AudioQuest Yukon RCA to RCA Cable (Pair)Please Call or Email us to place your orders! AudioQuest Yukon RCA to RCA Cable (Pair) at Vinyl Sound Toronto Canada The Yukon is a solid conductor analog audio interconnect from AudioQuest (Roosendaal, Netherlands), available at Vinyl Sound in Toronto, Canada. Part of AudioQuest's Rivers Series and named after the Yukon River, which begins with British Columbia's Llewellyn Glacier and empties into Alaska's Bering Sea meaning "Big River" in Athabaskan

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AudioQuest Yukon RCA to RCA Cable (Pair) at Vinyl Sound Toronto Canada

The Yukon is a solid-conductor analog audio interconnect from AudioQuest (Roosendaal, Netherlands), available at Vinyl Sound in Toronto, Canada. Part of AudioQuest's Rivers Series and named after the Yukon River, which begins with British Columbia's Llewellyn Glacier and empties into Alaska's Bering Sea — meaning "Big River" in Athabaskan — the Yukon brings together AudioQuest's most advanced copper formulation, most refined insulation technology, and most effective noise-dissipation architecture below the Elements Series flagships. It is built with solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors, AudioQuest's highest-purity copper; Polyethylene Air-Tube insulation with near-zero energy absorption; a Carbon-Based 3-Layer Noise-Dissipation System with alternating metal and carbon-loaded layers; Triple-Balanced geometry with a dedicated ground-reference conductor; and Cold-Welded Hanging-Silver Directly Over Pure Purple Copper RCA plugs. Sold as a matched stereo pair for left and right channel connection. HiFi-Advice.com's reviewer found the Yukon "very open and airy," with sound that "really digs out the smallest details, without ever sounding harsh, and has excellent focus, speed and dynamics." The Audio Tailor praised its "instruments maintaining lifelike texture and tonal neutrality" with "vocals soaring with natural warmth" and "complex orchestral passages remaining free of congestion."

Perfect-Surface Copper+: AudioQuest's Highest-Purity Copper Conductor

PSC+ is AudioQuest's most refined copper conductor formulation, produced by applying the same Perfect-Surface Technology used in PSC to an even higher-purity copper source. The Perfect-Surface process begins with high-purity, low-oxide copper and maintains it in the softest, purest, and smoothest possible state at every stage of drawing and fabrication, using proprietary metal-processing technology to protect the conductor surface from degradation during production. The result is a conductor whose surface is astonishingly smooth at the microscopic grain level, with fewer grain boundaries per unit length than PSC and far fewer than OFHC, OCC, or 8N copper formulations. Every grain boundary in a conductor is an impedance discontinuity that the audio signal must cross, producing a small transient intermodulation distortion event each time. PSC+ minimizes these events more completely than any previous AudioQuest copper conductor, producing what AudioQuest describes as "a sound quality that is even more focused and simply less in the way." All Yukon conductors are solid rather than stranded, eliminating the electrical and magnetic strand-to-strand interaction that is the single largest source of distortion in conventional stranded cable construction. All conductors are direction-controlled, with AudioQuest determining the optimal signal-flow orientation for each batch of PSC+ by listening and marking accordingly.

Polyethylene Air-Tube Insulation: Near-Zero Energy Absorption

Every material physically in contact with a conductor becomes part of an imperfect circuit, absorbing a portion of the signal energy and releasing it back into the conductor at a slightly later time, creating phase distortion in the audio signal. AudioQuest addresses this with Polyethylene Air-Tube insulation on all Yukon conductors. Rather than a solid insulation extrusion, Air-Tube insulation wraps the conductor in a hollow polyethylene tube, placing air rather than solid material in direct contact with the conductor for the majority of the conductor's circumference. Air absorbs virtually no electrical energy. Polyethylene, where it does make contact, has inherently low-loss electrical properties and a benign distortion profile. The high air content of Air-Tube insulation produces dramatically less of the out-of-focus, smeared quality that standard solid insulation introduces, and provides superior geometry stabilization, maintaining a stable, consistent relationship between the conductors along the cable's full length to ensure consistent characteristic impedance from end to end. The Yukon uses Air-Tube insulation rather than the Foamed-PE (nitrogen-injected foam) found in lower-tier AudioQuest cables, making it a significant step up in insulation refinement within the Rivers Series.

