Zavfino and Neotech OCC Interconnect

I wonder if DH labs or Cardas make a warmer cable than the Matrix Ref II?

I think you will like thr AZ Matrix Ref II. 
May be someone can chime in about Cardas…could be another option. 

I ended up not liking either. Synergistic research was just too bright in my system, and the audience was better, but still not better than what I had. I think I have found the weak link in my cable setup and it the RCA interconnect.

@audphile1 I am currently leaning towards trying out the Acoustic Zen MATRIX REFERENCE II as I hear that its a warmer sounding IC. Any other I should look into that are on the warm side?

@temmple TheMusicRoom has these 2 demo Neotech UP-OCC Silver Ribbons

https://tmraudio.com/fresh-arrivals/neotech-amazon-sp-speaker-cables-up-occ-silver-ribbon-2m-pair-banana/

https://tmraudio.com/fresh-arrivals/neotech-amazon-itr-rca-cables-up-occ-silver-ribbon-1-5m-pair-interconnects/

Hi @temmple,  While I use K-S Realization in my home system, I have found the Zafvino Arcadia interconnects an amazing value in my weekend home.  It is unfair to compare these two, just as it is unfair to compare the Zaffino's to many of these other expensive brands discussed.

For me, I want all copper cables in my resolving systems.  For the money, you can not go wrong with the Zafvino Arcadias.

@audio_is_subjective "Wow" are a bottom end model of IC's from Acoustic Zen; I think maybe he got them and Zavfino confused? I sure would get confused if I had been through that many cables too! 

There are many products on that list that many have settled on as their "end game" choices. I don't think even Jay from Audio Bacon would remember the differences between that many cables. And synergy considerations; you change one cable or component and you almost have to start over again with all the others. 

Having said that he is not the only one touting the Cerious Technologies products- the sale priced $500 Matrix might be comparable to $1000 IC's from the likes of Kubala etc.? maybe @bugredmachine could elaborate and provide a little more details about their sound? 

I own several sets of Zavfino Fusion (XLR) cables and they are excellent especially for the money!

I had Sonic Craft make me a 13' set of Neotech 3001 Mk. III single ended cables terminated with Cardas connectors and I think they give good performance for the money. They are neutral tonally, neither too bright nor rolled off. Another excellent bulk interconnect with similar, but slightly less energetic presentation is the Furutech FA-aS22 cable that VenHaus Audio sells. Chris can terminate cables for you with any of Furutech's connectors, depending on budget. Another cable with similar characteristics which has stood the test of time for me in numerous system applications is the Luminous Audio Synchestra. They aren't well known in the USA, most of his sales are in Japan. The owner will often offer you a better price than the listed retail on their website. The only caveat is that they are unshielded, a possible issue in some applications. I've never had an issue with them being unshielded, even with long 3 meter lengths. 

I have been impressed with the couple of SR Foundation power cables I have supplying power to my amplifiers 

Cool. Make sure you allow st least couple of hours for each cable set to settle before you listen critically.

@audphile1 Just an update. I have a pair of synergistic research foundation cables coming, as well as a demo audience ohno. Both speaker cables and interconnects. I will report back soon.

Zavfino Silver Dart ICs are tremendous ICs that I use in my reference system.  I have some of their lower tier speaker cables in my exercise room system.  They too are very strong performers.

I do very much agree about what might sound good in one system may not in the next. I also have no way of testing out lots of cables easily so getting input on what others liked is a start and I can narrow it down from there. 
 

I really appreciate all of the great input so far. Lots of really good options listed.

The bigger question is why would he make something like that up??

14 months is a lot of time if you do not work full time and if most cables are already broken in because they are used. 

@bugredmachine Wow eh? I only asked a question. Also a burn device does not expedite the burn process by by 100 fold unless you have 20 of them. 100 to 500 hours is just that. 

73 cables tested in 14 months. Wow just not buying your data one bit. 

@bugredmachine What IC in the $300-$400 new or used would you recommend?

Also what SC in the $600-$700 range new or used. I did go through a lot on your list but most were out of my budget. 

Used cables and Hagerman burn in device folks.

Keast is who bought or sold the cable. wow

@bugredmachine I was reading your extensive list and I am impressed in your research and the amount of cables used in 14 months. Really looking at this list you could not even approached the MFR break or burn in period for any of these cables. So I am not sure how you could make the determination you did. 

Also could not find this Zafino cable on their site Zavfino 2 mtr XLR's Keast.

Yes they were a step up in my system. 

