QED XT25 Speaker Cable - Custom Length

QED XT25 Speaker Cable - Custom Length

 

 

The QED speaker cable story began in 1973, with the launch of the world’s first specialist speaker cables, QED 42 and 79 strand, now household names in the audio industry. Building on this longstanding British speaker cable heritage, QED embarked on an exhaustive research program into cable parameters which began in 1995 and continues into 2017 with the release of “The Sound of Science”, a 40 page White Paper distilling the research published since 1973 by QED.

These reports set out the “top down” design-principles that have resulted most recently in the development of QED XT25 loudspeaker cable – the new class leading standard in budget to mid-range speaker cables.

 

Features:

• Low Loss LDPE Dielectric
• 2.5mm² Oxygen Free Copper
• X-TUBE™ Technology
• QED AirLoc™ Forté Plugs

Award winning heritage guaranteed

All QED cables are designed using the top down principle. XT25 represents the core musical performance trickled down from our money-no-object Supremus cable in a more affordable package. QED has won more What Hi-fi? Awards than any other single brand and with XT25 this heritage is delivered at a sensible price. Unlike most other manufacturers, QED offer an unlimited lifetime guarantee which means that if your cable ever fails to deliver to its full potential during its lifetime we will replace it free of charge.

 

X-Tube™ Technology….but with a twist

In loudspeaker cables high pitched sounds are forced to travel towards the outside of the conductor and so are able to use less and less of the available cross-sectional area as the pitch increases. This is called the “Skin Effect”. It means that for high frequencies the resistance of the cable appears to be much higher than it does for lower pitched sounds. Eddy currents in one conductor can affect the current flowing in an adjacent conductor so that currents flowing in the same direction move away from each other. This “Proximity Effect” also increases resistance as frequency increases. These phenomena have a detrimental effect on the fidelity of the sound you hear. The XT25 variation of QED X-Tube™ Technology solves these problems by creating a hollow tubular conductor geometry out of individual conductor bunches through which each frequency can pass with equal ease when compared to traditional solid or stranded conductors.

 

Low-Loss Dielectric

Music signals in a loudspeaker cable move back and forth many times every second. The insulating material used to separate the send and return conductors from each other (the dielectric) has to be charged and discharged every time. Not all of the energy stored in the dielectric during each charge cycle is completely returned during each discharge cycle which has a detrimental effect on the fidelity of the sound you hear. That’s why at QED we use low-loss dielectric materials such as Polyethylene (PE) or Teflon™ (PTFE) in preference to cheaper PVC alternatives found in inferior unbranded cables.

 

99.999% Oxygen-Free Copper

Speaker cables need to have a large current carrying capacity. If the electrical resistance of the cable is too large, part of the music signal will be lost, causing a detrimental effect on the fidelity of the sound you hear. To stop this from happening we make the resistance of our speaker cables as small as possible. We do this by using the largest practical cross-sectional area of copper within the size constraints of each cable. In order to squeeze the last drop of performance from the conductors we make sure that there are no impurities in the copper which would defeat the object of making them so large. That’s why we use 99.999% oxygen-free copper exclusively.

 

Just Listen

Unique proprietary technology and trademarked geometries plus our award winning heritage all combine to create audible sonic improvements when compared to other loudspeaker cables.

 

"We know QED for sensational levels of clarity and detail, and, even at this lower price, it doesn’t disappoint. This kind of transparency is difficult for rivals to match."(Read More) "XT25's design is informed by the results of our exhaustive research into loudspeaker cable design which began in 1995 and is detailed in the recently released ‘Sound of Science."(Read More) Cable Review - What Hi-Fi Magazine - February 2018

“The XT25 offers a fine upgrade to basic loudspeaker cables - sounding more authoritative, detailed and open than its price would suggest. Slot this into a budget or mid priced system and the resultant improvement in quality cannot help but make you smile.At £70 for a terminated 3 metre pair they offer remarkable value for money. ” (Read More) Equipment Review - Hi-Fi World - February 2018

 

Specification:

• Please note, you need to enter a quantity of 2 for a pair
• Length : Custom
• Cross-sectional area: 2.5 mm2
• Outer Diamter 7.60 mm x 4 mm
• Wire gauge: 14 AWG
• Jacket outside diameter: 3.96 mm
• Loop inductance: 0.52 μH/m
• Loop resistance: 13.4 mΩ
• Capacitance: 35.0 pF/m
• Dissipation factor @ 10 kHz: 0.0001
• Conductors: 10 x 19/0.13 mm
• Insulation: LDPE jacket with 100% coverage of Aluminium Mylar tape wrap
• Plugs and spades: QED Airloc™ Forte banana plugs
• Lifetime Guarantee

 

Termination

This cable is custom-made according to customers specific requirements as selected by the various dropdown options above and is professionally terminated by Futureshop's expert engineers using QED's superb 24 Carat gold plated AIRLOC termination plugs.

AIRLOC is QED's specialised loudspeaker termination method and offers the very best termination with QED speaker cables. This is a solder-free, airtight fusion between the cable and plug offering optimum signal transfer, excellent signal quality and perfect long-term performance.

QED’s AIRLOC FORTE metal banana and spade plugs deliver a superior performance over many plugs offered by rival manufacturers for the following reasons. Firstly, the plug is crimped around the conductors under high pressure using a special tool supplied by QED. No soldering is used and as a result the conductors are in contact with the plug 360 degrees which maximises the surface area contact. Furthermore, the banana plug itself is in contact with the binding post again at 360 degrees. The net effect of this is it maximises the signal transfer from the plug into your equipment and hence a superior performance. When bare wire is used not all the conductors are in contact with the binding post and as a result some loss occurs.

Unfortunately the metal barrels for the AIRLOC spades were discontinued in 2012 however we still use genuine QED’s AIRLOC spade plugs with genuine QED heat shrinks over the spade plugs. This ensures every QED speaker cable comes fully terminated with the best of QED's engineering.

How to Order

From the dropdown menus' above, simply select the length of cable, the type of plugs required at the ‘Amplifier end’ and ‘Speaker end’, the amount of burn-in time required and click on the 'Add to Basket' button to add the item to your basket. Your cable will be dispatched as soon as it has been made by Future Shop's or the manufacturer’s engineers and has completed the specified burn-in process (if any), subject to Future Shop’s Terms & Conditions and stock availability. Please note, this cable is pre-bunrt in for 96 hours.

About QED Cables 

QED is an award winning British company with over 40 years of experience in the audio-visual connectivity industry.

In 1973 Bob Abraham and Ian Vine founded QED Audio Products and changed the way people think about hi-fi cables. By the time QED 79 strand speaker cable was launched in 1978, it wasn’t looked upon as ‘just another speaker cable’ but was instead regarded as a serious hi-fi component, making a fundamental change in the way people thought about cables.

QED's reputation for innovation and technical excellence is known throughout the world. The latest computer-aided design techniques allow their research and development team to keep pace with technological advances and deliver products that achieve the highest levels of performance and reliability. This is why QED products are recommended by so many of the world’s leading hi-fi and home theatre equipment manufacturers.

QED offer a range of connectivity products spanning from both consumer and installation cables, wireless products and switching devices to satisfy every audio visual need.

QED is Europe's number one award winning connectivity brand and has won more prestigious cable awards from ‘What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision’ magazine than any other brand (Awards 1981–2013).