Carbon-Based 3-Layer Noise-Dissipation System

Standard shielded cable designs accomplish 100% shield coverage but do not prevent the RF interference captured by that shield from reaching the equipment's ground reference. When a conventional shield absorbs RF energy and drains it to ground, the energy flows directly into the ground plane of the connected component, where it modulates the reference voltage and raises the noise floor of the audio signal. AudioQuest's Carbon-Based 3-Layer Noise-Dissipation System addresses this by structuring the shield as three alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetic material. The carbon-loaded layers absorb and reflect RF energy before it reaches the outermost metal layer that connects to the equipment's ground reference, effectively shielding the shield. The result is that most RF interference is dissipated within the carbon-metal stack rather than being conducted into the ground plane of the connected component. The Yukon's 3-Layer NDS is a step above the single-layer shielding of entry-level interconnects and below the 6-Layer NDS of the higher-tier Water interconnect, representing a meaningful advance in RF management at an accessible price point within the Rivers Series.

Triple-Balanced Geometry and Pure Purple Copper Plugs

The Yukon uses Triple-Balanced geometry, adding a dedicated ground-reference conductor to the positive and negative signal conductors so that the cable's shield is freed from double duty as both a signal return and an RF shield. In a standard two-conductor RCA cable, the outer shield carries both the return signal and the ground connection, and any noise it captures is conducted into the audio circuit. With the Yukon's dedicated ground-reference conductor, the shield performs only its RF shielding function, and both the positive and negative signal paths use equal-quality, solid PSC+ conductors with equally low distortion. The RCA plugs are cold-welded directly over Pure Purple Copper, a material AudioQuest specifies for its cleaner, clearer sonic character compared to the nickel-plated or OFHC metals used in most competitor plug designs. A layer of hanging silver is applied directly over the Purple Copper base, without any intermediate nickel underplate, maximizing conductivity at the contact surface. Cold-welding uses high mechanical pressure rather than heat, avoiding the metallurgical changes at the conductor-connector interface that solder introduces. The ground shells are stamped rather than machined so the metal can be selected for low-distortion electrical properties rather than machinability.

Key Features

• Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors: AudioQuest's highest-purity copper, produced from ultra-pure copper with Perfect-Surface processing at every fabrication stage. Solid construction eliminates strand-interaction distortion; PSC+ minimizes grain-boundary distortion beyond any prior AudioQuest copper formulation. Direction-controlled for optimal noise drainage.
• Polyethylene Air-Tube Insulation: Hollow polyethylene tube places air in direct contact with the conductor, minimizing insulation-induced energy absorption and phase distortion to a far greater extent than Foamed-PE or solid insulation. Provides superior geometry stabilization for consistent characteristic impedance along the full cable length.
• Carbon-Based 3-Layer Noise-Dissipation System (NDS): Three alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetics absorb and reflect RF interference before it can reach the ground-connected shield layer, preventing RF from modulating the equipment's ground reference and raising the audio circuit's noise floor.
• Triple-Balanced Geometry with Separate Ground-Reference Conductor: Three conductors ensure the shield performs only RF shielding, while both positive and negative signal paths use equal-quality PSC+ conductors with equally low-distortion conducting paths, whether terminated with RCA or XLR connectors.
• Cold-Welded Hanging-Silver Directly Over Pure Purple Copper RCA Plugs: Solder-free cold-welded connection. Silver plating applied directly over Pure Purple Copper base with no nickel intermediate layer. Ground shells stamped rather than machined for optimal metal selection. Purple Copper delivers lower distortion than OFHC or nickel-plated connector metals.
• Sold as a Matched Stereo Pair: Supplied as a matched left and right channel pair for stereo RCA interconnection.
• Rivers Series Position: The Yukon is the top model in the AudioQuest Rivers Series, positioned above the Sydney and Red River, and below the Elements Series Water interconnect.

Technical Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the AudioQuest Yukon RCA to RCA cable?

The AudioQuest Yukon is a solid PSC+ conductor analog audio interconnect from the Rivers Series, sold as a matched stereo pair. It uses Polyethylene Air-Tube insulation, a Carbon-Based 3-Layer Noise-Dissipation System, Triple-Balanced geometry with a dedicated ground-reference conductor, and Cold-Welded Hanging-Silver Directly Over Pure Purple Copper RCA plugs. It is the top model in AudioQuest's Rivers Series, above the Sydney and Red River, and is available at Vinyl Sound in Toronto, Canada.

How does the AudioQuest Yukon compare to the Red River or the Water interconnect?

