I have owned HT PS II in the past and it was a great silver cable in its day, but for me AZ Silver Ref is superior in all respects. It costs much more but worth it if you seek highest level of sound reproduction.
Overall the AZ SR is just as detailed but is more natural sounding with bigger 3D soundstage. The HT PS II does have more treble energy if you seek a slightly brighter sound. |
Since this post is in a little bit of disagreement with the above, it shows that system synergy plays a big part in the overall sound.
I have used the HT Prosilway II, the Zen Silver Reference II and their Matrix Reference II. These are my conclusions:
The overall sound of the HT Prosilway is excellent. I found it to be slightly less bright than the Zen SRII. Soundstaging was about the same and the Zen presented a little more detail (however, since they are brighter, this may not really be the case.) Overall, I prefered the HT cable especially after factoring in the price difference.
The Matrix Reference II was a bit behind the two cables above in most respects. Although, these had a bit of brightness, it was certainly not as tranparent as the more expensive Zen. It did not throw as big a soundstage.
In conclusion, I will vote for the HT Prosilway II as the overall winner factoring in all attributes including the price. All of these cables are excellent but Zen is not a bargain in the context of Harmonic Technologies cables. HT has introduced the Prosilway III at about a $100 price increase. I have not auditioned this cable.
Since the same designer created both cables(Harmonic and Zen), I'm sure they had to find a way to have these cables sound different.
They were used in a system that includes a Audible Illusions L-1, Theta Dreadnaught(4-ch), Vandersteen 3A Signatures and a pair of 2wq subs and a Meridian 508-24 CD player. This system is biwired and biamped using Zen Satori speaker cables. |
Bigtee, you must be the only audiophile ever, who thinks the Pro Silway II is better than the Matrix II. No way! The Matrix eats it alive. Does it make any sense that a designer such as Robert Lee with his obvious talents in design and listening would start his own company and then design a cable that doesn't even sound as good as his older design? I owned Pro Silway IIs, and they were brighter, thinner, less coherent, and generally inferior to the Matrix.
As far as the Silver Zen, I suggest people read the many comments on that cable in the forums here. Most people comment, as I would, that there is no brightness, just the highest of resolution. |
Although I haven't heard any of the AZ IC's, I'll second Bigtee on the HT PS II (however - also like him - I do own and like the AZ Satori). Compared to my Cardas Cross IC, I think full and natural-sounding bass is one of the PS II's strong points, and it is also less bright. Which is a roundabout way of saying I also second him on the system-dependency question. |
Saxo, you must be the only audiophile ever who knows the absolute truth.
Folks, you need look no further. |
Drubin, what a clever and intelligent comment. Perhaps you should win an award. |
thanks everyone for all your information,this gave me
a good idea the sonic of both brand, Sorry also for
putting this on the amp and preamp forum. |
A little more description of differences in my system. When I had the HT PS II a couple years ago I thought it was great IC no need to spend silly money to improve, got used pair of AZ Silver Ref here (after reading all the rave reviews)thinking there wouldn't be much diff and I could resell easy enough.
First listen it was easy to hear a very noticeable positive difference, the soundstage was 10-25% bigger and I was getting all the detail like before but the overall sound was much more relaxed natural......I was hooked and sold my HT PS II.
As I said before overall tonally the HT PS II has more treble energy (but not more detail) therefore could be useful in system that tends to be too warm/rich.
As far as bass I really didn't notice a big difference between the two cables......for me both are very good in this area. |
Just a technical note, Jayctoy mentions he has HT PS cable.
This was original HT design and quickly replaced by HT PS II which is noticeable improvement......I have only owned the HT PS II. |
Saxo---To each his own! All I can report is what I heard in my system in my room. I would have kept the Matrix if I really thought it was better but that is not the case. I had ALL of the cables on hand for direct comparisons. I did like the Silver Reference but as I noted, factoring in the cost, the HT PSII was a better performer. On an absolute basis, the AZ Silver could be said to be more open but not $600 worth of more open. It also, as I said, had a tinge of brightness. I think this is why when Stereophile reviewed them, the reviewer suggested not to use them in a system that was a little on the bright side already. You know it is really hard to make a Vandersteen sound bright so it had to have gone that way somewhat. But, as I said, it is all really system dependent. If that wasn't the case, we would all be using the same cables. One things for sure, not many people on this sight agree on much of anything! |
Jayctoy, the only way to get more bass is to get less treble. Let's be clear about that. That means you want an interconnect with a rolled top end, like a lot of cheaper ones. I use a Harm Tech Truthlink on my MD100 tuner PRECISELY because it softens the upper octave FM birdies and thereby adjusts the spectral tilt for a less lean sound from this leannish tuner. Voila, more "perceived" bass.
ICs are passive devices...wires. They can't amplify anything...especially bass..........I used the Pro Silway II and Red Dawn XLRs fairly interchangably. Both were quite resolving yet not absolutely smooth up top. I then preferred the warmer, more forgiving Discovery Essence, but after a CDP mod, can now use the outstanding SPM for an incredibly resolving, clean presentation. It's all about resolution, top octave rolloff and perhaps a few dips and bumps along the way. I would expect the AZ stuff to be slightly more resolving and cleaner up top than the older designs, and in some systems maybe sound "brighter", which may or not be desired. Everybody has their favorite spectral tilt, defined mainly by transducer choice (esp speakers in a room), and synergized by CDP and amp choices, with ICs forming a quite minor frosting of the cake. Don't get too caught up in it.... |
Subaruguru, one IC can roll off the bass more than another, too... |
Subaruguru your explanation made me forget about this
bass thing, good explanation,IAM LEARNING THANKS. |
