Acousti Zen cables...

Sorry Gunbei, you never know what will come out of my mouth, sometimes I babble incoherently :)

Of course (like some of us) I had limited experience with the AZ cables. I listened in 3 different systems. I would still recommend them but I think the Audience AU24 IC is a steal and offers terrific detail and a musical quality I like very much. I think the Hologram is very good, a better deal than the AZ ICs I had in my system. It had a terrific golden glow in the midrange that my current cables (JM Reynaud HP216A) do not quite match. The JMR (bi wire vs Hologram single run) is quite a bit more extended and defined and detailed and has more of a neutral quality. Neutral is in the eyes of the beholder and somtimes is subtractive IMO, not always good. I am babbling again...

I would like to compare the Audience AU24 speaker wire (single run w/jumpers) to the JMR as I have heard it is slightly better than the JMR wire with the Trentes I currently own.

Kevziek, I just thought I always heard bass information as if it were a bump in the frequency response where with the Audience IC I hear the bass come and go and the midrange is more often presented as the focus of the music. Maybe it is my personal bias and I did own a Plinius SA100 MKIII when I had the AZ cables. It is well known for superior bass performance.

I do want to go on record that all my comments are just with limited experience but the best personal record I have.

Phil, I just pulled the trigger on two pairs of AU24 interconnects, so I'll have a chance to compare them head-to-head with the AZ Silver Ref II and Matrix Ref II they will replace. So far, using the Silver Ref II in combination with and upstream of the Matrix Ref II has worked very well for me. It'll be interesting to hear the differences.

I am interested too Gunbei.
I found the AU24 more forward and detailed than Mat Ref MKII in my system. It has a real see into, holographic type quality. Along with the before mentioned bass differences. As with the Hologram speaker wire I found the Mat Ref to have a nice golden quality in the mids. I never owned the Silver Reference MKII but my friend did and he found it compared with the AU24 in overall detail and tone, slightly preferring the AU24 in the end, which as we all know, could go either way with yours or anyone elses system.

BTW David D,

In the AZ line, I ended up thinking that the best deal was a Mat Ref MKI IC that offered much of the performance of the MKII at WOW type prices, which are usually about $150, with quite a step up from the WOW, much closer to the performance of the Mat Ref MKII. Ask if the Mat Ref MKI looks similar to the MKII, if it does it is the latest version of the MKI and better yet. The older Mat Ref had quite a different look without the same locking WBT RCA ends.

I hope this helps...

When comparing Au24 to Silver Ref II, both balanced, as Phil alluded to above, I found them quite comparable, the Au24 allowing better separation; I kept the Au24 and sold the AZ...Both fine cables.

Thank You very much guys!