AudioQuest Pegasus XLR Cable, Balanced

The AudioQuest Pegasus XLR cable is a balanced line cable from the Mythical Creatures family that combines ZERO-Tech geometry with polypropylene air tubes and an active dual 72V DBS. It sits one tier above the Black Beauty and one below the ThunderBird – the class in which cables stop being an accessory.

Why the Pegasus XLR?

The construction follows the same idea as the Black Beauty, but is more consistent in three respects. First, the conductor no longer sits in foam but in polypropylene air tubes: the positive conductor barely touches solid material, the negative is deliberately insulated with some loss. Second, the drain wires of the carbon/graphene network carry six percent silver plating instead of half a percent, which measurably makes high-frequency dissipation more effective. Third comes the active dual 72V DBS, which the Black Beauty lacks: it keeps the dielectric permanently under DC voltage. The solid PSC+ conductors, the Level 6 noise dissipation, and the copper-plated, RF-draining connector sleeves remain.

What you get

A ready-to-connect stereo pair from 0.6 to 6 metres, symmetrically terminated on both ends, with the 72V DBS modules and silver contacts over red copper. Special lengths run through our supplier. You'll find the unbalanced version of the Pegasus among the RCA cables.

Who is the Pegasus XLR for – and who isn't it for?

Plain talk, because there's serious money involved here: a cable in this class only justifies itself once the source, preamp, and power amp are genuinely at reference level – on a solid mid-range system you'll barely hear the difference from the Black Beauty. And the balanced variant is only the right one when both devices are internally balanced. The gain increases with the length of the run and the interference load in the room; over forty centimetres between two devices in the same rack, though, it's modest, and the RCA version does just as well. Adapters from RCA to XLR don't create a balanced connection, they only create hope. For tonearm and phono runs, you're better off with a dedicated phono cable.

Our verdict

The Pegasus is the tier where AudioQuest's reference technology comes together completely: ZERO-Tech, air tubes, active DBS, serious noise dissipation. Anyone running an uncompromising balanced chain gets quiet and fine detail here that's no longer up for debate. Whether your system is ready for it, we'll tell you straight – HD Zürisee, Wädenswil: 044 680 22 00, WhatsApp 076 534 22 00 (text only, no calls), shop@hdzuerisee.ch.

Technical data

• Type: analogue line interconnect cable, balanced (XLR), stereo pair
• Series: Mythical Creatures
• Construction: ZERO-Tech (without characteristic impedance)
• Conductor: solid, PSC+ (Perfect-Surface Copper+), direction-oriented
• Dielectric: polypropylene air tubes
• Noise dissipation: Level 6, carbon/graphene mesh network, drain wires with 6% silver plating
• Dielectric-Bias System: dual 72V DBS (included on the XLR versions)
• Connector: XLR, silver over red copper, copper-plated RF-draining sleeves
• Lengths: 0.6 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 m
• Included: 1 stereo pair XLR cable with DBS packs, ready-made

Frequently asked questions

What's different between the Pegasus and the Black Beauty?
Three points: the Pegasus insulates with polypropylene air tubes instead of foamed polyethylene, its drain wires carry six percent silver instead of 0.5 percent, and it brings an active dual 72V DBS that the Black Beauty lacks. Conductor material and ZERO-Tech geometry are the same in both.

Does balanced still bring anything in this price class?
The physics stays the same: XLR suppresses interference that acts equally on both conductors, and that pays off over longer runs and in an electrically noisy environment. Short connections within the same rack barely benefit – there the RCA version is equally good.

Do I need to break in the Pegasus?
No. The Dielectric-Bias System keeps the insulating material permanently under DC voltage, so the cable already starts in a broken-in state. After a period in storage, you don't need to plan for any waiting time.

Pegasus or ThunderBird?
The ThunderBird uses FEP air tubes instead of polypropylene, making it AudioQuest's best copper cable of this construction. The difference is real, but subtle – it only pays off on chains where there's nothing else left to gain elsewhere.

Why buy the Pegasus from HD Zürisee?
Because with amounts of this magnitude, we first check whether the money is better invested in the cable or elsewhere in the chain. This honesty is our business model in Wädenswil – 044 680 22 00 or shop@hdzuerisee.ch.

Goes well with

A line cable connects source and amplifier. Take a look at the other XLR cables, compare with the unbalanced counterparts in the RCA cables, or discover the rest of the AudioQuest range.