Is Acoustic Zen better than Harmonic Tech?

Tennispro

No one - not even Sim can tell you which will sound better in your system. Sim can only tell you whether or not they use HT in their engineering/evaluation processes.

Your room, quality of AC, speakers, & source will greatly influence which cable(s) sound best in your system ...No one here on Audiogon (or anywhere else for that matter) can give you the answer. You'll simply have to test to know for sure. The point with questioning Sim should help you to make your short list.

Tennispro- Mike is right that it is good to test them in your own system. If you aren't going to get both then I'd say get Acoustic Zen. I have owned the full Silversmith set that Mike thinks is better than both HT and AZ and I think the Silversmith stuff is horrible, terribly overpriced and extremely unbalanced sounding (in my system)

I went from mostly upper level Audioquest and Synergistic Research cables to all Harmonic Technology cables in a system with an Audio Research VT100-MKII, LS25 all with NOS tubes,Quad USA Monitors, and B&W Nautilus 805/REL Stadium speaker combo. With interconnects, I started with Truthlinks, then upgraded to Pro Silway II (I never liked the original Silways..too lean),then to the Magic interconnects. I used shotgun HT Pro9 speaker cables.
After a friend recommended Acoustic Zens, I decided to audition a Zen interconnect. Much to my "distress", the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference interconnects were significantly better than the Magic, especially in the air/ambience area, dynamics, and presenting a noticable improvement in soundstaging. Both the HT Magic and the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference had a great upper extension, but the Acoustic Zen's upper range had a silky (almost wet sounding), airy quality that the Magic could not even hint at. I then tried the A Zen speaker cables (Satori Shotguns) and they too were quite a bit better in my system than shotgun HT Pro 9 speaker cables, especially in soundstaging, extension, and dynamics.
Several qualities of the A Zen cables stood out for me: a silky/airy rendition of the top end, dynamics, and a great ability to place 3D images within a large soundstage. I believe the HT Magic and other HT cables are quite good, but in my system the Acoustic Zen cables simply perform on a higher level.

Thank you Dem. My equipment will be a little different but you have given me some much needed direction.

Anyone tried the HT Magic Reference?

I have and i find it superb. Sadly it is discontinued due to the cost of manufacturing these today, would mean a very high retail cost. I also wonder about IC's that would match this one. As AZ Absolute is all silver, does it not sound a bit lean in bass? Hybrid seems more likely to have the advantage of both worlds. But that is just a thought.