@audphile1 I will reach out to him. To confirm you think the AZ options we talked about will be a step up from the Audience Ohno line?

@temmple contact member mlmusic. I’ve gotten all my AZ cables from him. He’ll hook you up. 

Here's an idea for a neutral cable at your price point:

Cardas Audio 1 meter Neutral Reference RCA... For Sale | Audiogon

The Cardas can a little laid back but will be very quiet.

I'll bet you could get a pair of the Cerious Matrix from Bob if you go to his ad and offer him $400.

$500 or higher gets you much better options. Sort by price and see what is available here like I just did.

@audphile1 Did a search for the AZ IC you mentioned but was not able to find a used 1M RCA variant. I might wait for a used one to come up as I am not in a huge hurry. Is the AZ Satori SC the only one I should keep an eye out for on the used market or are there others from AZ to check out in my price range? The one reason why I’m hesitant on buying used is there is a lot of Chinese knock off cables that look exactly like the real thing.

@bugredmachine That is a crazy list of cables you tried! My budget for IC is around $300 and SC is around $600-$700. Anything in that list fit those prices? I started to go through the list but thats a long one :)) What I am trying to find is a very neutral cable that does not sound shrill. A lot of cables impart some kind of character to the overall sound and trying to stay away from that. Really appreciate the list.

Zavfino’s are just not that good. 
 

Cerious is blowing out Matrix cables while they bring on the new Luminiscate line.  Grab a pair of those and try them for $500. 
 

I went through all these cables in the last 14 months and now use Clarus, Cerious, and Purist in combination for IC’s. 
 

Acoustic Zen Silver Ref IC
Stealth M5000 power cable
Purist Audio Proteus Rev B PC
Silversmith short Fideliums
Verastarr silver foil grand illusion PC from wig
Purist Proteus PC two cables
Transparent Ultra IC Gen 5
Verastarr 4 foot PC
Verastarr 5 foot PC
LessLoss C-MARC 20 amp
JPS ACX 2M power cable superdan138
Stealth Metacarbon RCA
Stealth Indra IC
Analysis Plus Oval 9 Spkr cables
Transparent Ultra 20 ft IC
Tara Labs The One PC second
Anticables long PC
Tara Labs The One PC first
Elrod EPS3 Sig 20 amp 1M woway
Kaplan  PC
JPS 38 in Aluminata IC
JPS 78 inch Aluminata PC
Jade Moontails
JPS 51 inch PC
Elrod EPS-3 8 feet, 20 amp
Silversmith long Fidelium SC
Transparent 5M Gen 5 PC
Masterbuilt Audio Std PC
JPS Aluminata 8 meter
Nagomi PC 1.5M 15a
Hijiri Million IC
Nagomi 20A 1M PC
Organic RCA ebay
Harmonix XDC10SM Studio Master 1M
Zavfino 2 mtr XLR's Keast
Harmonix X-DC Studio Master 330 1.5M
Purist Museaus Praesto Rev 5M XLR
Wywires Platinum 13ft PC
Kubala Elation half meter splitter
Kubala 1.5M Elation PC
Purist XLR Corvus 1M first
Purist XLR Corvus 1M second
Kubala Elations PC's
Clarus Aqua 8 ft SC
Clarus Crimson 24 foot XLR
Purist Venustas 4 Mtr XLR
Empirical Design 316 PC
Elrod EPS2
Elrod EPS-2 70 inches
Purist Venustas Tri wire SC
Harmonix XDC2 1.5M PC
Kubala Emotion from Australia
Kubala 3M Expression from Larry Cox
Kubala 3M Emotion from Larry Cox
Cardas 1.5 M Clear XLR from USAM  technut
Cardas 1.5 M Cygnus PC TMR
Cardas 2M Clear Beyond PC TMR
Cardas 1M Clear XLR Jan Andersen
BMI Whale Elite PC'sx2 brian fong
Cardas 3M Clear Beyond XL PC from Tony
Cardas One meter Clear Beyond XLR from Ron
Cardas 1pt5 mtr Clear PC from Gary
Cardas Clear 1 mtr PC from TMR
Clarus Crimson 1 mtr XLR from Khanh Ngo
Cerious Technologies Matrix XLR
Clarus Aqua 8 ft SC 
Cerious Technologies Matrix #2 xlr
Cerious Technologies Matrix 5 ft power cable
Cerious Technologies Matrix 6 foot speaker cables
BMI Whale Elite PC'sx2 Dana Daitre
NRG 4 meter PC USAM
Clarus Crimson 2 mtr XLR
Wireworld Silver Eclipse 8 XLR

@audphile1 I can not use spades as my speaker end only has bananas. Going to look further into DH Labs and the AZ product before I buy the Audience Ohno. Is there any other options in the AZ line that fits my budget that I should be looking at?

