ZenWave D2 and D2 Ultra Copper Interconnect Cables *HOLIDAY SPECIAL*

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DaveC113

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*The D2 Ultra RCA is going to be $100 off through the 2015 Holiday Season! This is an exceptional cable and with the sale price of $499/1 meter and $449/.5 meter the .5m pair are only $42 more than the cost of the RCA plugs and less than the retail cost of the parts used to make this cable!*

Here's a Preview of the new ZenWave D2 and D2 Ultra interconnect cables!  :green:  I just finished photographing them and am very excited so I decided to post this preview before getting them on the website.

The previous D2 cables were very good but I've been wanting to make a higher end copper cable. Some people simply don't like silver and even though my D3 and D4 use a silver/gold alloy that has none of the undesirable attributes of regular silver, they are not very forgiving and are as close to dead-neutral as possible, so they are not warm cables. The new D2 and D2 Ultra Copper cables are an attempt to make a beautiful, slightly warm sounding copper cable with the least possible compromise in resolution. To achieve this I used 20 gauge Neotech UPOCC copper litz wire in a 4-strand braid, this copper wire is the best I've ever used and the cable features over 1000 runs of individually insulated solid-core UPOCC copper wire bundled and braided around a flat film core. This is over three times as much litz copper as used in my previous D2 and the ground wire is litz wire instead of conventional wire as well. The change in wire has made for a cable with both better detail and a denser, warmer tone vs the old D2 with a little more emphasis on the low end.

The new D2 features your choice of two excellent RCA plugs (as well as XLR plugs, which will be announced later). The standard D2 uses Furutech's FP-208(R) which feature a UPOCC copper center pin and rhodium plating. This plug has amazing synergy with the copper litz wire, and is slightly smoother than the FP-101 used in the old D2. It is more expensive, but I feel it's well worth it. The D2 Ultra uses WBT 0102 Ag RCA plugs, which are over double the price of the Furutech plugs but are the best RCA plugs I've ever used. The WBT plugs sonically disappear, they are the closest to a plug that adds no sound of their own I have found. The WBT plugs have my unique vibration damping material and thread treatment applied. The RCA plugs go for about $190 and $432 per set for the Furutech and WBT plugs respectively, they are very expensive RCA plugs but they make a big difference in ic cables so I feel they are worth it.

Pricing will be $399/meter per pair for the D2 and $599/meter for the D2 Ultra.

In the pics the standard D2 is shown with a custom jacket one of my customers requested along with the regular non-jacketed version. I build to order so I can accomodate custom requests, feel free to ask if you want a jacket, I can get just about anything. The jacket in the pics is made of basalt fiber.

The D2 Ultra is shown with red and black wire to accentuate the braid but the standard versions will use the black wire, which is custom made for me.









« Last Edit: 21 Sep 2015, 03:55 pm by DaveC113 »

DaveC113

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Here's a pic of the new D2 Ultra XLR cable. In the pic below it uses Furutech FP-600 series XLR plugs, although I will make them with the CF series I use on the D4 XLR cables in the future. I just happened to have these plugs...  :green:  The regular D2 will use the FP-700 series XLR plugs, which are great plugs for a great price. The CF-600 series are 8 times the price of the 700 series hence the huge difference in price. The regular D2 XLRs represent a great value for the money in XLR cables, I doubt you'll find anything close for the price. The D2 Ultra XLR will be one of the best copper XLR cables out there regardless of price.

D2 XLR: $350 for a 1 meter pair  (this is a bit less than the RCA version as the plugs cost a bit less)

D2 Ultra XLR with CF-600 plugs: $699

Ok, we're having a bit of a problem with the pic... photobucket isn't linking properly so here's a smaller uploaded image:




Early B.

I had the distinct opportunity to demo the ZenWave Audio D2 Ultra and D4. I am comparing these cables to my High Fidelity CT-1 which is between my DAC and preamp.  For details on the rest of my system and musical tastes, it can be found in my profile, so I won’t repeat it here. For those of you who prefer to get straight to the bottom line, these cables are very, very impressive. To understand what I mean, you first gotta know what I think of my High Fidelity CT-1’s (retail $1,600).
When I first heard the CT-1 in my system, it was absolutely transformative. There's a certain kind of smoothness the CT-1’s bring to the dance, and an incredibly palpable timbre of vocals. 

