors
  • 1 x 3.5 mm mini-jack
  • 2 x male RCA
• Terminations: pure red copper silver-plated, with no intermediate nickel layer
• Connection process: cold welding, ensuring an optimal connection without signal degradation
• Length: 1 m

Conductors

• Perfect-Surface Solid Silver (PSS) conductors
  • Very low distortion
  • Solid structure eliminating strand interaction
  • Reduction of grain-boundary effects
  • More linear and more precise signal transmission

Insulation and dielectric

• FEP Air-Tube architecture
  • Minimal contact between conductor and dielectric
  • Reduced energy loss
  • Improved reproduction of micro-information and dynamic contrasts
• Differential insulation of the negative conductor, optimized for its specific role in the signal

Noise and interference reduction

• Multi-layer carbon-based Noise-Dissipation System (NDS)
  • Absorption and neutralization of radio-frequency interference before it affects the audio signal
• 72 V DBS dielectric-bias system with RF trap
  • Stabilization of the cable’s electric field
  • Reduction of dielectric-related distortion
  • Improved temporal coherence of the signal

Architecture and geometry

• Double balanced asymmetric geometry
  • Separation of ground and shielding paths
  • Reduced interference
  • Quieter, more stable, and more dynamic reproduction