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Review: Acoustic Zen Absolute Interconnect

Category: Cables

I was looking forward to audtioning Robert Lee's new highest reference Acoustic Zen interconnects & speaker wires which he calls the Absolute. They represent his latest thinking regarding the state of the art in his house of wires. About two years ago I had gone through a lengthy audtion process, which included five highly regarded sets of wires from well known companies, untill I decided to replace all my wires with AZ Silver reference II & Matrix reference II and Satori speaker wire. I'm a great fan of AZ for two major reasons;1) They offer great "bang for the buck" out standing performance for the cost ratio.2) They have,for me, a wonderful combination of tight/powerful bass,great details,transparency,dynamics,natural timbres, along with being musical and a smooth "sense" of ease. The process of audtioning the Absolute began with inserting a Absolute interconnect between my DAC and PRE-AMP along with putting the Absolute speaker wire in. Since I bi-amp there are four sets of interconnects so I put the Absolute interconnect at the front of the system. Well, it turned out to be a very gratifying experience! It not only tremendously improved the above stated virtues but added the following;1) A giant soundstage with excellent layering of players in a sense of real space.2)A sriking sense of air/three-dimensionality around everyone in the soundstage.3)Much improved/natural timbres.4)The new cables added that wonderful "organic/musicality" that I think we all strive for in our systems. It strongly reminded me of the experience I had when I audtioned my Pass Labs-350.5 to my then current amp an Edge NL-10. The Edge, which is still a great amp with many reference level characteristics, just kinda sounded sterile compared with the musicality of the 350.5. I know thats a very subjective way of explaining my experience, but its hard to use objective language at times to explain why a component just sounds more like the experience of real music. These wires are not inexpensive(2000.00 for the interconnects and 2800.00 for the speakers wires) but offer so much without any apparent shoutcomings that I think they are very fairly priced and compete with many reference level wires at a much lower price.So I think Mr. Lee has done it again, great sound at a reasonable price! As a final note I want to mention, even though we all know it all ready, that important factor of system matching and synergy long with your personnal taste make home audtioning a must for us serious audiophiles! I highly recommend you try these wires out if your a fan of AZ or looking to upgrade you wires in your sytem.

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rsbeck
887 posts
 
>>even if you have a system that already functions at a reference level of
resolution that it can be brought to even a higher level with better cabling.<<

You're avoiding the issue you raised in your review. If the new cables are
indeed "that much better" than the old cables, the old cables are
therefore the same measure inferior to the new cables. If the new cables
were needed to "add that sense of organic/musicality" then the system lacked
this sense with the old cables. If there isn't any technological
breakthrough, then there isn't any particular reason for the new cables to
sound "that much better." This is just logical.

You posted a review -- you had to expect these issues to arise.

>>I do know he would more than happy to discuss this with you<<

I went to Acoustic Zen's web-site and looked at their "
technological" articles. They are a maze of misleading advertising,
bogus claims, misapplied and pseudo-scientific gobbledygook.
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
Rsbeck, have you eaten hot chiles today? Relax, this hobby can be fun!
rsbeck
887 posts
 
Guido -- wow -- do I sound like I've eaten hot chiles? I don't feel that way. This is one of those cases where the proper emoticon might help. I feel bemused. I'm all about fun, bay-bay! I was just curious, but I can see we are going around in circles on these questions and that isn't productive. I am truly happy when anyone finds a piece of gear that fills a missing piece of the puzzle. That probably hasn't come across. Enjoy your cables, guys!
lrsky
1,118 posts
 
Rspeck, you stated, (I'll probably regret opening this door)
"I went to Acoustic Zen's web-site and looked at their
'technological'" articles. They are a maze of misleading advertising, bogus claims, misapplied and pseudo-scientific gobbledygook."
I am sure that Robert Lee, and his employees, and their families, whose livlihoods depend on the sale of their products, will be pleased to find out your appraisal of his work, or at least your description of his work.
Just wondering, other than the usual marketing hype which all companies employ to get the attention of potential buyers, what parts are, the 'misapplied....and so on" are you referring to.
Having compared this personally to Kimber Select, 3035 and prefering it I am surprised someone would be so vitriolic.
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
Returning to the subject matter, I called Robert Lee and asked him about the metallurgy of the Absolute wires.
The Silver-Copper Hybrid wires have mixed strands of Silver and Copper. More specifically, 96% of the strands are made from Silver, and 4% of strands are made from Copper.
The function of the Copper strands is to enhance the reproduction of the resonance from the 'wood' of many instruments, such as violins, cellos, violas, string basses, Pianos etc. . .
Enhancement to the reproduction of the resonance of 'wood' is a theme also very dear to Emmanuel Go of First Sound when discussing the characteristics of premium models of his pre line, Such as the Paramount SE, which is equipped with Copper capacitors.
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