OK, so let’s fast forward to the D2 Ultra. Compared to the CT-1, the D2 Ultra is a tad bit drier and not quite as detailed or cleaner. Both are equal in terms of sound stage, imaging, etc. Likewise, vocal quality is identical. However, the D2 Ultra had more emotional appeal (that’s hugely significant!). Understand that I am describing distinctions between these ICs by being hyper vigilant in an effort to identify these subtle nuances. Ninety-nine percent of listeners probably would not notice any differences at all. This speaks to the high quality sound and incredible value of the D2 Ultra. For a $1,000 less compared to the CT-1’s, you’re getting a pair of ICs that performs at a very high level.

Onward to the D4 – it has nearly the same level of clarity and detail retrieval as the CT-1, but the CT-1 is more musical. The D4 is a bit brighter than both the D2 Ultra and CT-1. However, the D4 is slightly softer in the vocals. The D4 is just as dynamic at the extremes, but there’s less dynamic interplay between the instruments and the vocals, if that makes any sense. In other words, the instruments seem to align more closely with the volume of the vocals.   

I would say that in terms of clarity and detail, the D4 is the clear winner over the D2 Ultra, but not quite as good as the CT-1. Now here’s where it gets tricky – I would choose the D2 Ultra over the D4 for two reasons – lower cost and emotional connection. In spite of the fact that the D2 Ultra did not have quite the detail and clarity of the D4, I was much more emotionally absorbed in the music. This was surprising. After first hearing the D2 Ultra, I was expecting the D4 to best it. Yes, it did overall, but not in the most important category – how the music made me feel.       


Hi-Fi Obsession

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Thanks Early B!  What a great read.  I love reading about the High Fidelity Cable.  I have their CT-1E digital cable and in my system it bested some serious heavy hitters in the digital world from Stereolab, Shunyata, Snake River Audio and Synergistic Research. 

I'll follow up your post with thoughts on the D2 Ultra and D4 vs. the TWL Spirit interconnects.  Should be done early next week after I mail Dave's demos back on Monday (unless I decide to keep the D2 ;-)).

Rob

DaveC113

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Thanks for posting your thoughts, guys!  :thumb:

Early B, your post illustrates exactly why I made the D2 Ultra interconnect cables... The D4 is meant to be a reference cable, one that is as neutral and detailed as possible. For many people achieving the most clarity and resolution possible is the goal, that of traditional "High Fidelity". Others would like their systems to lean a certain way, most often to a rich, warm sound. For these people it is acceptable to sacrifice a bit of resolution as that's not their top priority. Some may prefer to use one set of D4 and one set of D2s...

There is no right answer, which is why I have both options available. Previously I offered the DD cable as the solution to needing a warmer, more laid back cable. The DD achieves this by using a mineral oil impregnated silk dielectic. This works great in some systems but not others, the result is the DD cable is the most love-it / hate-it cable that I've ever seen. I'll keep it available for a while but it will be discontinued eventually. On the other hand the D4 is very consistently liked and I get reports that are all very uniform about it's performance. The D2 cable is going to be more like that I'm sure, it's character and tone is more neutral but it also offers that copper warmth. Warmth helps poor recordings sound better and masks harshness and grain, cables like the D4 are far more ruthless and will reveal faults in the recording or system.

It sounds like the High Fidelity cables offer a nice mix of resolution with warmth, and this is what others have told me as well. One customer who appreciates clarity and resolution did replace the mid-line High Fidelity IC cables (retail was $2500) for my D4s, his report was that the D4s are more "truthful and accurate". I think the D4s go a long way towards offering a nearly perfect IC cable at a reasonable price for what you get. The D2 Ultras are on the cutting edge of what's possible to do in a copper IC cable, they feature over 1000 runs of individually insulated UPOCC copper in a litz-type configuration. The construction of the D2s provides the most resolution possible in a cable that also adds a nice touch of warmth.

Hi-Fi, my D4 has been unsurpassed as a digital cable thus far, if you want to try it let me know ;)

Hi-Fi Obsession

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I would love to try the D4 as a digital, Dave!!

Captainhemo

I would love to try the D4 as a digital, Dave!!

I would highly recommend that you do that  :thumb: in my review over in the  critic's circle,  we used both the D4 XLR's and D4 RCA's in my buddies system.  We tried  both configs,  XLR as digital  and RCA's as IC's,  and,  RCA as digital and XLR's as ic's.  Not sure if it was the cables or the  gear, but we  definitely preferred the  XLR as digital/RCA's as IC's .  if yo have the option,  I'd suggest trying both.

