AudioQuest Chicago Stereo RCA-RCA Cable - 5m (16 ft 5 in) Pair

AudioQuest Chicago — Stereo RCA-to-RCA Analogue Interconnect

The Chicago is the entry-level member of AudioQuest's Rivers series of analogue interconnects — a fundamentally different cable format from the Bridges & Falls series (Tower, Evergreen, Golden Gate, Big Sur) that sits below it in the catalogue. Where every Bridges & Falls cable combines both left and right channels into a single jacket with close-set plugs at each end, Chicago consists of two physically separate cables — one for each channel. This is the defining structural characteristic of the entire Rivers series and one of the most practically significant upgrades available in AudioQuest's interconnect range. The Chicago is named after the tradition of dyeing the Chicago River emerald green every year on Saint Patrick's Day, reflected in the cable's green-and-black colour scheme.

Why Two Separate Cables Matter

The single-jacket design used in Bridges & Falls is compact, flexible, and cost-effective, but it constrains how the cable can be used. Because both channels share one jacket, the RCA plugs at each end are necessarily close together — within a few centimetres of each other. This works well when the left and right input or output sockets on your equipment are adjacent, but becomes a problem when they are not. Many integrated amplifiers, AV receivers, and preamplifiers space their RCA sockets further apart than a single-jacket cable can comfortably reach, and some separate components (such as monoblock amplifiers or split-chassis preamplifiers) require cables to be routed to entirely different locations.

Chicago's two-cable format solves this immediately. Each cable routes independently to its respective socket, with no constraint on the distance between the left and right connections. This also eliminates any potential for inter-channel crosstalk within the jacket — the left and right signal paths are physically separated along their entire length, each with their own shield and geometry. For stereo systems where component positioning, socket spacing, or routing constraints make a single-jacket cable impractical, the separate-cable format is not merely a convenience but a practical requirement.

Hard-Cell Foam Insulation

The Chicago introduces a different insulation material from the Foamed-PE used throughout the Bridges & Falls series. Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam shares the same air-content principle — nitrogen is injected during manufacture to create air pockets within the insulation, and because nitrogen (like air) absorbs virtually no energy, the dielectric absorption that causes timing distortion and dynamic smearing is minimised. The difference lies in the stiffness of the material. Where Foamed-PE is deliberately flexible for ease of handling, Hard-Cell Foam is rigid enough to lock the cable's conductors into a stable geometric relationship along the cable's full length. This produces a consistent impedance character from plug to plug — important for maintaining signal integrity, particularly in longer runs or applications where the cable may be routed through bends. AudioQuest uses Hard-Cell Foam extensively in their digital and video cables, where impedance consistency is critical, and the Chicago is one of the few analogue interconnects to benefit from this construction.

Double-Balanced Geometry

Chicago uses Double-Balanced geometry — two separate, dedicated audio conductors housed within the cable's shield. This prevents the shield from being pressed into service as an inferior audio conductor, which is a common compromise in simpler cable designs where the shield doubles as the ground/return path. In Chicago's Double-Balanced construction, the shield serves only as a shield: it intercepts RF interference and is grounded at one end only, reducing the system ground-plane modulation that occurs when a two-way-grounded shield drains captured noise into the equipment's ground reference at both termination points.

The Rivers series models above the Chicago — Red River, Mackenzie, and Yukon — upgrade to Triple-Balanced geometry, which adds a third dedicated conductor to serve as a separate ground reference. This means the shield is relieved of all audio duties entirely, and whether the cable is terminated with RCA or XLR plugs, the positive and negative signal paths have equally superior conducting paths. Chicago's Double-Balanced design is the foundation on which this approach builds, and it already represents a meaningful improvement over single-conductor-plus-shield designs.

Conductor and Termination

Chicago uses solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) conductors — the same conductor grade found in the Bridges & Falls Tower and Evergreen models, but in a separate-cable format with Hard-Cell Foam insulation. LGC has fewer oxides, fewer impurities, and fewer grain boundaries per unit length than standard OFHC (Oxygen-Free High-Conductivity) copper, which is an industrial specification concerned with signal loss rather than distortion character. As solid conductors, they eliminate the strand-interaction distortion that occurs in stranded cables when individual wires make and break electrical and magnetic contact with each other — a source of harshness and graininess that is independent of conductor purity.

The RCA terminations are cold-welded and gold-plated, with stamped ground shells chosen for their low-distortion metal properties rather than machinability. Cold welding uses several tonnes of pressure to bond the conductor to the plug without introducing solder — a dissimilar, lower-conductivity metal — at the junction point. The Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation System (NDS) intercepts captured radio-frequency interference before it can reach the equipment's ground plane, and all internal conductors are direction-controlled, with arrows on the plugs indicating the correct signal flow from source to input. Chicago is available only with RCA terminations — XLR balanced connections begin at the Red River, one tier up.

Chicago vs Big Sur: Bridges & Falls Flagship or Rivers Entry

The Chicago and the Big Sur occupy a fascinating crossover point in AudioQuest's range. Big Sur is the flagship of the Bridges & Falls series, with the highest-grade conductor (PSC+) and the best termination material (Pure Purple Copper) available in a single-jacket cable. Chicago, by contrast, uses the entry-level LGC conductor with standard gold-plated plugs — but in the separate-cable Rivers format with Hard-Cell Foam insulation. The choice between them depends on which set of advantages matters more to your system: Big Sur offers superior conductor purity and termination quality in a single-jacket format with close-set plugs; Chicago offers the separate-cable flexibility, Hard-Cell Foam impedance consistency, and independent left/right shielding of the Rivers construction, at a more accessible conductor level. For systems where socket spacing or routing demands separate cables, Chicago is the practical choice regardless of conductor grade. For systems where a single-jacket cable fits comfortably, Big Sur's PSC+ conductor and Purple Copper plugs offer a higher level of signal purity.

Moving up from the Chicago within the Rivers series, the Red River upgrades to Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC) conductors and Triple-Balanced geometry, and adds XLR balanced termination as an option. The Mackenzie steps up again to PSC+ conductors with a carbon-based 3-layer noise-dissipation system and hanging-silver over Pure Purple Copper terminations. Available lengths for the Chicago RCA-to-RCA: 0.5m, 1m, 1.5m, and 2m. Custom lengths are available made to order through AudioQuest. A Black/Green braided jacket is standard; longer custom lengths may use a CL3/FT4-rated PVC jacket for in-wall installation.

Specifications