QED is rolling out new cables: The revamped Performance Series includes 13 cable types for analog and digital hi-fi systems. New additions include a speaker cable featuring X-Tube Plus technology, matching bi-wiring bridges, and four USB variants.
From turntables to televisions to music servers, modern hi-fi systems bring together a wide variety of signal sources. QED aims to make cabling more organized and is therefore completely revamping its Performance Series. The lineup includes 13 models for speakers, subwoofers, analog and digital sources, as well as network and USB connections.
The launch of the Performance series also marks the beginning of a reorganization of the QED product line. It will be followed in the future by the Reference, Signature, and finally the Supremus series. Within each tier, there will be only one speaker cable and one analog interconnect cable. This should indeed simplify the choice between similarly positioned models.
Easy Connection Instead of Cable Clutter
The new design features silver-gray connector housings and a softer, more flexible jacket. For most interconnect cables, this jacket is made of thermoplastic elastomer, or TPE for short. This material is intended not only to make installation easier but also to reduce mechanically induced noise. The speaker cable, on the other hand, uses LDPE.
The conductors are made of 99.999 percent oxygen-free copper. Most of the connectors are plated with 24-karat gold; for USB cables, QED uses nickel-plated connectors. The new design language is also set to be applied to the Reference and Signature series at a later date.
Everything Flows with X-Tube Plus
The most significant new product is the QED Performance Speaker Cable, featuring a conductor cross-section of 2.5 square millimeters. Its X-Tube Plus construction arranges multiple conductor bundles in a ring around a hollow LDPE core. In addition, the bundles are twisted together. QED aims to reduce the frequency-dependent influence of the skin and proximity effects and achieve the most uniform current distribution possible across the entire audio range.
The pre-assembled cables come with either Airloc banana plugs or cable lugs. In this process, the conductors and connectors are cold-welded under high pressure. This is intended to minimize contact resistance and prevent subsequent oxidation of the connection point. To complement the speaker cable, QED offers the new Performance Bi-wire Links for speaker terminals with separate connections for high and low frequencies.
No Signal
The analog performance audio RCA cable has also been technically redesigned. Its complementary conductor design combines two insulated solid-core conductors of different diameters. A foamed polyethylene dielectric is designed to keep capacitance low.
Beneath the TPE jacket is also an absorption layer containing 10 percent zinc-manganese ferrite. It is designed to attenuate high-frequency interference from routers, computers, and other digital devices. However, a listening test would be needed to determine whether—and to what extent—these design features are audible.
From RCA to USB-C
The digital component of the Performance Series has been significantly expanded. In addition to coaxial digital audio, optical Toslink, and Ethernet cables, QED now offers four USB models:
- USB-A to USB-B
- USB-A to USB-C
- USB-C to USB-C
- USB-C to USB-B
This allows you to connect traditional computers and older D/A converters as well as modern streamers, network players, and DACs with USB-C. According to the manufacturer, the USB cables have independent USB-IF certification.
QED is also redesigning its packaging and reducing the amount of plastic it contains in favor of recyclable paper-based materials. All models are expected to comply with European RoHS and REACH regulations.
Pricing and Availability
The new QED Performance Series is available through authorized retailers. In Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, IDC Klaassen International Distribution handles distribution. The suggested retail prices are:
- Performance Speaker Cable: 159 euros for 2 meters, 179 euros for 3 meters, and 239 euros for 5 meters
- Performance Bi-wire Cables: 129 euros for two sets, each 0.2 meters long
- Performance Audio: 69 to 119 euros
- Performance Subwoofer: 79 to 169 euros
- Performance J2J and J2P: 55 to 65 euros each
- Performance Digital Audio: 55 to 79 euros
- Performance Optical: 65 to 99 euros
- Performance Ethernet: 39 to 79 euros
- Performance USB A–B: 39 to 65 euros
- Performance USB A–C, C–C, and C–B: 39 to 55 euros each