The Yukon sits above the Red River and below the Water in AudioQuest's lineup. The Red River uses PSC conductors, Hard-Cell Foam insulation, and a triple-layer NDS, while the Yukon upgrades all three: PSC+ rather than PSC conductors, Polyethylene Air-Tube rather than Hard-Cell Foam insulation, and the same 3-Layer NDS but with the addition of hanging-silver over Purple Copper plugs rather than standard silver-plated connectors. The Water interconnect, the entry point into the Elements Series, further advances with a 6-Layer Carbon-Based NDS (double the Yukon's three layers) and hanging-silver over High-Purity Red Copper plugs. HiFi-Advice.com's reviewer, who compared all three, found the Water "clearly in another league" above the Yukon in terms of fullness and body, while the Yukon offered superior performance to the Red River in openness, detail retrieval, focus, and dynamic speed.

What is Polyethylene Air-Tube insulation and how does it differ from Foamed-PE?

Polyethylene Air-Tube insulation wraps each conductor in a hollow polyethylene tube, placing air directly around the conductor for the majority of its circumference rather than a solid or foam material. Foamed-PE, used in AudioQuest's lower-tier interconnects such as the Red River, is nitrogen-injected polyethylene with air pockets distributed throughout a solid foam structure. Air-Tube insulation achieves a higher air content than Foamed-PE because the tube is fundamentally hollow rather than foam-filled. Because air absorbs virtually no electrical energy from an adjacent conductor, Air-Tube insulation produces less insulation-induced energy storage and phase distortion than Foamed-PE, while also providing superior conductor geometry stabilization for consistent characteristic impedance along the cable's full length. The improvement in phase accuracy and reduced out-of-focus effect that Air-Tube insulation provides over Foamed-PE is one of the key advances the Yukon delivers over lower-tier Rivers Series cables.

What is Pure Purple Copper and why does AudioQuest use it for the RCA plugs?

Pure Purple Copper is a high-purity copper alloy that AudioQuest specifies for its plug bodies specifically for its low-distortion sonic properties. Most RCA plugs use OFHC copper or copper with a nickel underplate beneath the silver or gold contact plating. Nickel is a magnetic material that introduces electromagnetic interaction with the audio signal at the connector interface, producing a form of coloration that AudioQuest's listening tests identify as audible. By using Purple Copper as the base metal without any nickel intermediate layer, and applying hanging silver directly over the Purple Copper surface, AudioQuest produces a connector that contributes less sonic coloration than nickel-plated alternatives. The ground shells are stamped rather than machined so the metal selection can prioritize electrical and acoustic performance rather than the ease of metalworking.

What is the Carbon-Based 3-Layer Noise-Dissipation System?

The Carbon-Based 3-Layer NDS is AudioQuest's multi-stage RF shielding architecture used in the Yukon interconnect. Standard cable shields absorb RF interference and drain it to the equipment's ground connection, where it modulates the ground reference voltage and raises the audio noise floor. The 3-Layer NDS instead uses three alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetic material around the conductor bundle. When RF interference is induced into the cable, it encounters the first carbon-loaded layer, which absorbs and reflects a significant portion of the energy. What passes through encounters the next metallic layer, then the second carbon layer, and so on, progressively dissipating the RF energy within the shield stack before it reaches the outermost layer that connects to the equipment's ground. The result is that substantially less RF noise reaches the component's ground plane compared to conventional single-layer shielding.

Where can I buy the AudioQuest Yukon RCA to RCA cable in Toronto or Canada?

The AudioQuest Yukon RCA to RCA is available in Toronto, Canada at Vinyl Sound, an authorized AudioQuest dealer. You can purchase it in store or through the Vinyl Sound online store at vinylsound.ca, with shipping available across Canada. Custom lengths and XLR terminations are also available through Vinyl Sound as an authorized dealer, with cables made to order at AudioQuest's facility in Roosendaal, Netherlands.

Can the AudioQuest Yukon be used with a DAC, streamer, or phono preamplifier?

Yes. The Yukon is a line-level analog audio interconnect suitable for connecting any component with a line-level RCA output to an amplifier, preamplifier, or AV receiver with line-level RCA inputs. This includes DACs, network streamers, CD players, phono preamplifier outputs, AV receiver preamp outputs, and cassette decks or tuners. It is not intended for direct connection from a phono cartridge to an amplifier, as that requires a dedicated phono cable designed for the very low signal levels of a cartridge. The Yukon's Triple-Balanced geometry and PSC+ conductors make it particularly well suited to high-resolution sources including DACs and streaming components where the cable's low noise floor and accurate signal transmission are most apparent.