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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
 
The chronology is this --

I asked you about the scientific breakthrough that could possibly make these
cables sound "that much better" than and "add that sense of
organic/musicality" where your previous AZ cables had failed.

You told me you had no idea and never even bothered to inquire.

Then, you invited me to call Mr. Lee to get the answer myself.

I went to the web-site and read the "technical papers."

I reported what I found. This was to explain why I will not be calling Mr. Lee.

Anecdotal cable testimonials are *not* facts.

Yours is a subjective testimonial and I guess the idea is that people can post
testimonials and no one is supposed to question them, but that hardly seems
like the proper use of a forum like this, IMO.

If I wrote in and said I put a set of coat hangers between my amplifiers and
speakers and it sounds better than Nordost Valhallas, I think someone would
question my review.

I questioned what your original cables lacked if new ones were needed to
"add that sense of organic/muscality."

Your answer wasn't exactly logical.

The technical papers were loaded with what Lrsky, a Lee fan, calls "
marketing hype."

I'm happy to use that term.

So, let's use Lrsky's non-vitriolic term and say I won't be calling Mr. Lee to
hear more of his "marketing hype."

Once again, I will attempt to leave this thread by saying forget everything else
-- I am happy these cables are giving you and others so much enjoyment.

I think we should just leave it at that.

Happy listening.

.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Rsbeck, ignoring the import of any capsaicin-bearing fruits and copper sulfate pentahydrate, or other such corrosives, I can see a few different issues in this discussion:
1. Improving over 'perfection'. This is rather unique to audiophilia. When I was a lad in 1967 I was positive that perfect sound was yielded by my father's Braun 30W RMS amp and bookshelf speakers of the same make. Since then I have owned several systems, each 'more perfect' than the preceeding one. So often flaws in sound can be discovered only in hindsight.
2. I have the impression that so many times the audible virtues of an interconnect or other component -- even when real -- exist for reasons other than those advertised by the manufacturer. This may be at times caused by simple marketing hype, or more often by the fact that even engineers may not yet fully understand the obscure physics behind their designs,
and may be masking their successful artistic achievements in technical sounding language. Doesn't this remind you of the alchemists of old?
3. I confess that, Given my limited information about the apparently small metallurgical and manufacturing differences between the Acoustic Zen Silver II and Absolute lines, I can not explain the 2.5X price difference. Robert Lee seemed to indicate that things such as sound stage should be consistent between the two lines, and the only perceivable difference is expected to be a subtle greater realism in the overall sound. If I have the opportunity of auditioning these two wires I might be able to decide for myself if the price difference is justified, in the meantime I can only thank TJ for sharing his personal insight and experience in the matter.
teajay OP
1,709 posts
 
Guidocorona,it was my pleasure to share my postive experience with the new AZ cables.Even though their more expensive than the Silver Reference II's they made enough of a sonic difference in my system that it would be hard to go back to my old reference point. I have another post called "the law of diminishing returns" that addresses the topic of what one spends to get real sonic improvements at higher costs for smaller incremenents of improvement.Still,the Absolute interconnect/speaker wire are giving me a higher level of listening pleasure on a daily basis,so the higher cost was worth it to me.I have tried much more expensive wires and did not enjoy them at all,so we all know more $ doesnot always mean better sound by any means.
rsbeck
887 posts
 
>>So often flaws in sound can be discovered only in hindsight.<<

I have no problem with this concept. I just find it curious when I see a cable
review where a cable is deemed to be "that much better" than a
previous one, yet the poster rises to the defense of his old cable and
professes that it is not inferior in any way to the new one. If one suspects, as
I do, that there is some magical thinking involved in some of these cable
testimonials, this is the type of thing that feeds this suspicion. Go to the
manufacturer's web site and find marketing hype in something that is
supposed to be a "technical paper" and now you've got a two
course meal.

>>I have the impression that so many times the audible virtues of an
interconnect or other component -- even when real -- exist for reasons other
than those advertised by the manufacturer.<<

Even when real? I gather you are saying that many times these "
virtues" are not "real."

>>even engineers may not yet fully understand the obscure physics behind
their designs,<<

Let's not forget the possibility of a placebo effect.

If you read Lee's "technical paper," he admits that the physics are not obscure
-- strip away the marketing hype and his cable designs are based on good
old inductance, capacitance, and resistance. Only problem -- he starts from
these facts, then goes on to the "marketing hype" and neglects to publish any
data or back-up. I question publishing such a thing and calling it a "technical
paper." Further, no cable designer would buy wire without knowing these
measurements, yet Lee provides no back up for his prospective customers.
He depends on a customer base that will not investigate and has no interest
in the science. Lo and behold, I ask one of his customers about the science
behind the cable and he admits he made no inquiry whatsoever.

>>Doesn't this remind you of the alchemists of old?<<

Yes. The alchemists claimed they could turn lead into gold. Cable
manufacturers claim they take a few dollars worth of material and turn it into
$2,500 speaker cables. Lee makes claims about his "metalurgy," but even he
doesn't have the cheek to actually suggest that he is doing metalurgy in his
plant. I would guess this is because they are really just cable assemblers.
They buy the wire from the small collection of companies that manufacture
this stuff, they put it together and wrap it in a sheath. Something has been
obscured, but it isn't physics.

>>I can only thank TJ for sharing his personal insight and experience in the
matter.<<

Me, too. He provided the basis for a lively discussion.

.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Rsbeck, I would say that yes, in at least some (or sadly many?) cases, the advertised virtues of some component or device may not be real. In this I am making no pre-judgement about the particular device discussed here. But when I go to a dealer, audition a system, swap in a vaunted component, with a pedigree a mile long, and start scratching my head in perplexity about unrealized expectations, most invariably the consultant states that: "this component is oh so good that I have to go through a long mental-breakin-period to 'learn' to like it, and eventually to adore and worship the very ground where it rests!"
Isn't this a failure of a marketing-induced 'placebo effect' of some sort? [chuckle]
For some reasons, cable manufacturers web sites are particularly prone to pyndaric flights of quasi-lyrical techno-fancy., AZ not being the most audacious of the lot by any stretch of the imagination. At least it does not make claims of proprietary metallurgic processes which fly against principles of basic physical chemistry, as I have very recently learned from at least one even more highly pedigreed brand. But that's for another topic, and perhaps for another thread.
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