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Clear Day vs Acoustic Zen

As I mentioned in another thread, I am looking to make one or two upgrades to my system this year. Total budget is around $500 - 600. My current system is:
B&W CM10
Parasound A21
Cambridge Audio Azur 851D (preamp + DAC)
Cheap Audioquest wires (I think I paid around $50 for an 8 ft pair).

The two speaker cables that I've seen mentioned a lot here are Clear Day and Acoustic Zen Sartori. I almost pulled the plug on a pair of used AZ Sartori a week ago, but it was sold before I could make an offer.
There are other AZ Satoris on sale here at agon but they're all over 8 ft, which is not what I want.

However, I see that for the same $$$ for used AZs, I can get brand new Clear Day Double Shotguns.

Has anybody compared these two in their systems? Given that B&W is generally considered to be a tad bit on the bright side, I wonder if the silver in Clear Day might not be the best choice?
128x128arafiq
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,681 posts
 
@jmcgrogan2  - First of all thank you for the detailed response. This is very helpful. So as far as my speakers are concerned, I feel that they can be a little on the bright side on certain songs. Also, sometimes they sound a bit more on the 'thin' side than I'd like them to be. I understand that a lot of this has to do with the acoustic properties of my living room, but unfortunately, there's not much I can do about it. Wife shot down the idea of hanging treatments on walls.

If the Satoris are 'fuller, warmer, with bigger base', as you mentioned, then that's exactly the qualities I desire in my current setup. At some point, I'd like to introduce a tube pre-amp in the mix but that's probably not going to happen for at least a couple of years.

I'd keep my eyes open for pair of used AZ Satori (8 ft or less) at agon. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,816 posts
 
Some people feel all silver cables are good with tubed electronics, copper with solid state. But Cardas and Audioquest copper are used with ARC and other tubed amps at some dealers, so there are differences of opinion. Big surprise!
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Some people feel all silver cables are good with tubed electronics, copper with solid state. But Cardas and Audioquest copper are used with ARC and other tubed amps at some dealers, so there are differences of opinion. Big surprise!
 That is because some tube gear sounds warm, while other tube gear is revealing, just like SS. I own a ARC preamp and Pass Labs amps, and I would say that the SS amps are warmer sounding than the tube preamp.

@arafiq , you are welcome.
Look on other websites too. I see a 8 foot pair and a 6 foot pair of Satori for sale on US Audiomart. The prices are a bit high, but you may be able to talk them down. I believe the 6 foot pair is new, I think that is a dealer. I've seen him sell a LOT of AZ product.
Use HIFIShark when looking for a certain product. It's a search engine that searches through ALL of the marketplaces, not just Audiogon or Ebay.
Happy Hunting.
mcgal
199 posts
 
I admit to being an AZ fan. If my choice was between AZ Satori shotguns and AZ Hologram II single wire, I would go with the AZ Hologram IIs and use jumpers. They both cost about the same but for me the sound was much fuller with the Hologram IIs.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
@mcgal , The AZ Double Barrel is even more powerful and dynamic than the Hologram II.
However, that is not the point here. The OP is asking about the Satori,  not about the Satori Shotgun. 
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