Dave, how close are those  D2 / D2 Ultras going to be to the presentation of the DD ?  reading  Early B's comments made me wish we would have had a D2 Ultra here when we did the audition !!  But  then when I read you follow up comments , I wasn't so sure. If you recall,  Michael brought  a DD up with him and it didn't last more than about 10 minutes in mystemit was just too laid back.

jay

DaveC113

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I would highly recommend that you do that  :thumb: in my review over in the  critic's circle,  we used both the D4 XLR's and D4 RCA's in my buddies system.  We tried  both configs,  XLR as digital  and RCA's as IC's,  and,  RCA as digital and XLR's as ic's.  Not sure if it was the cables or the  gear, but we  definitely preferred the  XLR as digital/RCA's as IC's .  if yo have the option,  I'd suggest trying both.

Dave, how close are those  D2 / D2 Ultras going to be to the presentation of the DD ?  reading  Early B's comments made me wish we would have had a D2 Ultra here when we did the audition !!  But  then when I read you follow up comments , I wasn't so sure. If you recall,  Michael brought  a DD up with him and it didn't last more than about 10 minutes in mystemit was just too laid back.

jay

It seems to me there isn't a lot of overlap between folks that prefer a cable like the D4 vs people who prefer a warmer cable like the D2 or DD. The DD has been an odd cable though, the Duelund wire is very unique and it's really hard to gauge how people will like it, but if you thought the DD was too laid back I think you'll feel the same about the D2. The D4's clarity and resolution are way above the D2's level of performance, but the D2 is extremely resolving relative to most copper cables.

happyrabbit

The D2 & D2+.   The D2+ is a lovely cable.   :thumb:



Tomy2Tone

The D2 & D2+.   The D2+ is a lovely cable.   :thumb:


Hey happyrabbit, have you ever heard the DD cable with the dueland silver? Just curious how it would differ from the D2 Ultra.

happyrabbit

I have no experience with the DD.  I have a tube based integrated & dac.   I am not sure the DD would help my cause.   :scratch:

Salectric

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Dave,

On the new D2 Ultra (RCA plugs), what is the extra cost for each additional meter?

DaveC113

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Dave,

On the new D2 Ultra (RCA plugs), what is the extra cost for each additional meter?

Hi, and sorry for the delay... still getting back (mentally) from the Labor Day vacation...  :green:

Extra length for the new D2 cables will be $100/meter for RCA and $150/meter for XLR... I hope to get the new D2 up on my website in the next week as well.

Tomy2Tone, the DD is unique in that it is laid-back and warm but uses silver. The Duelund wire uses silk and mineral oil insulation on the silver wire, which gives it it's unique character, but this character also includes adding some of it's own tonality to achieve the warmth and laid-back character. As I've found out, this is a love-hate relationship and it's difficult to tell which is the likely result. In some systems it works great, others not so much. If it does work for the system it's used in it'll be slightly more resolving vs the D2. But the D2's contribution to the signal is more neutral, it's also a warmer cable vs. the D3 and D4, but it doesn't add as much of it's own character.

In developing the D2 I had one of the world's best copper IC cables around, A Jorma that cost nearly $5k for a 1 meter pair, and I can say the D2 is very close to it's equal for about 1/10th the price. The Jorma is slightly more resolving and neutral, but if that's what you want my D4 is far more resolving and neutral than the Jorma, overall it's a more accurate and truthful cable. The D2 has the characteristic copper warmth that many love, but retains as much resolution and neutral character as possible as well. In some ways the Jorma is in between my D2 and D4 but leans more towards the D2.

« Last Edit: 10 Sep 2015, 08:25 pm by DaveC113 »

DaveC113

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Check the top of the 1st post for info on the D2 Ultra RCA holiday sale!  :thumb:

Hi-Fi Obsession

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I would say that in terms of clarity and detail, the D4 is the clear winner over the D2 Ultra, but not quite as good as the CT-1. Now here’s where it gets tricky – I would choose the D2 Ultra over the D4 for two reasons – lower cost and emotional connection. In spite of the fact that the D2 Ultra did not have quite the detail and clarity of the D4, I was much more emotionally absorbed in the music. This was surprising. After first hearing the D2 Ultra, I was expecting the D4 to best it. Yes, it did overall, but not in the most important category – how the music made me feel.       

And now for my extraordinarily tardy review of the D2 Ultra and D4 XLR interconnects!  I was hitting the hi-fi pipe pretty hard for a while and then had to take a step back.  Ready now.

Beginning with the conclusion, I feel the opposite of Early B in terms of "which I'd choose".  Between the two ZenWave cables, the D4 to me was the clear preference.  This of course is system and listener dependent.  The D2 did have nice detail but was too warm for me; something my system doesn't need.  The Triode Wire Labs Spirit interconnect was more neutral and about as detailed, though it wasn't fully burned in at time of comparison.  Images from the D2 Ultra were a bit too lush and were distracting from the detail that it is capable of.   

