Iconoclast's XLR cable design takes the advantages of a star-quad cable to a new level: bare copper conductors suspended in four molded PTFE air tubes by Teflon-coated glass spacer thread, overlain with a PTFE separator layer and a dense bare copper braid, and jacketed in translucent PTFE. The signal conductors are available in three copper grades: TPC, OFE or UPOCC. In Generation 1 cables, these are solid 25 AWG copper; in Generation 2, a tiny X-shaped spline separates four 30 AWG copper wires, for a significant reduction in inductance at only slight cost in capacitance. Air is the best dielectric, but a conductor left in an air tube with no spacing separator will tend to press itself against the solid dielectric. To avoid this we use a unique round separator thread. If this were made purely in soft dielectric material, it would not be able to retain a rounded profile -- and hence minimal contact with the wire -- well through the cable; we have solved this problem by using a glass thread as the separator core, with PTFE extruded over it: a perfect combination of strength and dielectric quality. A star quad cable, favored for its high common mode noise rejection properties, requires four signal conductors; in conventional constructions these are individually insulated and cabled together. To allow the use of bare conductors, we mount each in its own air tube, helically winding all four tubes around a central spline; this prevents conductor-to-conductor contact, and the separation coupled with the primary use of air dielectric keeps capacitance much lower than in conventional star-quad designs. Over the spline and air tubes is a PTFE tube to separate the conductors from ground, and over that is a high-coverage TPC braid. This shield serves as a first defense against induced noise, and provides a low-resistance ground contact to help keep devices at the same ground potential. Atop the shield is a translucent PTFE jacket, color-coded by copper type: Red for TPC, Blue for OFE, and Green for UPOCC. One might expect an unusual cable to carry an unusual connector -- but nothing, in our judgment, really surpasses the familiar Neutrik BXX series of XLR connectors. Neutrik's unique ratcheting strain relief provides excellent protection from torsion at the cable-to-connector interface, and the mechanical construction is extremely solid. The Neutrik also provides ample room for the somewhat complicated end-prep which these cables require in order to prevent unwanted contact between the uninsulated conductors. Due to the limited flexibility of the cable, we try to orient these XLRs to fit your system; please fill out our XLR orientation form when ordering. All of the engineering work in support of these designs is laid out in a series of papers by Galen Gareis, available in our technical library: In particular, for these XLR designs, see the papers titled Time, RCA/XLR Design Brief, and 1x4 and 4x4 Design.