Zavfino

@derekw_hawaii As opposed to the Silver Dart (by the way I really like Zavfino products) I highly recommend you take a look at the Vouge Audio power cord including their interconnects and speaker cables. Currently on sale and I have been extremely impressed with the products, fast turnaround time, and free shipping USPS. Very helpful if you have questions, open to emails or phone conversations. In my opinion a hidden treasure, I compare them to my Grand Lavricables 5N Silver cables.

https://www.vogueaudio.com/

@mclinnguy thank you for sharing. 

Quite a compelling narrative by mclinnguy. The silver dart would represent huge value if it delivers as described. Unfortunately, still too rich for my blood.

Anyone with listening experience care to opine on the less expensive Zafino PC offerings as compared to the silver dart PC. Hoping the law of diminishing returns  can yield an appreciable percentage of the silver dart SQ for a lesser price. Thanks on advance for any comparisons between the Zafino PC models.

@mclinnguy : Fabulous post! Thank you for sharing 

Thought I would chime in with my experiences regarding power cable upgrades.

I don't post here on Audiogon often, so I will add a bit more context. Going back several years I of course was one who was skeptical (to say the least) regarding high end cables. Over the years I have noticed having more education in science compared to the masses makes it even tougher to think outside the box and be a believer. Anyone else remember going back to your early 20's after a few years of university how much of a "know it all" we thought we were? I understand capacitance, inductance and resistance. If a scientific instrument cannot show the difference between cables, if we can't prove any sonic differences beyond a reasonable doubt knowing how emotions/bias/ monetary gain and pride can influence our decisions or claims then there must not be any. Sound familiar? Caught any ASR cult posts lately? These "do cables make a difference?" posts keep coming, and there is always a post from some electrical engineer (probably recent grad) giving his 2 cents worth.

Going back even further before forums or internet was even invented I was reading and touting Julian Hirsch's publications. I was a subscriber. I bought that Sony amp over the Creek because it measured better. Boy was I an idiot. I have since grown up :) I accept the fact that there is no instrument on this planet that can measure better than our ears. Even my ears which only go to 16khz. 

About 20 years ago I began to accept that not all copper is the same, and yes sound improvements can be had by changing cabling. That simple opening of the mind from "no I don't need to hear it, because I know it makes no difference" to "well ok, I'll give it a listen" is a huge step. Did alot of reading. Common sense says there is no way these hundreds of people are imaging things with their claims of improvement of sound with a simple cabling change- Are they all organized in some conspiracy? How could this many people be delusional? There must be something worth investigating. Even at this point I told myself that there is no way I would ever buy $1000 dollar cables; even if it made some little difference how can I justify spending this over just upgrading my amp instead? Or buy better speakers? I would just look into construction, and if they are all made the same then they must sound the same, right? Just buy the cheapest OCC cables you can with good quality connectors and replace the throw away cords. A few hundred bucks, okay, and hey, If some rich guy wanted $10,000 jewelry for this stereo that's fine. I mean how much better does a Rolex tell time compared to a Seiko? But if it looks nicer have at it- it's your money spend it any way you like. And so I read reviews of some budget friendly well-constructed cables: Audio Sensibility, and bought several Testament OCC XLR's, some Transparent IC's from Audiogon, and the last speaker cable I will ever need: Transparent Plus. I can't believe I spent over $500 on a demo set of speaker cables! But man those fat things sure looked nice ;) And yes they brought sonic benefits over what I was using before. Well a few years later, a little more knowledge, understanding, and cognizance and reading and I have since upgraded the Audio Sensibility testaments to Acoustic Zen silver reference XLR's and Absolute speaker cables. And yes, they make the DAC and amps sound so much better. 

But power cables? It makes no sense; there are hundreds of feet of 50 cent a foot romex to the stereo, how is it possible that last 3 feet would make a difference? I already have dedicated circuits and a hubbell outlet. Well with the Audio Sensibility Testament it did, but I will admit I don't recall it being huge, but a positive difference was noticed. Meh. Ordered a few more over the years. 

