Lone Ranger BAN/S 2,5m
Description
The AudioQuest Lone Ranger replaces the iconic Robin Hood and sits alongside its big brother, the Brave Heart, in the Folk Hero line. It's a cable that blurs the line between the brand's "affordable heroes" and its expensive "mythical" models - offering the lion's share of their benefits in a more compact, easier-to-install format. The outer diameter is 11.6mm per polarity - noticeably smaller than the Brave Heart's 14.1mm, making the cable more flexible and easier to route behind furniture or along skirting boards.
The heart of the Lone Ranger is the proprietary ZERO-Tech technology, which eliminates the mismatch of the characteristic impedance between the cable, amplifier and speakers. Thanks to this, energy is transmitted without distortion and "excessive resistance", and the sound acquires that lightness that AudioQuest fans appreciate so much. The conductors are made of Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) - copper, the amount of which in this model has increased by almost a third compared to its predecessors. This lowers impedance, flattens the frequency response regardless of the impedance curve of the speakers and gives the bass that same "muscular" support that audiophiles love to describe. The cable dielectric is made of polypropylene, which linearizes and broadens the bandwidth, reducing distortion from distributed capacitance. Additionally, the cable received a thickened layer of carbon-loaded PVC, a layer of graphene and drainage wires with a 4% silver coating - all this works to more effectively remove high-frequency noise from the sensitive circuits of the amplifier.
It was not without the proprietary Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) at 72 V: a constant voltage polarizes the dielectric, significantly reducing the so-called dielectric noise - energy released from the insulation at the wrong time and at the wrong frequencies. Unlike the classic "warming up" of the cable, this effect is stable and permanent. A similar role is played by the Permanent Molecular Optimization (PMO) process - a controlled "stress" loading of materials during production, which allows the cable to sound at full power immediately after connection, without a long break-in period.
The positive and negative conductors are placed in separate round-section housings — this is not only convenient in terms of wiring, but also reduces the mutual influence of the channels. The conductors are solid (solid core), which eliminates the interaction of individual cores, and have a controlled direction for more effective removal of radio frequency interference. The outer braid and connector housings do not use metal in principle — this makes it impossible to over-radiate and capacitively guide RF noise to the cable itself. The connections are made by cold welding in hermetic connections to red copper spade or banana plugs, which guarantees reliable contact without oxidation.
Lone Ranger is optimally suited for full-range connection of speakers. For those who plan to bi-amp or bi-wiring, AudioQuest is preparing a separate bass cable BigFoot — in a pair they will allow you to separate the frequency bands, while maintaining the signature style of the Folk Hero series.
