Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper vs. Cardas Clear interconnects

@audphile1 I appreciate your impressions!  Sharing a comparison of several other cable brands and how the Absolute Copper interconnects sound in your system is good information.  

I am surprised the Absolute speaker cable was dark sounding in your system because it’s a hybrid cable and it seems like the silver would eliminate the dark sound?  Not so in your setup.  So, are you replacing the Acoustic Zen with Nordost Tyr 2 interconnects and speaker cables?  I will be trying the Absolute Copper interconnects at some point.

Thanks for your impressions and I hope you can get the new amp dialed in!

@mclinnguy LOL!!!  Did you really?

@pinwa What speakers, preamp and power amp do you have paired with the Acoustic Zen cables?

Also, my question is not about AES cables.  It’s seeking impressions from anyone with the Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper interconnects vs. Cardas Clear, and I’m open to any other cable comparisons with Acoustic Zen.  If anyone has Acoustic Zen speaker cables is icing on the cake.  I recently purchased the Absolute 110 Ohm AES/EBU digital cable, hence the reason I’m interested in Acoustic Zen’s interconnects and speaker cables.  Their digital cable made a nice improvement in my system.

Thank you!

@audphile1 I literally just realized that. That’s why I was confused. Lol….  I just deleted that post.  My mistake and thank you,

@decooney I couldn’t agree more, but it’s always fun to hear some insight from the community who may own the product of interest.  There have been times where there is the same theme going around about a product from hifi reviewers and actual owners.  That still doesn’t mean the product will be the same in your system, but a consistent positive or negative about a product could have some validity to it.  I experienced that with the AGD Productions class D amps.  Most reviewers and owners spoke highly of them with similar adjectives.  They are everything that I read about them!  

Thanks!

@audphile1 I am very familiar with the Cable Co. 5% loan program.  I have to demo it first because if I don’t like it, I’m out of $100 or so bucks vs. buying it used and trying to sell it. BUT, if I like it, I plan to buy it used.

Yes, please send me the contact information for your hifi dealer.

Thanks!

@pinwa You have a nice system and I bet those Maggie’s sing!

Thanks for sharing!

@mclinnguy I am familiar with Audio Bacon’s review.  I read several forum comments about the Boomslang and I figured I’d give it a shot.  Just didn’t work for me in my system.

@steakster After my experience with the lower tiered Acoustic Zen MC2=Zen vs. the higher tiered Absolute 110, I’m confident a higher tired Synergistic Research AES cable would be a much better performer over the Foundation SX.  I didn’t want to break the bank with an AES cable.  It’s hard to audition a bunch of cables and gear.  It takes time, energy and money.  I wanted to try the Jorma AES cable, but the Cable Co. does not have it in their library.  My audiophile buddy had the Acoustic Zen Absolute cable and said he misses that cable after selling it.  He has the big boy tiered Synergistic Research now, but he still had high remarks about the Acoustic Zen that I ended up buying.

@mclinnguy I conducted an AES digital cable shootout with the following;

1. Mogami W3080 AES/EBU - Too thin sounding.

2. Synergistic Research - Foundation SX AES/EBU - Too forward in the treble.

3. Snake River Audio - Boomslang AES/EBU - Too veiled compared to the other cables.

4. Analysis Plus - Digital Crystal AES/EBU - Best bang for the buck after breakin, but bass was not as clean and articulate as the Acoustic Zen Absolute 110.

5. Acoustic Zen - MC2=Zen AES/EBU - Bass was exaggerated and boomy.

This was my experience in my system. All cables were broken in except for the Analysis Plus because I purchased it brand new, however I broke it in at 300 hours before making my assessment.

UPDATE….  I got the Acoustic Zen Copper interconnects and they outperformed my Cardas Clear interconnects, so they are a new fixture in the chain.  Then, I got a pair of Acoustic Zen Absolute speaker cables on loan from The Cable Company earlier this week to conduct a shootout with my Cardas Clear speaker cables.  Thus far, The AZ Absolute speaker cables has an airy, full sounding midrange and bass! My Cardas Clear has a more accurate sound in the bass region and just cleaner throughout the frequencies ranges. Pianos sound better with the Cardas Clear. But the Cardas does seem to lack that rich midrange and air like the Absolute. I’m trying to decide which one I like the best because I love the sound of jazz cymbals and brushes on the snare drum with the Absolute, but I love the clean bass and realism of some instruments that Cardas provides. I need more time to listen to my music library because I like to narrow down a test playlist for auditioning my gear, so I can focus on the tunes over and over to hear the difference. For clarity, I’m using the AZ Copper interconnects in the speaker cable shootout because they definitely sound better than the Cardas Clear interconnects.  It’s hard to beat the airiness and beautiful midrange of the Absolutes, but I wish the bass was tighter like the Cardas Clear.  I’ll spend more time with them and make a decision.
 