So, last year decided on a whim to try a "real" power cord. Again, how could @thyname ​​​​@lalitk and so many others be exaggerating these sonic improvements? I thought about Wireworld, Audio Sensibility's signature, Shunyata and after reading this thread Zavfino- Who the heck is Zavfino? 

Ordered a Silver Dart power cord- thought about the lower level offerings but go big or go home. Well holy shit- it wasn't a "I think it sounds a little better, but after burning in it should be better then I will re-evalute" it was absolutely and immediately a HUGE improvement: instruments immediately sound louder- check volume, yes it is the same- how? There is much more presence- detail easier to discern- separation between instruments- that grain you didn't know was there was gone. I believe it was more of a difference than my last amp change (from Mcintosh to Nord) How could this be? Unbelievable. I still don't know how 3 feet of "copper" makes such a profound difference, but it does. The Audio Sensibility Testament was a quality cord, with EMI/RF shielding, but sometimes in life you get what you pay for. 

It has been about 6 months, I have a new found priority regarding my power. I ordered 2 more Silver Darts, I replaced my previous power conditioner with a Puritan PSM 156 (another huge improvement; highly recommended) 

Just before writing this overdue impression of this exceptional Zavfino product I decided to put back in a Audio Sensibility Testament power cord between the Puritan and the high channel Apollon NCX500 (I use a Marchand active crossover to the Maggie 3.6's). The soundstage just collapsed- all instruments are harder to pick out- major sounds are less prominent- lower level sounds have much less detail- more grain. No double blind test needed here- It is so obvious! Again, I don't understand how music can sound so much better with a 3 foot power cord, but when listening to music with all these "fancy" cables I don't care about measurements that can't be done. I have no idea if this Silver Dart is the best power cord at it's price; maybe at some point I will try some other power cords but there are many other things I will do to my system first. 

Thanks @thyname for starting this thread. :) 

Worth a shot. Just need 100 hrs of burn in. You can always send them back. Enjoy!

Should I ditch the AQ Blizzard PCs for the Zafino Majestic MkII or Prima?

I recently got the Cryo Gold headshell wires from Zavfino and am very impressed with them. Nice and open. Better than the ones that come from AT

Hi @lak,  thanks for sending this.  I will check it out!   Cheers!

@xcool I think you would be very happy with one of the Audio Envy power cords, they sound good, are very lightweight, and are very flexible.

Hi @goodlistening64,  thanks a lot for the information.  Looks like the Majestic power cable is probably not going to work for me.  I have very limited space in the back of my cabinet.   Whereas the Fina might work, but I'm looking for a cable for my power amp, 14 AWG might not be ideal!

Thanks again for the reply.   It's very helpful!  

Cheers!

@xcool 

I have the Majestic MKII power cable on my SS amp and a Fina MKII power cable on my DAC. Very happy with both. 

The Majestic MKII needs at least 8 inches clearance (12 to be sure) and it does not bend easily beyond that. I had the Fina MKII special ordered at 1 meter because the excess cable did me no good on the Majestic. The Fina at 14 AWG is much more flexible than the Majestic but still needs 6 inches or so of clearance. I was apprehensive about the Prima cable because my gear is situated in a basement wall "cutout" and there is limited space behind in which to move and situate cables. If I had to do it over again, I would have purchased the Majestic at 1 meter as well as I had to finesse it a bit and it was just a bit too long, which leaves to you figure out what to do with the excess. The real issue is that your cables should not be resting on one another and separated as much as possible. Only buy the true length of cable that you really need. 

I had similar issue with Raymond not answering emails. If you want a custom length of cable, he has to put the SKU online so you can select the length on the drop down box when you order online. He answered my email quickly when I told him I was ready to buy and was waiting for the SKU to be put in place. A shorter length of cable will make the cable non-refundable, so ensure you have measured correctly. Raymond is not going to tell you that the cable you buy is going to fit, or not fit, in your space, and I don't blame him for that. So you really just need to measure twice and confirm you own requirements before purchasing. Ultimately, you need to trust yourself to get it right.

