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Acou Zen vs Anaysis Plus vs Cardas Clear Sp. Cable

My system is an Egglestonworks 7.1 with Andra lls up front which have Esotar tweeters and Dynaudio 12" woofers. May go with McIntosh amps to warm things up a bit. Using JPS PC and interconnects. My room is fully treated. I am using a Lexicon processor.

I want a speaker wire that will be very smooth with non-fatiguing highs with midrange that lets dialogue be clear and understandable at moderately low volumes. A nice big 3 dimensional soundstage for movies. These traits have been brought to my system by JPS Aluminata PC/interconnects and Super Conductor interconnects, but worried it may be too much of a good thing so want to go with a tad warmer and with a very smooth sounding speaker cable.

My speaker runs for the front 3 channels are long...10' to 24'. In the running: Cardas Clear Sky and Light, Purist Audio Genesis/Museous, Analysis Plus Oval 9, Oval 8 and Acoustic Zen Satori. Oval 8 seems to be getting out of my budget due to the long lengths. The speakers can not be biwired.

I am leaning towards the AP Oval 9 and the AZ Satori. Thoughts on how these two compare and which would be better for my system and goals would be appreciated. Alsofeel free to comment on any other of the speaker cable I have listed. Thanks.
gelaw
gelaw OP
28 posts
 
Thanks for the info Jkuc. Can I ask you did the AZ or the AP have smoother sound (especially treble)? Was one a bit warmer than the other? What speakers did you compare them on? I have sensitive hearing to treble so this becomes part of the equation. I like everything you said about the AZ, except when you say "extended highs"... As long as the highs are super smooth and maybe a touch warmer than neutral.
digitalaudio
22 posts
 
Before you kick sand at what I am going to suggest you might want to try it. I had more expensive speaker cabling which I replaced at the suggestion of someone who has been in the audio business for a few years. The cable I used to replace what I had is Acoustic Zen 4 x 12 in wall. I use two internal runs per post in a double shotgun for twin post connections. I find it to be as transparent as anything I have tried on up to 1k per 3m pair cables. For me simple, clean pure good grade copper seems to work better than fancy dielectrics and exotic coatings etc. Don't get me wrong I think cables make a huge difference, I was just shocked at how transparent sounding this very simpl AZ in wall cable is.
gelaw OP
28 posts
 
No sand kicking here. All advice is welcome.
jkuc
181 posts
 
AP Oval 9 and AZ Satori are different animals. I used both of them on JmLab Electra, fast, transparent speakers with slightly accentuated trebble. Satori is smooth, no problem at all. As I mentioned before AP is "heavy" sounding, not to much "air". AZ cable are known for strong bass as well but compared to AP, Satori sounds lighter, you can hear ambience of the venue much better, Satori is more refined as well. I would recommend AP Hologram II. You pay a bit more and you get more, Hologram has a tad stronger bass, sound is a bit more saturated, better fleshed out. Hologram is the best value of AZ cables in my opinion. No worries about treble.
gelaw OP
28 posts
 
Interesting response Jkuc. Is the AZ Hologram II difficult to work with? I have heard that the wire is very stiff and it's difficult to keep them tightly connected to the spades.

It seems by your post that the differences are not that subtle. Do you think these differences would mainly be detectable with 2 channel music listening or would they be equally apparent in a reference home theater?

I would think my Egglestonworks would benefit from the AZ's more full bodied and saturated sound. I understand that the AZ are smooth, but are they smoother/warmer sounding than the AP Oval 9?

From what I read, it appears that the AZ Satori and Hologram are closer in sound to the descriptions the AP Solo Crystal 8 or the Cardas Clear Light.
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