Rsbeck, ignoring the import of any capsaicin-bearing fruits and copper sulfate pentahydrate, or other such corrosives, I can see a few different issues in this discussion:
1. Improving over 'perfection'. This is rather unique to audiophilia. When I was a lad in 1967 I was positive that perfect sound was yielded by my father's Braun 30W RMS amp and bookshelf speakers of the same make. Since then I have owned several systems, each 'more perfect' than the preceeding one. So often flaws in sound can be discovered only in hindsight.
2. I have the impression that so many times the audible virtues of an interconnect or other component -- even when real -- exist for reasons other than those advertised by the manufacturer. This may be at times caused by simple marketing hype, or more often by the fact that even engineers may not yet fully understand the obscure physics behind their designs,
and may be masking their successful artistic achievements in technical sounding language. Doesn't this remind you of the alchemists of old?
3. I confess that, Given my limited information about the apparently small metallurgical and manufacturing differences between the Acoustic Zen Silver II and Absolute lines, I can not explain the 2.5X price difference. Robert Lee seemed to indicate that things such as sound stage should be consistent between the two lines, and the only perceivable difference is expected to be a subtle greater realism in the overall sound. If I have the opportunity of auditioning these two wires I might be able to decide for myself if the price difference is justified, in the meantime I can only thank TJ for sharing his personal insight and experience in the matter.
1. Improving over 'perfection'. This is rather unique to audiophilia. When I was a lad in 1967 I was positive that perfect sound was yielded by my father's Braun 30W RMS amp and bookshelf speakers of the same make. Since then I have owned several systems, each 'more perfect' than the preceeding one. So often flaws in sound can be discovered only in hindsight.
2. I have the impression that so many times the audible virtues of an interconnect or other component -- even when real -- exist for reasons other than those advertised by the manufacturer. This may be at times caused by simple marketing hype, or more often by the fact that even engineers may not yet fully understand the obscure physics behind their designs,
and may be masking their successful artistic achievements in technical sounding language. Doesn't this remind you of the alchemists of old?
3. I confess that, Given my limited information about the apparently small metallurgical and manufacturing differences between the Acoustic Zen Silver II and Absolute lines, I can not explain the 2.5X price difference. Robert Lee seemed to indicate that things such as sound stage should be consistent between the two lines, and the only perceivable difference is expected to be a subtle greater realism in the overall sound. If I have the opportunity of auditioning these two wires I might be able to decide for myself if the price difference is justified, in the meantime I can only thank TJ for sharing his personal insight and experience in the matter.