Audioquest LeoPard Tonearm

Gold-plated Tonearm cable

LeoPard

Like the animal it is named for, LeoPard is agile, strong, and quick on its feet. Solid Perfect-Surface Silver Conductors, FEP Air-Tubes, Noise-Dissipation System (NDS) and the option for XLR terminations give LeoPard a significant leap in performance over Cougar. The combination of superior metals and insulation and the addition of NDS ensure low distortion, low signal-loss results. This means more of the music comes through they way it is meant to be heard.

SOLID 100% PERFECT-SURFACE SILVER CONDUCTORS (PSS): Perfect-Surface Technology applied to extreme-purity silver provides unprecedented clarity and dynamic contrast. Solid conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of cable distortion. Extremely high-purity Perfect-Surface Silver minimizes distortion caused by the grain boundaries that exist within any metal conductor, nearly eliminating harshness and greatly increasing clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other coppers.

FEP AIR-TUBE INSULATION (FEP is a Fluoro-Polymer): Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy (loss). Some of this energy is stored and then later released as distortion. All of LeoPard’s conductors use Air-Tube insulation because air absorbs next to no energy, and FEP is the best extrudable solid insulation and absorbs less energy than other materials. The FEP Air-Tubes used in LeoPard have almost nothing but air around the solid PSS conductors.

DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM (DBS, US Pat #s 7,126,055 & 7,872,195 B1): All insulation slows down the signal on the conductor inside. When insulation is unbiased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio. AudioQuest’s DBS creates a strong, stable electrostatic field which saturates and polarizes (organizes) the molecules of the insulation. This minimizes both energy storage in the insulation and the multiple nonlinear time-delays that occur. Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast. The DBS battery packs will last for years. A test button and LED allow for the occasional battery check.

CARBON-BASED 4-LAYER NOISE-DISSIPATION SYSTEM: 100% shield coverage is easy. Preventing captured RF Interference from modulating the equipment’s ground reference requires AQ’s Noise-Dissipation System. Metal and Carbon-Loaded synthetics prevent most RFI from reaching the equipment’s ground plane.

TERMINATION: This plug design enables a perfect heat-free connection between cable and plug. The connection between the plug and conductors is made using AQ’s Cold-Weld System, which provides a superior connection that ensures that the structural integrity of the conductor is kept completely intact.  The Cold-Weld System refers to a combination of high pressure at the point of contact and the use of copper- or silver-impregnated paste. (LeoPard’s silver conductors get silver paste.) XLR plugs are also available.