New Zu Mission cable

THolt I owe you an e-mail and will send it soon. I thought I'd share some findings and will be careful with what I write. I contributed to the last thread and I don't know if something I wrote may have caused the deletion.

I've got Zu WAX loudspeaker cables and wanted to try the Zu Mission loudspeaker cables due to the proclamation that they are more tonally balanced. I love the detail of the Zu WAX speaker cables but man the treble and higher frequencies hurt my ears even after a good amount of break-in. I may have other issues with my system but am trying to do a process of elimination.

I have not put the Mission Speaker cables in as they are being broken in a separate system I set up in my basement. I'm going to give them 200+ hours of break-in time 24/7. Since the Zu WAX SCs are broken in I wanted to even the playing field as much as I could so an even comparison could be made. In about 10 days or so I'll compare the 2 sets of speaker cables.

I got lucky with my Mission Speaker cable order. I called it in on 9/9 and paid via credit card. The Mission cables were @ my door in NY on 9/13/2010.

Physically the Mission speaker cables are thinner and a lot less rigid than Zu Wax cables. I was told by another helpful A'gon member that don't be fooled by how much smaller they are. They provide a large return performance/cost wise. I guess Yoda had it right "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?"

Last thing I noticed physically was that Zu used different 1/4" spades on the Mission SCs vs the WAX SCs I have. I kind of like the 1/4" spades on WAX line of cables better. They look more solid. I'm going to contact Zu later to find out what's up.

Take care everyone.

My turn to chime in.

After about a 300 hour constant burn-in period in a seperate system I installed the Zu Mission SCs in my main system. They replaced a Zu WAX SCs that I had purchased earlier in the summer.

I've been listening for a bit and I have noticed a I'm not nearly as much listening fatigue as I was getting with the Zu WAX SCs. The Mission speaker cables definitely present a smoother mid-range and treble than the WAX SCs. The treble on the Zu WAX was really kind of thick.

The bass response from the Mission SCs is on par with the WAX SCs. I'm also still getting the details in the music I listen to from the Mission SCs that I also had with the WAX SCs previously. I hadn't noticed a significant difference with noise between the 2 sets of cables.

Hi Johnnyb53

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to call Zu about the BoK power cords. They are on sale right now. I've never spent more than $50 on a power cord so I have to try to open my mind to bucking up for the Zu BoKs. Currently I'm using 10 AWG power cords from Atlona that I got from their closeout sale a year or so ago. I didn't think about the Mission PCs because I had the Atlona PCs on all my equipment and to replace all the Atlona PCs with Zu Mission PCs would have cost me more $ than what I had at the time.

Thanks again.

Vett93

Here is some the info from the insert that came with the Mission SCs I purchased not too long ago. They do not mention the capacitance level in pF/ft. You may have to contact Zu directly for that measurement.

Tesla/Litz 6/1 Cable Geometry
Pure Copper Stranded Conductors
Low Susceptibility to Electromagnetic interference
Conductor Area for + and - 0.00392"2 approx AWG #13 (2.52 MM2)

What speakers or amps are you thinking about using the Mission cables for?

I say give the Mission SCs or ICs a chance. I'm happy with the Mission SCs I have.

Hi Art

I know for me the Zu Mission and WAX speaker cables I had were the most expensive cables I've ever had. Before them I had Monoprice speaker wire, Belden 5000UE and very old Cobalt speaker cable. I didn't think it was a fair/worthwile comparison since many members here have much more pricey cable than what I have and would like Zu Audio's stuff compared to the bigger more expensive brands.

With Zu's current deals on the Mission cable line I'm beginning to wonder if I got a deal at all. I participated in the early promotion back in September and yes I have been enjoying the Mission SCs I purchased. I really felt though that I got a good deal all around since I thought I got the cables @ 50% off. Now it seems that with the promotional pricing being around for longer than the initial period and this 75% B-stock deal I got great sounding speaker cables with really no money savings. I guess that is what I get for being naive and falling for the marketing hype. Oh well I was fooled this time around. I do love the sound of the Mission SCs in my system but will take Zu's pricing with a grain of salt going fwd.

Salmonsc

What didn't impress you about the Mission ICs or SCs? Did you audition them and find the Mission line lacking? What were your issues with them? So far my only gripe is the pricing. The Mission line is still available for 65% off.

Tholt

I'm not sure exactly why Zu cxled the other product lines. Maybe to just to simplify things and focus more on the speaker line?

Nonoise

Looking fwd to your thoughts on the Mission SCs. I gave mine over 300 hours of break-in non-stop. I played different kinds of music each day with them.

Artmaltman

With Zu still offering the 65% off the Mission cable line I'd give them a shot. I confirmed with Zu if you buy the cables new and not B-stock the 60 day return policy applies. I paid $200 + shipping for my 3M Mission SCs. The exact same cables can be had now for approx $140 + shipping.

Thanks everyone and have a Happy New Year.

Curious_george

I'm beyond peeved. I sold my Zu Mission cables at a big loss becuase I couldn't stand Zu Audio's lies anymore. You should see what I wrote in my classified ad listings for them.

I may write to Zu Audio to voice my disgust with them but I highly doubt it will do anything.

I feel really bad for Zu Omen early promo participants. Zu Omen's are on the Zu Promo Ebay website as well. Some of the speakers have sold for less than $900.

My guess is that in order to fund their marketing they have to sell as much as they can to cover costs? Cool 'making of' videos cost money.

I'm done with Zu Audio.

Hi Glory

Yes this was a lesson learned the hard way. I've always bought used and wanted to buy new for a change. Never again. Although the Black Cat Morpheus Speaker Cable has made me curious about them I will proceed very carefully.

I'm done with Zu because I feel like I was lied and made a fool of regarding their early Mission cables promotion and will never trust them again. Yes part of the fault is mine as I was very stupid to believe they were a company that wouldn't pull bs they did and my excitement got the best of me. I believed in it and in Zu because their promo site was gone. Also I knew from before they would have promotions every now and then but they were never ongoing. Again lesson learned.

Thanks.