Straightwire vs Harmonic Tech & Acoustic Zen ?

I never used the Maestro but Serenade made a big improvement in my system and is very forgiving. The Straightwire Crescendo is not forgiving and sounded brittle until I upgraded my preamp; at that point it was great.

I have Harmonic Tech pro 11's (2 sets shot gunned) very nice imaging and detail, neutral wires. I also use Cardas Golden Cross pre to power and HT Pro Silway dac to pre.

I kept feeling things were a little harsh, then realized it was my preamp and not my cable, the upgrade there put everything in sonic nirvana - neutral, imaging well beyond and behind the speakers and great separation of instruments

I have tried out several different interconnects
Straight Wire Crecendo and Acoustic Zen wow and matrix reference. The wow is great for the price but not in the same league as the other two cables.

I would like to try Carda Golden Reference, but don't have a local dealer.

The Straightwire is very revealing and musical, and the sound has a lot of body to it. The Acoustic Zen Matrix is also very revealing. Both of them are a shade more revealing and musical than the Harmonic Tech, not slap you over the head differences but subtle and worthy of the upgrade. Haven't settled on final cable, but I'll keep my HT in the system, (probably dvd/dvd-a to pre)

if possible try these at home in your system

cables are very system dependant

the 803's are a revealing speaker and you won't want a cable that is too bright, the cardas, ht, sw and az all in general have a very nice neutral tonal quality.

tom