
QED’s Golden Anniversary XT Speaker Cable Featuring X-Tube Plus Technology Is $40: High-End Munich 2023
$40 per meter. You read it right. Not $400 and not $4,000. Don’t spend $4,000 a meter on speaker cables. Think about how many records or CDs this represents. QED has been my favorite cable brand for over a decade for the simple reason that it sounds great with just about every brand I’ve tried it with and it’s damn affordable. We use QED cables for almost every review, and while I still like a few other cables from Kimber and Analysis Plus, they are all very affordable to a high standard. The new QED Golden Anniversary XT speaker cables cost $40 per meter. Borsch!
British audio producer QED is celebrating its 50th anniversary in style with the introduction of its Golden Anniversary XT speaker cable. The Golden Anniversary XT speaker cable represents the culmination of five decades of focused and extensive research, engineering and audio engineering and is the perfect upgrade for any Hi-Fi enthusiast who wants to experience the sonic benefits of a high quality speaker cable, but at a real price.

Functions
- NEW X Pipe Plus technology combines X-Tube™ with Aircor to ensure uniform, consistent reproduction over the entire audible frequency range.
- Ohno ultra-pure continuous cast copper and 99.99% oxygen-free copper conductor help improve signal path and signal retention.
- Ultra-homogeneous, low-loss dielectric insulation improves efficiency and reduces signal loss.
- Airloc™ Forte banana connectors use a cold welded system to permanently attach to the cable to improve contact area and reduce drag.
50 years of innovation
QED has been designing and engineering best-in-class and award-winning analog and digital cables for five decades, and the Golden Anniversary XT is the latest showcase of the company’s expertise.
Quality Electronic Design (QED) was founded in 1973 by visionary hi-fi enthusiasts Bob Abraham and Ian Wein. The company is now credited as the original cable brand with the release of the QED 79 Strand cable, widely regarded as the world’s first “special” loudspeaker cable. This product demonstrated how cables can have a measurable impact on sound quality.
QED genesis report This was followed by the construction of the loudspeaker cable. This research established scientifically proven principles that are as relevant today as they were 28 years ago and underpin all QED cable designs, including the groundbreaking X-Tube™ technology, which ensures accurate and stable signal delivery across the entire frequency range.

X-Tube™ Plus technology
The innovative and proven QED X-Tube™ technology places the cable’s conductive material around a central hollow insulating rod, eliminating the “skin effect” that would otherwise push high-frequency analog music signals out the conductor. By combining X-Tube™ technology with the equally efficient Aircore™ technology, QED also reduces the “proximity effect” that can interfere with speaker cable current distribution. The result is X-Tube™ Plus: an innovative cable geometry that makes the Golden Anniversary XT a speaker cable with uniform and stable performance throughout the entire audible frequency range.
Also read: IsoAcoustics’ Aperta Sub XL Isolator Will Firm Up Your Bottom End: High-End Munich 2023
Ohno Ultrapure Copper Conductors Continuous Casting
The Golden Anniversary XT uses a unique hybrid blend of 99.99% Oxygen-Free Copper (‘OFC’) and Ohno Continuous Cast Ultra-Pure Copper (‘UP-OCC’) to provide an improved signal path and outstanding ultra-pure copper signal retention. conductors – but at a fraction of the price. Through class-leading research and development, the QED Golden Anniversary XT is the most affordable and affordable speaker cable to take advantage of the continuous casting process, with this hybrid theoretically improving the path for transients and high frequency parts not available with OFC alone. one.

Ultra-homogeneous, low-loss dielectric insulation
If a speaker cable is to reach its full potential, it is important that the dielectric material that insulates and protects the center conductors of the cable works effectively. The Golden Anniversary XT uses a specially formulated low density polyethylene (“LDPE”) that works in unison with the X-Tube Plus cable configuration to provide a speaker cable with high efficiency and barely measurable dissipation.
Banana corks Airloc Forte
Airloc™ is a specially designed cold welding system to permanently attach QED Forté banana plugs to the company’s entire line of speaker cables, including the Golden Anniversary XT. The most vulnerable area of a speaker cable circuit is the physical interface between the cable and the speaker or amplifier it is connected to. Without effective termination, oxidation can occur, degrading cable performance. With a cold-welded crimp ferrule, Forté Banana Plugs provide maximum oxidation resistance for the lifetime of the cable, effectively turning cable and plug into one single entity.
Price and availability
QED XT Golden Anniversary Available June 2023 at QED Retailers priced at: 27 pounds / 35 euros / 40 dollars per meter.
QED XT Golden Anniversary debuts at High End Show 2023 in Munich (18th– 21st. May) and will be on demo in room A (Atrium) 4.1, F110.
Find out more at www.qed.co.uk.
Data sheet
- Cross-sectional area 2.5mm2
- Wire Gauge 14 AUG
- Jacket outer diameter 11.5mm
- Loop inductance 0.58 µH/m
- Loop resistance 14.8 mΩ/m
- Capacity 42.0 pF/m
- Dissipation factor at 10 kHz 0.009
- conductors 9 x 19/0.13 mm OFC + 1 x 19/0.13 UP-OPCC
- Insulation LDPE sheath with 100% gold/mylar tape
- Forks and shovels Banana corks QED Airloc™ Forte