One thing I would note about Zavfino is they sell direct at low margins, so without the massive distributor/dealer mark-ups they do represent very good value for the money.

Like any brand they get better as you move up the line.

Their Fusion interconnects are much better than Arcadia (I use both but the Arcadia is in a CD player I rarely use)

The Nova speaker cables are very good for the money but I recently replaced them with Acoustic Zen Hologram II’s which I’m much happier with.

I ordered the AZ’s with spades (first time using spades) and connecting them was a bit of a challenge because these cables are really stiff, but I made it work, so all good but just be aware of that.

I’m also a fan of DH Labs, I have their ethernet cable and just ordered a USB cable to replace the Zavfino USB.

@temmple why can’t you use spades? You can have AZ Satori sp cables and Matrix Ref II interconnects used for under $1000. 

@temmple No, I made my own cable. My right speaker is 25' from my amp.

@audphile1 Thanks for all of your great input. Much appreciated.

Trying to stay under a 1k for speaker cables and one interconnect. 

OHNO is a good value for the money. It all comes down to how much you want to spend. 

I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but did look at the DH labs and didn’t think it would stack up as well against the Ohno. Pure assumption as I have heard neither. 

In the future keep your mind open to non-occ cables. There’s a lot of good stuff out there including the above posted dh labs

Ohno will be fine. 

Just found a pretty good deal on a used Ohno interconnect with cardas connectors so might just go that route and also get the Ohno III speaker cables. If the AZ had bananas I would have picked them up at that price. 

AZ Satori is a better cable than the OHNO. It will be fuller, more dynamic and have better extension. My choice would be the AZs. 

@audphile1 What would be warmer the AZ or the Ohno III speaker cable?

I agree with @audphile1 and I had the Arcadia in a system for a while but only on my analog side, worked well but did upgrade to Fusion XLR and DH Labs Air Matrix Cryo. Huge difference over the Arcadia. Have Zavfino Prima speaker cables, and a mish mosh of power cables from LessLoss, RSX Tech and Zavfino. Works for me. 

Kimber 4tc and 8tc are very well regarded. Cardas I have only tried higher end.
Here’s a crazy good speaker cable. I used these a while ago with B&W N803. Slightly on a warmer side but great especially for what it costs on a used market. Read reviews.
Acoustic Zen Satori

99.9999%-pure Zero Crystal copper. 

@audphile1 Thanks for the great info.

I had just started looking into the Audience OHNO III speaker cable after you mentioned the interconnect.That is pretty much at the top of my price point but has my attention for sure. Kimber, Cardas and DHlabs would be options for sure. Do you have a goto line from each of those companies or is the Audience the best value out of the four?

Ok so…I don’t have a preference for OCC cables. I’ve heard crappy OCC and great OFC and vice versa. I wouldn’t focus too much on that. To be honest, Zavfino Arcadia belongs to a category of crappy OCC cables. It’s cheap for a reason. 
Audience is much better. Go for the OHNO interconnects with matching speaker cables and Audience forte f3 power cords. Other cables I would recommend is Audioquest, Kimber, Cardas, Nordost, Acoustic Zen, DH Labs. Whatever’s in your budget on a used market would be the best value. TWL is another cable brand that  has good sounding cables at this price point. Again, OCC doesn’t mean the best sounding cables. 

@audphile1 Do you have a preference on OCC speaker cables? Was pretty set on the Arcadia or something from Kimber.

Zavfino Arcadia is an ok cable. Nothing to write home about. I would say it’s a little dull sounding. The Neotech is silver plated copper and sounds a bit more open. Between the two I’d say Neotech is a better choice but depends what connectors you have on it. Decent gold plated RCAs should be fine.

As an alternative, I would recommend Audience OHNO interconnects. I think they’re better balanced over all. 

@danmar123 thanks for the reply. Did you happen to try the Zavfino speaker cables as well?

I have the Zavfino Statements & VH Audio Pulsar Ag Digital or Analog Interconnects for my turntable & phono stage. When I was in the market for cables I tried (compared) the 2 said above, plus the NEI-3001. The NEI's went back, they just didn't JIVE as the others did with my setup. YMMV

From what I've read it's a fine cable (3001). I don't think you'll be disappointed in any of the said above cable your interested in. 

Just make sure you buy with a 30 day trial period. Enjoy your search!