The D4 on the other hand played fantastically with laser resolution and lack of coloration.  I can see how some might say it is a teeny tiny bit thin, walking just on the drier side of neutral, but I think it's so close I won't try to split hairs about it.  I enjoyed these a lot and prefer them over my Triode Wire Labs Spirit interconnects.  However, they are both able performers and I don't have an extra $1000 to throw around.  Maybe some day.

Thanks to Dave for the trial.  It is very generous of you to let us try these! 

Early B.

Great review. Our observations were basically the same, although my choice was not the "better" cable. Admittedly, I prefer a laid back sound, so I'm a biased reviewer (aren't we all?). I used to purchase components, especially cables, based almost exclusively on the level of detail they provided, but now my preferences are changing. Does it never end??

DaveC113

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Well, I'm happy I have both of your preferences covered, that worked out exactly as planned. :icon_twisted:

Hi-Fi, the production version of the D2 Ultra will have both ends rhodium plated so it'll be a little less warm. Also, if you like the D4 XLR, the D3 is pretty close for less than half the price. It has the same basic character just a touch warmer than the D4.

Thanks for sharing your experiences guys, it's much appreciated!  :thumb:

Tomy2Tone

Hey Dave,

Forgive me if this has been asked before but if one was to wanted both a D4 cable and a D2 or DD for added warmth, which location of the D2 would it benefit most? Say the D2 between the dac and preamp with the D4 between preamp and amp or the other way around?

DaveC113

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Hi Tom, I always recommend experimenting with position of IC cables. In my system the DAC>Pre makes a bigger difference than Pre>Amp but it's a fairly insignificant difference.

Combining different IC cables is a great way to go for those who want to split the difference, but these are a rare breed... most want to go one way or the other. Or just keep a D2 around for less than stellar recordings...  :green: I prefer using all D4s in my system but I also run combos of D4 with DD or D2, for some recordings it does sound better, classic rock and harsh or thin recordings would be good examples. My preamp has a fairly warm, full presentation so I don't feel the need for more...  Generally, if you match the character of your preamp and amp to your speakers to achieve what you like this is a better way to go than tuning with cables or tweaks, but you have to use cable for your system to make a sound and it's going to have a character to it. With ZenWave, the more you spend the less the cable does.  :lol:

The new D2 does lean a bit more towards the lush, warm and romantic side vs the old D2, but because it uses UPOCC litz wire it still has about the same detail as the old D2 and about as much as regular silver wire. I did this on purpose because if you want a more neutral cable than you'll probably appreciate the D3 or the D4 better anyway. With some systems, especially ones that use compression drivers, some single drivers that might be a bit crazy on the top end, many speakers with Accuton drivers or other drivers that use ceramic or metal diaphragms with very precise SS amplification, this can be a very good thing and the D2 will be ideal for some listeners.

On the XLR side of things the D1 is also a great choice, it's a little less warm vs the D2 but otherwise very close in overall sound, they use the same XLR plugs. It's a great value at $189 for a 1 meter pair. For RCAs the D2s RCA plugs are far better and this makes for a larger gap in performance.

The D2 Ultra RCA is a screaming deal on an IC cable too, it uses WBT 0102 RCA plugs that go for $408 and the whole cable is now $499... this is probably the best value you'll find anywhere by a long shot, I figure an intro price that's hard to turn down will get some out there and I'll get more reviews back. The D2 Ultra came very close to a $5k pair of Jorma cables... the Jormas were less warm and a little more resolving, more similar in character than not.

jgb0194

Though I rarely do so, I recently swapped back into my system a pair of Kubala Sosna Fascination loudspeaker cables in place of my 14 ga SMSG cables, just for a reprise of the KS character versus the SMSG character.  The SMSG have been in for a few months, and replaced the KS. It was a loudspeaker cable comparison somewhat analogous to D4 (SMSG silver/gold) versus D2 Ultra (KS copper) ICs.  That these cables imparted a slightly different character to the music was just as apparent as when I first put in the SMSGs. That both of them better all previous loudspeaker cables I've owned was again apparent. I could keep either without regret  if only one was available.  What was different this time round was how immediately and without any doubt I knew which cable I preferred - the SMSGs. I preferred the SMSGs over the KS when I first put in the SMSGs, but the beguiling smoothness of the KS cables was something I wondered if I'd ultimately miss. The utter transparency and resolution of the SMSGs is much more obvious to me now. For me, at least,  this "take one step back" exercise proved to be a helpful way to compare.