Acoustic Zen Satori VS Analysis Plus Oval 9

I found that the new Analysis Plus Oval 9 Black Mesh speaker cables on balance overall bested my Acoustic Zen Satori in my system. In the midrange, the Oval 9 sounded a little richer and warmer and slightly more natural and organic to me. Both have impressive bass, and I am not sure which win's out there.

As you all probably know, there is always a trade off. The Oval 9 lost just a little shimmer in the highs compared to the Satori which overall sounded slightly more alive. However, the Oval nine synergistically complemented my Zu Druid speakers (which needed a little more midrange warmth in my system) quit well.

The best cable of course, is the one that balances the sound in your system just right, and the Satori is still one of best cables around and may sound better in other systems. The Satori to me sounded a smidge warmer than the fast slightly hard sounding Anti-Cable and both the Oval 9 and Satori sound much more open than some lower rung MIT cable I once owned that seemed to deaden the sound.

A friend who also owns ultra expensive Transparent Ultra XL cables feels that the newer Oval 9 comes very close to sounding as good as them, and that the higher cost of the transparent, to him anyway, doesn't justify the slight increase in performance.

By the way, my friend with the Transparent Ultra XL cables said he thought they were ever so slightly warmer and more "Transparent" than the Analysis Plus Black Oval 9. To me, that is not necessarily a good thing for my system, as the Oval 9 cabes already seem to blend just right synergistically although I wouldn't know for sure if the Transparent cables would be better or worse for me until I hear them in my system.

For the record, it seems in general within a broad range of quality components, that the most important factor for me anyway to call a component 'better' is how a component sonically and synergistically balances out the net sound of my system - and the quality of the components itself is secondary. After all, lemonade that is sour (poor net sound), will still be sour even with the best lemons (best components).

However, having the proper sonic balance with a higher quality component is a wonderful thing. For this reason though, I am very wary when someone says something is better without qualilfying the components that it works with, or better yet, providing a comparison of how the sound of the component compared with others, and in what relative direction it moved the sound.

To qualify a prior statement, when I said the Oval 9 had slightly less shimmer than the Satori, I was not implying that the Oval nine lacked shimmer. They have plenty of that. The highs with the oval nine not only sounded open and nicely detailed to me, they seemed to cast an overall more natural sounding balance in the highs - which in my system which needed just a little more warmth, sounded more right to me than the Satori. I strongly suspect, that someone wanting a little more openness, detail and natural shimmer from a system whose net sound is a little too warm, may prefer the extra sparkle from the wonderful and warm sounding Acoustic Zen Satori speaker cables.

Also, when my friend with the Transparent Cables told me that he felt that were slightly warmer and more transparent yet than the Oval Nine, he meant "better" by a very small margin. He also has slightly bright speakers ("Onix Reference Floor Standers), so to him, naturally a little warmer means a little better. As mentioned, he felt that such a small improvement in sound did not justify the price difference between the Oval 9 and the Transparent.

Last commentary, these are Apple and Orange speaker cables. Both good, both bring a slightly different sonic pallet to the table.

I listened again to the AZ Satori and Analysis Plus Black Mesh Oval 9, and the Zen Satori seem to be a little more dynamic, with slightly more tonal information (Diana Kralls voice had a little etch, sounded a little more like her), particularly in the upper mids. The Oval 9 sounded like they are a little smoother and warmer, slightly blacker background, as mentioned, good shimmer, just a touch less than the Satori. The Satori, however, are also a warm speaker cable, just not quit as much as the Oval Nine.

Again, Apples and Oranges and I think the better is probably the one which balances the sound of your system best. If you think that you are slightly lean, the Oval 9 may be best, otherwise, for a little more sparkle while maintaining great warmth and perhaps slightly more tonal accuracy and information, the Satori may be better.