If one is not marked as "MK2", it is likely the original (MK1)

Just received my 2 pairs of Majestic phono cables today from Parts Connexion. They will go on a Frye Baby before listening. I’m a bit confused as only one pair is noted MK2. The earth cable is not the same color. Except that they look rather similar.
Do you think I should complain to the seller ? Anyone listened both versions ?

Hi, I’ve been following this thread for a while, and finally got a pair of Majestic MKII OCC tonearm cable (RCA to RCA) last week from Zavfino. It replaces my Zu Mission that I’ve had for a couple of years. So far, I’m really loving it. It beats the Zu Mission in every aspect that I care about: It sounds fuller, warmer, tighter bass, and better imaging. It is well worth their $320 asking price. Thanks @thyname for starting this thread.

So far I have about 30 hours on it, I can now say that my analog setup sounds better than my digital one. I also was confused about the direction of this cable. I finally heard back from Raymond at Zavfino after 2 emails that the Majestic tonearm cable is bi-directional, and he recommends 72 hours of burn in time.

I’m now tempted to try their power cables. I’m considering either the Majestic MKII or the Prima MK II. I remember reading a comment here that both of these cables are copper only, with Prima having better insulation. Would like to hear from anyone here who has tried both and how they compare to each other.

I also have a question about the length of the connectors. From looking at the pictures, the connectors look very long, and the cable itself looks very thick. Can anyone tell me how long is the connector section, and how much clearance do I need if I have to bend the cable from the back of my component to my power conditioner. My components are all stored in an audio cabinet and it is right against a back wall. I don’t have a lot of space back there, so I would like to know how many inches I need from the component socket before I can start bending the cable.

I did send 2 emails to Raymond with the same questions and haven’t heard back. I’m sure he’s probably swarmed with tons of emails everyday. Thanks in advance!

Still confused on this directional setup with what’s on the bananas for my Nova OCC cables…everything seems to be facing the same way. How about arrows next time :)

You'd think, if for nothing more than getting the best sound for the customer, Zavfino would include a very succinct and clear user flyer with each order. Would save them returns in the long run I'd imagine and most likely garner more positive reviews for them as well. 

Amen to all...mine installed per illustration from thyname OP...thanks again.Forever thats the way they will stay...for now lol.

I do have a frybaby ...i read about doing this and bemoaned it at first.I had a pair of Hollowgrams II i was using before my diy projects...said what the hell.They had been in my system for 15+ years i figure its due....it put some life back into them,clearer soundstage,bass was solid.They probably needed a little time to settle but... fwiw.

I agree @thyname. Including an instructional piece of paper or even uploading them on their website can easily eliminate the ambiguity surrounding the directionality of Zavfino cables. 

+1 I'm waiting on a reply from Ray and will pass that on.

I must admit, Zavfino should have been more clear on the directionality of the speaker cables. They just needed to include one such diagram in addition to the other glossy small colored inserts they already include with their package. How tough is that? The only reason I knew back then was because I asked (Raymond, the company’s US rep)

@thyname @lalitk @juanmanuelfangioii

The Nova’s are directional, and it matters...guess how I know?

Thanks to thyname, I realized my right speaker cable was reversed.

I just switched the direction.

The difference was obvious immediately. The right channel is louder now and not surprisingly, the sound stage/channel separation is much better.

I got the SCs in December so a couple months of use. I must have missed the instructional diagram. I’ve been fussing with speaker position and listening position but ultimately thought it was the room (open plan kitchen/dining/living room/office - width more than twice the depth) so normal for my environment, and by this time my brain had forgotten how system sounded with the previous cables (also directional but with helpful arrows).

If I didn’t hear this so clearly for myself I would have doubted the effect of directionality. My theory was that the directionality of speaker cables were really set during break-in and that arrows were there to keep things ’organized’.

