A cable too perfect?

@sfpeloton  Thanks for helping me with my decision to purchase the Audionet Amp 1 v2! I am really enjoying it.

Good to hear, it is fantastic equipment.

@barrysandy I've used AZ Absolute copper cables for many years. They are somewhat warm sounding and quite engaging.  I just recently did a cable shootout with 4 sets of $4K cables and 2 sets of $9K cables.  Yes some of them were better than the AZs, but 1 only dramatically better across the board (an expensive one).

Your problem is somewhere else, but try:

Leaving them in awhile longer.

Yours is a common story with AZ, I and many others have found them to be special, and relatively cost effective within this hobby.

It is my plan to let them soak for longer.

@zlone "...Keep in mind that I have used several sets of interconnects with this system already, and there was no issue with leanness."

Had a full loom of "great" cables like this once. It did not start out this way, but seemed to become increasingly "less engaging" of a sound as I added more of the exact same type of cable throuhout the entire system. Tonal balance was lost.

Yes, letting the cables and dielectric relax and settle inside of each cable 200+ hours did help and sound did change some for the better, but that leanness you refer to was still kinda there. Did not really go away. It was simply not a great match for my amp and preamplifier at the time was the final conclusion. Took a while to admit this and back out of it all - to literally start over from scratch. Went back to a baseline. Others have suggested that familiar "baseline". Then I read the statement you posed above.

Sure, give it more time. If that does not work, go back to the entire set of those former/familiar cables and listen for 2 weeks. You’ll find your answer with no more advice from anyone here needed. Hopefully you kept a few of those old cables around to re-test.  Exactly the reason I don't immediately resell former cables. 

Sometimes pairing up an amplifier known for that added "clarity" and "detail" with a set of cables known for the same characteristics can give you exactly that as.a result. I’ve found some combinations of expensive cables can simply tilt too far in a direction you now hear as no longer being "engaging". This can happen.

@decooney

Kind of like salting potatoes: "more, that's better, yeah more, more- Woah, too much!"

System matching is critical.  I never had a cable mismatch wherein the sound was only acceptable at low volumes and not at high volumes.  Until 2023, I only used tube gear.  Now I have solid state amps and phono pre-amp.  

I can attest to the vast differences any one particular cable can make.  My friend and I both purchased Paradox Pulse SPDIF digital cables.  We both used Topping D70s DACs and similar high quality transports.  In his 1980s all tube system (Luxman C35 3 and RAM RM 9), his digital sound was lean and lacking in bass.  In my system, it has a rich, full bodied sound with big bass slam.  Detailed in both systems.  So, he then swapped in my GroverHuffman SPDIF cable.  In his system it restored all the bass and warmth.  In my system, it did the same but sounded smeared in that imaging was blurred at the speaker.  We both have VS speakers.  

It's a hassle, but cabling has to be heard in a system to determine one's sound preferences as well as coherence within the system.  

@mclinnguy decooney Kind of like salting potatoes: "more, that’s better, yeah more, more- Woah, too much!"

As simple as that explanation seems about "salt", I guess I never thought about it like that, spices and all - so true. Great analogy. I think @hilde45 likes to use the food analogy too quite a bit. Something we all can relate to every day we eat.

Same kind goes with lightly sugared cake maybe, it can be fantastic and delicate tasting with the right balance, not too much. It really does capture the idea of it all.