Audioquest Mackenzie RCA (RCA Analog Audio Cables)

In AudioQuest’s Rivers series, the Mackenzie RCA sits just above the Red River, sharing its Triple-Balanced geometry. A third conductor handles the ground return, so the shielding never carries the signal: it serves only to block interference, while both the outgoing and returning signal travel through identical conductors, even in an unbalanced RCA connection.

The metal accounts for most of the upgrade. The conductors are made of solid PSC+ (Perfect-Surface Copper+) copper, the brand’s purest copper. Its polished surface and fewer grain boundaries limit distortion, while the solid core prevents unwanted interaction between the strands of a stranded cable. Nitrogen-injected polyethylene foam insulates these conductors. The shielding adds a noise-dissipation system with three carbon-loaded layers, preventing radio-frequency interference from reaching the equipment’s ground.

The RCA plugs are cold-welded, without solder: silver is deposited directly onto pure copper. The cable is directional, with arrows that should point towards the amplifier. It is sold in pairs, or individually for connecting a subwoofer, with a brown and black braided jacket.