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

Showing 1 response by plangco

The Satori Speaker cable have a more open natural revealing sound than the Oval 9, which sounds much smoother and warmer than the Satori, perhaps a little too smooth to me.

In my system (Almarro 318B amp, Zu Druid Speakers, Zen Wow interconnects), the Oval 9 smoothed the treble including cymbals and snare drum a little too much, yet added an appealing richness to the mids, although it seemed the oval 9 imbued the sound with a little too much richness of warm coloration to the point of blunting the music slightly.

Which is best depends of course on your listening room, other components, and preference in music.

I found the Oval 9 took a little too much sizzle and life out of the music, however, a friend of mine with brighter speakers than my Zu Druids, and a brighter listening room, and more revealing interconnects, prefers the Oval 9 and considers the Satori a little bright (I don't hear that at all in my system and I don't like silver cables or bright sound).

Suffice to say, the Satori are balanced and open and natural without being bright or harsh, convey a lot of information, and are a bit faster and more dynamic than the Oval 9 which color the music a bit on the warm side.

I notice a little more midbass with the Satori, yet the Oval 9 seem to be a little tighter in the bass have more deep sub base.

I am keeping the Satori and selling the oval 9. However, part of me wonders what would have happened if I had put in the more open (than Zen Wow) sounding Zen Matrix Reference interconnect cables (which sound beautiful), while using the Oval 9 to open the sound up a bit.

I am also wondering if I can change the net sound with a slightly warmer interconnect cable and if there is an interconnect cable that is slightly warmer than the nicely balanced Zen Wow to add just a little more richness to the Satori in my system without blunting the sound as much as the Oval 9 did.

So far, the Acoustic Zen Satori are the best speaker cables that I have heard (for my system of course). Yet I am open to suggestions about a different interconnect cable.