To be continued…

@mclinnguy I’m not insulted at all with your suggestions.  Here’s a quick snapshot of what I’m dealing with, my speakers are dialed in to a tee.  I already had tight and accurate bass with the Cardas Clear, so the swap to the AZ Absolutes conveyed their sound signature to my system with meatier bass, at the cost of losing clean bass.  The bass sounds good, but some tunes don’t sound as good as the Cardas in the bass region.  I’m demoing cables to see if they make a difference and adjusting the speakers to make the AZ’s do what the Cardas is already doing isn’t something I want to do.  I’d be adjusting my speakers every time I swap a cable out.  I demo a lot of music with my Sennheiser HD800 headphones, so I take the room out of the situation with headphones and my HD800’s are truly accurate.  Some consider them too detailed, but you hear everything in the music, so I know what to listen for in my speaker setup.  The AZ Absolutes are more airy and the midrange is thick, so it sounds extremely good with the majority of my music, but it doesn’t give as good a rendition of a piano like the Cardas Clear.  The AZ Absolute make songs that sound a little thin sound very good!  I think I could live with the AZ Absolute cables!  I played with power cords and I clearly heard the difference, so I have Audioquest Thunder power cables for my mono blocks.  They were superb for the money.  In fact, all of my power cables are Audioquest.  Also, I’m good on room acoustics and this room is not the final resting place for my gear.  The room is wide with left corner several feet away and no right corner due the a open floor plan, 2-story room.  Speakers have plenty of room to breath.

@audphile1 You were correct about taking my time with the cables.  I let them settle in and it seems like the bass became tighter, but still not as clean as the Cardas.  I must say that the AZ Absolutes have been more enjoyable overall.  I haven’t had any tunes that I wanted to skip with them.  I can’t say that with Cardas.

Nick at TMR Audio encouraged me to check out Audience cables.  I was solid on my Cardas until I bought that AZ Absolute AES cable and that got my wheels turning!  I’m good with the AZ speaker cables.  My buddy is a dealer for Siltech and he wants me to try them.  I’m dealing with a static/popping issue out of my right channel, so I’m trying to sort that out with my amp and DAC manufacturers.? That’s the priority at the moment.

I’ll follow up with any updates.

Here’s a few test tunes for you all to try in your system;

1.  Till Brönner - A Thousand Kisses Deep

2.  Brian Bromberg - Solar

3.  Orrin Evans - The Elm

4.  Markusphilippe - Hey Joe

5.  Chick Corea Trio - All Blues from The Trilogy 2 album

6.  Ralph Towner & Paola Fresu - Blue in Green

7.  Sean Jones - Letter of Resignation 

8.  Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette - The Wrong Blues

9.  Bill Frisell - Pipe Down

10.  Bob James - Rocket Man

Thanks all!!!

Thanks @tomic601 

@audphile1 Concerning the intermittent pops and static, AGD Productions and MSB have been very responsive and AGD has a gameplan to troubleshoot the situation.  We’ll get it worked out.  Yes, the Till Brönner tune is nice!

@mclinnguy That playlist is not my top ten but they have been in my rotation lately.  I hope you are able to enjoy some of them on your system!  Ohhhh, the power cable adventure.  This hifi upgrading and swapping of this and that will never end if we keep reading and listening to reviews.  I love forums and reviews, but when I’m content with my system, I try to avoid a bunch of reviews because “sometimes” it makes my wheels start turning, “I wonder what that sounds like in my system?”  Audio Bacon mentioned how he loved the Synergistic Research power cable too, but I can’t remember the model?  I thought about pursuing a demo, but was content with my PC.  I’m good with the AQ power cables.  They are good for the money!