QED’s Golden Anniversary XT Speaker Cable Featuring X-Tube Plus Technology Is $40: High-End Munich 2023

$40 per meter. You read that correctly. Not $400 or $4,000. Don’t spend $4,000 per meter on loudspeaker cables. Think about how many records or CDs that represents. QED has been my preferred cable brand of choice for over a decade for the simple reason that it sounds great with almost every brand that I have tried it with and it’s so bloody affordable. We use QED cables for almost every review and whilst I still like a few other cables from Kimber and Analysis Plus — they are all very affordable by high-end standards. The new QED Golden Anniversary XT Loudspeaker cables are $40 for a single meter. Borscht!

British audio specialist QED is celebrating its 50th anniversary in style, with the  introduction of its Golden Anniversary XT speaker cable. Representing the culmination of five decades of dedicated and extensive research, engineering and audio expertise, the Golden Anniversary XT speaker cable is the ideal upgrade for any hi-fi enthusiast who wants to experience  the sonic benefits of a high-end speaker cable – but at a real-world price. 

Features

• NEW X-Tube Plus technology combines X-Tube with Aircore to deliver an even,  consistent performance across the entire audible frequency range. 

• Ultra-pure Ohno Continuous Cast Copper and 99.99% oxygen-free copper conductor  blend helps improve the signal path and signal retention. 

• Low Loss Ultra-Uniform Dielectric insulation boosts efficiency and reduces signal loss.

• Airloc Forte banana plugs use a cold weld system for permanent attachment to the cable  for improved contact area and reduced resistance. 

50 years of innovation 

QED has been designing and engineering class-leading and award-winning analogue and digital  cables for five decades – and the Golden Anniversary XT is the latest demonstration of the  company’s expertise. 

Quality Electronic Design (QED) was formed in 1973 by forward-thinking hi-fi enthusiasts, Bob  Abraham and Ian Vine. The company is now considered the original cable brand, having released QED 79 Strand, widely recognized as the world’s first “specialist” loudspeaker cable. This product demonstrated how cables could have a tangible impact on audio performance. 

QED’s Genesis Report on loudspeaker cable design followed. This research established  scientifically proven principles, which are as valid today as they were 28 years ago and informs all  QED cable designs, including the pioneering X-Tube™ technology that enables precise and  consistent signal delivery across the entire frequency range.

X-Tube™ Plus technology 

QED’s innovative and proven X-Tube™ technology places a cable’s conductive material around a  central hollow insulating rod – and the result is the elimination of the ‘skin effect’ that would  otherwise force high-frequency analogue music signals to the outside of the conductor. And by  combining X-Tube™ technology with its equally effective Aircore™ technology, QED also reduces the ‘proximity effect’ that can disrupt current distribution in a speaker cable. The result is X-Tube™ Plus: a ground-breaking cable geometry that ensures Golden Anniversary XT is a speaker cable  with even, consistent performance across the entire audible frequency range.  

Ultra-Pure Ohno Continuous Cast Copper conductors 

Golden Anniversary XT uses a unique hybrid blend of 99.99% oxygen-free copper (‘OFC’) and Ultra-Pure Ohno Continuous Cast Copper (‘UP-OCC’) to give the improved signal path and outstanding signal retention of ultra-pure copper conductors – but at a fraction of the price.  Thanks to class-leading research and engineering, QED Golden Anniversary XT is the most affordable and attainable speaker cable to exploit the advantages of the continuous-casting process, with this hybrid theoretically improving the path for transients and high frequency detail  not available using just OFC alone.

Low-Loss Ultra-Uniform Dielectric insulation 

If a speaker cable is to perform to its maximum potential, it’s important that the dielectric  material which insulates and protects the central conductors of the cable does so efficiently.  Golden Anniversary XT uses a specially developed and formulated low-density polyethylene (‘LDPE’), which works in unison with the cable’s X-Tube Plus configuration to deliver a speaker  cable that has high-efficiency and a dissipation factor that is barely measurable.  

Airloc Forté banana plugs 

Airloc™ is a specially developed cold-weld system for permanently attaching QED Forté banana  plugs to the company’s entire range of speaker cables, Golden Anniversary XT included. The most  vulnerable area of the speaker cable chain is the physical interface between the cable and the  speaker or amplifier to which it’s connected – without effective termination, oxidation can occur, degrading the cable’s performance. By using a cold weld crimp-type termination, Forté banana  plugs offer maximum resistance to oxidation – for the lifetime of the cable – by effectively turning  the cable and the plug into a single, unified object.  

Price & Availability

QED Golden Anniversary XT is available in June 2023 from QED retailers priced: £27 / €35 / $40 per meter.

QED Golden Anniversary XT will be making its debut at the High End Show 2023 in Munich (18^th– 21^st May) and will be on demo in room A (Atrium) 4.1, F110. 

Learn more at www.qed.co.uk. 

Technical specification 

• Cross-sectional area 2.5 mm² 
• Wire gauge 14 AWG 
• Jacket outside diameter 11.5 mm 
• Loop inductance 0.58 μH/m 
• Loop resistance 14.8 mΩ/m 
• Capacitance 42.0 pF/m 
• Dissipation factor @ 10 kHz 0.009 
• Conductors 9 x 19/0.13 mm OFC + 1 x 19/0.13 UP-OPCC
• Insulation LDPE jacket with 100% coverage of golden/mylar tape wrap
• Plugs and spades QED Airloc™ Forte banana plugs