Acoustic Zen

My Satori Shotguns just came, can't really give a review on it. Before I bought the cables, I called to talk to Robert Lee, one of the nicest guys I ever talk to...if you have any questions he'll answer. It's surprising all the inside info that he tells you. He'll even let you do a 30 day in home trial with a money back gauranteed. I'll say at least give them a listen.

I've owned a pair of used AZ Satori shotguns (dual cables) bi-wired speaker cables for a couple of months about a year ago.

IMO, they were no better than Harmonic Technology's Pro 9 speaker cables. Robert Lee of AZ used to be Harmonic Tech's chief engineer before starting A. Zen. But the Satori's cost twice as much as the HT Pro 9's.

Both Harmonic Tech and Acoustic Zen utilize the same single crystal technology in there wiring (so I'm told).

I have not tried any AZ interconnects.

I use the satori speaker wire and the matrix[original] iC. They easily bettered red dawn[original] IM system[all solid state.] They seem to allow a fullness on notes on SS, but I haven't heard them on tubes. I believe they're worth the money and Robert Lee personally replied to my e-mail when I told him how I liked his cable. You could always pick up some used and resell them without taking a hit as they're very popular....good luck.

Pesonally I think the Zen wires are much better than Harmonic Tech. I have owned both full sets of both. The Satori speaker cable is far superior to Pro 9 in every way in my system, the new Hologram speaker cable is better than Satori. I like the power cords and interconnects too. I have tried a bunch of cables some costing 10x as much as Acoustic Zen and have not been able to find a cable that makes me happier. I have heard that the David Elrod cords do perform better than the Acoustic Zen power cords, but I have not tried them personally

In regards to seeing AZ cables selling for 1/2 retail, I have read on this site that there is an upgraded version of the Silver Reference interconnects, which would explain the good deals.

I cannot yet comment on the Acoustic Zen powercords, but I found that in my system, the Acoustic Zen interconnects and speaker cables were a better performer than my Harmonic Tech's. However, I think the HT's are really a great performer, expecially given its price -performance.

Several years ago, I went from mostly Audioquest and Synergistic Research cables: Diamond 3X, Sterling-Plus, Synergistc Designer Reference Power cords and Designer
Ref interconnects to all Harmonic Technology cables. I did this after extensive listening in my system using a friend's Harmonic Tech cables to compare to the AQ. The HT just worked better in my system contrasted to the AQ and Synergistics in most areas. (However, I do recall the AQ Sterling-Plus won in one area: they presented a warmer, sweeter midrange than the Pro-9's). I sold the AQ and went with all HT cables: Truthlinks were upgraded to Pro Silway II,then to the Magic. I used shotgun Pro9 speaker cables. I used these cables with an Audio Research VT100-MKII, LS25 all with NOS tubes, MG 1.6's, and B&W 805N/REL Stadium speaker combo.

Later, I had a chance to audition the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference interconnects and I thought the AZ's were quite a bit better than the Magic, especially in the air/ambience area, and presenting an improvement in soundstaging. Both the Magic and the Acoustic Zen had a great upper extension, but the AZ's upper range had a silky (almost wet sounding), airy quality that the Magic did not even hint at. (This characteristic may not be appealing to some.) I then tried the AZ Satori shotgun speaker cables which I thought bettered the shotgun HT Pro-9 cables by a good margin. Several aspects of the AZ Satori shotguns were immediately apparent: images were much more 3D, a larger soundstage, and the dynamics were quite a bit better.