But, Zavfino burns them in using high voltage so my guess is the current I’ve put through them so far is trumped by the factory burn in process.

Perhaps it will get even better with time?

Anyway, thanks for helping me solve a problem I did not know I had.

@lalitk...thanks to you as well.Appreciated!.I have some ic's that the maker says non-directional.I say they sound best a certain way to my ears/system.Done.

@lalitk  and  @thyname I stand corrected and guess what I had it set up correct from the jump. May flip them around and see it it makes a darn bit of difference though. 🤣😂🤣😁😉

@thyname...thx for this...lol 😂

Dear @thyname  : I  know Zavfino from several years now and before they made the cryogenic in its cables. I use the silver ones in the internal tonearm wires and performs excellent nad competes even against the Audio Note silver wires.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

Thanks @thyname 

juanmanuelfangioii

917 posts

02-28-2023 at 10:29pm 

None of the Zavfino speaker cables are directional. 

Incorrect. I had posted before in this thread the orientation of Zavfino speaker cables. What @lalitk described. Here it is again:

@juanmanuelfangioii

I was told by Zavfino that their speakers are directional. In the absence of directional arrows, use the brand name on shrink sleeves for your orientation. For example, if you are reading Zavfino, the O should be on amp end for left channel. For right channel, the brand name should read upside down (onifvaZ) with O on amp end. I have the instructions in PDF but don’t know how to upload a doc here. I will request OP to assist me with the upload.

Chin up .... 

None of the Zavfino speaker cables are directional. 

@sdl4 thanks for the clarification. It wasn’t clear to me.

@digsmithd glad it was helpful 

@treebeard1 ...Thankyou so much for your reply to thread.I think this is going to work and save my system from me using my diy cables lol.It has the definition and fullness that wasnt there so much.I will say that my diy replacement is the humble mogami 3104.This simple cable has some of the best lowend definition that compete’s with higher end cables imho.Now...the Zavfinos timber/build and highend is on another level of course...thx again for this.🎼

@treebeard1,  I wanted to clarify an issue with the wire gauge in the Cardas speaker cable you mentioned earlier when discussing the 9 AWG wire in the Zavfino Prima cables. The Cardas Clear Beyond uses 8 x 10.5 AWG wires, which means that the total wire thickness at each connector is 4 x 10.5 AWG in a stereo set-up. This corresponds to an effective wire gauge that is far thicker (between 4 and 5 AWG) than 9 AWG at each connector. The Cardas Clear Reflection uses even more copper, using 12 X 11.5 AWG for each cable or 6 X 11.5 per connector. 

Of course, there's a lot more going on in all these speaker cable designs than just wire gauge. 

Thx about to give it a shot...theres only 100’s of hours the other way 😂

@digsmithd Zavfino reads left to right coming out of amp. A small arrow on the cable would be nice but the Zavfino text works well if you remember when reconnecting.

Awg matters in my case...having stand mount the extra gauge brings nice fuller dynamics/bass.I do have a pair of these (prima mrk II) too and am wondering your directional feed to speakers.I was told ZAVFINO reads away from amp ( Z going towards speaker)...really love the sound stage/highend but lowend seems shy.Theres never been any clear statement in promo.

I purchased the Prima MKII SCs last August and wanted to share my thoughts.  I now have over 300 hours on them and can say with certainty this is one of the most cost-effective upgrades I have made.  Granted, I was coming from AQ CV-8 SCs, which were apparently a bottleneck because the Prima SCs were more noticeable than going from an A21 to an XA25 or PSA DSD Junior to a Bricasti M3.

