I have a difficult time believing expensive speaker cables really sound significantly better. I have read articles where they have said they are not worth the money, I feel money is better spent purchasing a better amplifier/receiver and speakers. I think speaker wire is nothing but smoke and mirrors. Besides, if you never heard the comparison between Tara Lab cables with a cost of $240 compared to cables selling for $1,000 to $5,000 you would never have to look back. Again, I would rather spend $3,000 to $5,000 more for better speakers. However, I would not waste my money on a pair of Bowers & Wilkins diamond series speakers. I thought my Paradigm's sound better. They are way over priced and there are far better choices available on the market.
My initial impressions of ZU Mission (MK1) speaker cables.
I decided to pluck down $85 (includes shipping) on a brand new set of ZU Audio Mission Mk 1 cables that ZU sells new on ebay. I have been thrilled with my Canare custom made STAR QUAD cables for the last 7 years or so. ZU Omen defs are what I listen to.
Of course my comparison is nothing near scientific or even legitimate to most. However, I'm going to tell you what I hear after only running the cables a few hours. No burn in
I decided to use my normal MONO material of Long, Long, Long from The Beatles mono White album CD. I replaced the right speaker with the new ZU and left the Canare on the left.
No major difference I could tell EXCEPT a slight more "smoothness" on the mid and upper frequencies on the ZU side (same impression with jazz/ambient recordings I listened to later). Not jaw dropping...just something I notice when concentrating on finding differences. The bass/low end is pretty much the same...maybe a smidge deeper or expanded (floabt) on the Zu's. Probably just me.
I switched the Zu to the left (and put canare on right) to see if the same impressions carried over. It did. Again nothing earth shattering.
I installed both ZU cables and let the system play rest of the day while I was out and about (12 or so hours). This morning, I fired the system up and played some familiar tracks. The soundstage does seem a smidge (very tiny) wider. Nothing where you walk in the room and say "you must have changed something in your system".
So my initial conclusion.....The ZU's are a winner. They sound great and "just as good" as the well broken in Canare out of the box. If the ZU's do not improve with more playing....I'm happy. The canare's are 10 ft and a bit long visually in my new room. Although I purchased 10 ft ZU's on ebay, they produced a 8ft version at my request. The space between amp and speakers looks more clean and less cluttered.
The Zu's visually look better constructed. The banana plugs are actually soldered in vs the screw in Nakamichi's on the Carare's which fell off at the slightest tug. I eventually removed them and used bare wire hook up.
As the cables get more time playing, I'll post back my impressions.
Of course my comparison is nothing near scientific or even legitimate to most. However, I'm going to tell you what I hear after only running the cables a few hours. No burn in
I decided to use my normal MONO material of Long, Long, Long from The Beatles mono White album CD. I replaced the right speaker with the new ZU and left the Canare on the left.
No major difference I could tell EXCEPT a slight more "smoothness" on the mid and upper frequencies on the ZU side (same impression with jazz/ambient recordings I listened to later). Not jaw dropping...just something I notice when concentrating on finding differences. The bass/low end is pretty much the same...maybe a smidge deeper or expanded (floabt) on the Zu's. Probably just me.
I switched the Zu to the left (and put canare on right) to see if the same impressions carried over. It did. Again nothing earth shattering.
I installed both ZU cables and let the system play rest of the day while I was out and about (12 or so hours). This morning, I fired the system up and played some familiar tracks. The soundstage does seem a smidge (very tiny) wider. Nothing where you walk in the room and say "you must have changed something in your system".
So my initial conclusion.....The ZU's are a winner. They sound great and "just as good" as the well broken in Canare out of the box. If the ZU's do not improve with more playing....I'm happy. The canare's are 10 ft and a bit long visually in my new room. Although I purchased 10 ft ZU's on ebay, they produced a 8ft version at my request. The space between amp and speakers looks more clean and less cluttered.
The Zu's visually look better constructed. The banana plugs are actually soldered in vs the screw in Nakamichi's on the Carare's which fell off at the slightest tug. I eventually removed them and used bare wire hook up.
As the cables get more time playing, I'll post back my impressions.