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A cable too perfect?

I recently acquired an Audionet AMP 1 v2 that only accepts RCA single ended connections. Since all my cabling was balanced, I had to start looking for replacements for my Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference II's. Of course I could just get an RCA pair of those, as I like the sound, but I thought I would take the opportunity to check out some other options. I also thought I would start on the lower end cost-wise. I had some old Audioquest RCA's laying around and used those to start. And I bought some low cost Acoustic Zen WOW's to tide me over. And then on to Stager Silver Solids, I like these, but I don't think I love them. I also bought some Neotech cable and connectors and I am working on building a set.

But then, my dream cables showed up at a significant bargain, Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper! I was quite excited to add these to my system, and they replaced the Stager silver cables. Well, to say the difference was striking is not sufficient. The level of clarity and detail is amazing, and the soundstage is excellent. At first I thought they were kind of bright, but that is not the case, I think it is just the extreme clarity. A friend came over and he did not think they were bright either.

So, the problem, I don't find them engaging. It is possible the sound is a bit on the lean side. Everything is there, but there does not be a sum to the parts that is the music, yet I think they are absolutely accurate. It is slightly better if I turn it up, but I don't tolerate higher volumes for long, and value a system that sounds good at lower volumes. I prefer a bit of warmth, although I like to term it as a "richer" sound. 

They have only been in place for a few days, so I will give them a bit more time. I know the answer, "try something else", but curious if others have run into such stark contrasts and is this what I can expect at the higher end of the cable world?

Suggestions for alternatives that might suit my needs are welcome, if you have actually tried them, and you believe that cables make a difference.

zlone
vthokie83
1,227 posts
 

lorde73

Sorry for the delayed post, I've been out of the country for the last month. I have rotated through a bunch of mid-priced cables, but will only talk about what I have now....the rest I gave to audiophile buddies.

I have (and rotate through) these are all factory cables: RAMM Audio Amadeus 5 MkII 13 awg OCC cable with gold plated high copper phosphorous plugs, Zavfino Majestic MkII 12 awg OCC with gold plated plugs, Zavfino Prima MkII 11 awg OCC copper with gold plated plugs, and AntiCables Level 3 8 awg UP-OFC with high copper gold plated plugs.

Additionally I have a huge collection of very high quality Japanese cables for DIY that have to be built (Furutech, Neotech, Oyaide, Acoustic Revive, SAEC, and Acrolink) and Euro RAMM. These will be terminated with Furutech, Oyaide, SonarQuest, Neotech, IeGO, and RAMM plugs.....this will keep me busy for at least a year.

The first power cables I built were: Furutech FP-S-55N 10 awg Nano Au/Ag Alpha OFC with Furutech FI-28 gold plated plugs, and Furutech FP-TCS31 12 awg PC-Triple C with the above Furutech plugs. Both were showing great promise, but not yet broken in; when I disassembled much of my system as I am having a listening room installed in my basement......can't have both at the same time.

I'll be doing more building speaker/interconnect/power cables as the year goes on......and should get around to testing and comparing by August/September??

 

vthokie83
1,227 posts
 

zlone

Thank you for the heads up, I'll have to add some Neotech rectangular cable to the collection.

jmpsmash's avatar
jmpsmash
13 posts
 

@zlone Are your NEMOI-3220 XLR or RCA? How are you terminating them? Esp interested for RCA.

 

zlone OP
1,364 posts
 

@jmpsmash They are terminated with locking Neotech RCA’s, which frankly aren’t the best at locking. They are not in the system right now, but I have been thinking of putting them back in. Breaking in some new speakers starting today, so no other changes for a while. 

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