The first thing I noticed was improved clarity and space.  More air, tighter bass and slightly better soundstage width and depth. They were also a tad louder than the AQ CV-8s, which I assume relates to less resistance, but not sure.  My wife commented that she could hear the additional clarity and tighter bass while she was upstairs watching TV.  I think if the wife can hear the difference from another floor in the house then there must really be a difference 🙂

I also want to share my audio philosophy and what drives me to buy certain pieces of kit.  Maybe it will ring true with others on the same journey. I generally look for something that makes sense to me technologically or is novel in approach and is backed up by online reviews. For example, the Cerious Technologies Graphene Extreme ICs were fairly novel. It made sense that graphene may lower resistance.  The David Berning ZOTL architecture, although not new, significantly extends the life of tubes.  And love it or hate it, the Tekton DI tweeter array really brought dynamics and life to the midrange.  It made sense to me that the smaller tweeters carrying midrange frequencies could be faster and more dynamic than larger midrange drivers.

With that said, what drove me to Zavfino was a comparison of their SC technology to other high end cable manufacturers. Litz cables are generally found in higher end cables and it makes sense that it would help isolate the signal to the strand it is traveling on.  Another manufacturer who touts litz construction is Cardas.  However, I’m not sure you can even get 9 gauge in Cardas.  Clear Beyond is listed at 10.5 gauge.  Morrow Audio also touts litz but you need to buy their top of the line Anniversary cables ($4,200) to get 8 gauge. And Morrow is supposed to be a budget manufacturer! I know gauge is not the whole story but there is a lot more to like about the Prima MKIIs, which contain design components advertised by manufacturers of much more expensive SCs.

Anyway, sorry if I rambled.  Basically, all this was to say why I like the Prima MKIIs and why I selected them.

@tksteingraber Hard to tell - the Fina PC replaced a Pangea 14SE MKII ($80) and I didn't a/b test them much mainly because my cabling is hard to get to. I also made a ton of other tweaks including some NOS tubes in my amp.

What I can say is that my digital front end is sounding really, really good nows and I'm very happy with the end result.

My first purchase was the speaker cables and Fusion interconnect - I'm not good a describing how things improved but they did - a lot, which is why I kept going.

I have no doubt their top end cables are great, but the low-mid tier is very reasonably priced and I think tough to beat in the price range.

@macg19 What kind of difference in SQ are you experiencing with the Fina PC on your DAC? How’s the rest of the loom sounding as well? Enjoy!

Zavfino everywhere now except sub-interconnects and PC for integrated tube amp, both from Raven Audio.

1. Fusion RCA interconnects (phono stage)
2. Nova speaker cables
3. Arcadia RCA interconnects (DAC)
4. Majestic USB (Streamer)
5. Fina MKII PC (DAC)

@jerryg123 

That’s great to hear. I stocked up on Majestic MK1 OCC as I found them to be much more flexible than the MKII version. And FINA MKII has the same flexibility as my MK1’s :-) 

@lalitk I have been quite impressed with them both and do not see myself making any further changes. 

The Majestic MKII OCC for one of my amplifiers.

Fina OCC MKII for my DAC.

I just ordered 2 pairs of Majestic phono cables for my mono cart. I didn’t want silver so I choose the highest non silver from Zavfino. Not received yet. 

@jerryg123

Any further impressions from the last Zavfino PC’s you added in your system? I am also breaking-in newest Fina OCC MKII. Will post in couple of weeks my thoughts.

thyname, I’m really liking the Zavfino Silver Dart OCC Graphene XLR Interconnect I picked up from you recently. Just spotted this thread and all the good conversations. Can only add at this point that to my ears these cables are an impressive value. Happy Listening!

It sounds you know exactly what you are doing. Enjoy the journey 

Thanks for the heads up. At this point If I change a DAC cable it will be to a LessLoss C-Mark and upgrading my 604X to a C Mark. 

Having a LessLoss DAC I am shooting for a lighter cable and having the 640X negates the need for graphene and a heavier gauge cable. 

@jerryg123 : eventually you will have to upgrade to Darts. Trust me on this. You can start with one power cord, at your DAC.

My last two Zsvfino power cables arrived today. 

The Majestic MKII OCC for one of my amplifiers.

Fina OCC MKII for my DAC.

Will leave them running while I am attending a conference next week. More details to come. I am now 80% Zavfino cabling in my main system. 

Build quality is exquisite.