Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper vs. Cardas Clear interconnects

@pinwa You have a nice system and I bet those Maggie’s sing!

Thanks for sharing!

@pinwa 

Hey, another guy with Maggies, Acoustic Zen Absolute XLR's and speaker cables - I can relate 😉

Yes, we have to try ourselves as one person's dark is anothers bright- different amps, different speakers, different DAC's, rooms, and yes ears, but we are all on Audiogon forum here reading everyone elses impressions and opinions, right? I would rather read a few forum posters experiences than a "professional" review. 

@audphile1 found the AZ Absolute speaker cables too dark, yet I am trying a different power cable on my amp to get a little more darkness and warmth, as some tracks are a little too "high frequency tipped" based on my setup, and I'm hoping the Hurricane which is arriving tomorrow adds that and a little body to the mids- @audphile1 and @ghdprentice talked me into it- peer pressure!

@dbt I'm curious which AES cables you demoed against Acoustic Zen's? I didn't even consider Acoustic Zen for digital, and I just got an AES a while ago. 

@mclinnguy I conducted an AES digital cable shootout with the following;

1. Mogami W3080 AES/EBU - Too thin sounding.

2. Synergistic Research - Foundation SX AES/EBU - Too forward in the treble.

3. Snake River Audio - Boomslang AES/EBU - Too veiled compared to the other cables.

4. Analysis Plus - Digital Crystal AES/EBU - Best bang for the buck after breakin, but bass was not as clean and articulate as the Acoustic Zen Absolute 110.

5. Acoustic Zen - MC2=Zen AES/EBU - Bass was exaggerated and boomy.

This was my experience in my system. All cables were broken in except for the Analysis Plus because I purchased it brand new, however I broke it in at 300 hours before making my assessment.

@dbt Cool, thanks for sharing. The Boomslang was one I was considering trying. I assume you know about Audio Bacon's review?- he loved it- it was the BNC not AES, but should be similar findings. He did state something to the fact that is wasn't the most transparent though, some quotes below: 

"So the first thing I noticed about this cable was how natural voices and instruments were presented. It didn’t exude “atmosphere” or “clarity” but it sounded raw, accurate, and unadulterated. In fact, this is the rawest sounding cable I’ve heard so far. It’s a very good thing. It’s also the cable that has rid me of the notion of how silver is supposed to sound. Along with the WAVE Storm Reference, this is one of the warmest sounding BNC cables I’ve reviewed so far. Both of which are made with 5N silver..... 

• Although the tradeoff for a richer sound is a less present treble, this isn’t the case with the Boomslang. It’s still able to allow cymbals and strings to shine appropriately.
• It’s not as quiet, treble present, speedy, or as resolving of the lower level details – but from a musicality standpoint, I feel it provides enough of those qualities.
• Not the most outwardly “dimensional” and “outlined” sound. Some reverb, reflections, and decays aren’t made as apparent – but are still very audible."

Just goes to show one has to try themselves. I wish I could add something regarding a AZ cables comparison but just had some older Transparent speaker cables and XLR's before them.