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Review: Acoustic Zen Absolute Interconnect

Category: Cables

I was looking forward to audtioning Robert Lee's new highest reference Acoustic Zen interconnects & speaker wires which he calls the Absolute. They represent his latest thinking regarding the state of the art in his house of wires. About two years ago I had gone through a lengthy audtion process, which included five highly regarded sets of wires from well known companies, untill I decided to replace all my wires with AZ Silver reference II & Matrix reference II and Satori speaker wire. I'm a great fan of AZ for two major reasons;1) They offer great "bang for the buck" out standing performance for the cost ratio.2) They have,for me, a wonderful combination of tight/powerful bass,great details,transparency,dynamics,natural timbres, along with being musical and a smooth "sense" of ease. The process of audtioning the Absolute began with inserting a Absolute interconnect between my DAC and PRE-AMP along with putting the Absolute speaker wire in. Since I bi-amp there are four sets of interconnects so I put the Absolute interconnect at the front of the system. Well, it turned out to be a very gratifying experience! It not only tremendously improved the above stated virtues but added the following;1) A giant soundstage with excellent layering of players in a sense of real space.2)A sriking sense of air/three-dimensionality around everyone in the soundstage.3)Much improved/natural timbres.4)The new cables added that wonderful "organic/musicality" that I think we all strive for in our systems. It strongly reminded me of the experience I had when I audtioned my Pass Labs-350.5 to my then current amp an Edge NL-10. The Edge, which is still a great amp with many reference level characteristics, just kinda sounded sterile compared with the musicality of the 350.5. I know thats a very subjective way of explaining my experience, but its hard to use objective language at times to explain why a component just sounds more like the experience of real music. These wires are not inexpensive(2000.00 for the interconnects and 2800.00 for the speakers wires) but offer so much without any apparent shoutcomings that I think they are very fairly priced and compete with many reference level wires at a much lower price.So I think Mr. Lee has done it again, great sound at a reasonable price! As a final note I want to mention, even though we all know it all ready, that important factor of system matching and synergy long with your personnal taste make home audtioning a must for us serious audiophiles! I highly recommend you try these wires out if your a fan of AZ or looking to upgrade you wires in your sytem.

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teajay
rsbeck
887 posts
 
>>plus adding that sense of organic/musicality that gives a sense of ease
and flow that real music seems to have.<<

Okay, so if this is true, and if this cable indeed added that sense of organic/
musicality, it must not have been present in the original cable, right? Do you
suppose this is a problem with the rest of your components, or was this just a
problem with the previous cables? I'm also curious, how do you suppose the
new cable adds that sense of organic/musicality? Aren't you curious about
that? Didn't you ask the manufacturer?

>>but the new Absolute cables are just that much better.<<

This doesn't add up. For one to be "that much better," the other
has to be, "that much worse." What do you suppose was wrong
with the original cables, or why do you suppose your system was lacking this
quality without these new cables?
teajay OP
1,709 posts
 
Wow Rsbeck, it seems to me you want to pin me in an either/or position on the older AZ cables in comparsion with the new Absolute wires. Either there was something wrong with the previous AZ cables or the Absolute wires are qualitatively different. That type of logic excludes gradients and degrees of change or improvement. I prefer sometimes/and as a logical position. In this case the new Absolute cable takes the virtues of the older AZ to a higher degree and adds new wonderful characteristics to the sonics. So the older AZ cables did not have to be inferior for the new Absolute reference to sound better. Finally, I hope I'm not getting defensive but if you take a look at my total system it has pretty good pieces from the digital front end all the way through to the speakers. So I don't think there was anything lacking in the overall sound of my system,to be quite honest its one of the best home systems I have ever heard,but the Absolute brought the total sound to even a higher level.One last note,I am curious about what Mr.Lee did on the mechanical level to produce these new great cables,but first only care about finding out about their sound signiture to see if I like them and later on about inquiring about the specifics of the technology.
rsbeck
887 posts
 
>>if you take a look at my total system it has pretty good pieces from the
digital front end all the way through to the speakers.<<

Yes, I see that. This is why I am surprised to find that you needed new cables
in order to "add that sense of organic/musicality." Seems to me
that your system should have already had that. So, if the new cables were
needed in order to "add that sense of organic/musicality," it only
seems logical that -- if this is all true -- your old cables must have been
robbing your system of its inherent organic/musicality. If the new cable
makes the system "that much better," and if there is no problem
with the other components, the problem must have been with the old cable.

>>I am curious about what Mr.Lee did on the mechanical level to produce
these new great cables<<

What do you think he *could* do to make the original cables so much better?
You say you talk to Mr. Lee -- you never asked him what causes the new
cables to add that sense of organic/musicality the previous cables lacked?
teajay OP
1,709 posts
 
Rsbeck, I find it hard to believe,sharing this with respect to you, why you would find it so hard to accept that even if you have a system that already functions at a reference level of resolution that it can be brought to even a higher level with better cabling. We all know that cables are another important piece of equipment that allows a well put together system to really shine and move towards the reference of real music. You also are implying that the Absolute cables are another generation or upgrade of the original Silver&MatrixII reference cables. The Absolute is a totally new design, even though I'm pretty sure that Robert Lee took what he had learned designing the other series of cables as a launchpad for his new higher reference level design. If your really a good skeptic,and not just closed minded,don't take my word for how good the Absolute cable is, but audtion in your system and make up your own mind. I do believe that I stated in the review that with any cables a home audtion is one of few "MUSTS" in life.The last time I talked to Mr.Lee was only regarding when he was coming out with the Absolute wires,not technological explanations of the cables. I do know he would more than happy to discuss this with you if your that interested in those aspects regarding his new reference level cables.One more time improvement doesnot have to be an either/or but a refinement of what already is plus new attributes that take us closer to the reference of live music.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
TJ, good idea. I will call Robert early next week and will post my findings. Looking at the converse implications of rsbeck's observations, I find it rather wonderful and exciting how there seems to be no apparent limit on the amount of improvements and optimization we can make to the sound of our systems. Does this not make this hobby one of the most exciting? Perhaps this is the only field where such thing as 'better than perfect' truly perceivably exists!
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