Acoustic Zen Satori - was I taken for a ride?

Sasha · « **on:** 2 Jun 2006, 01:00 am »

I received a brand new pair of Acoustic Zen Satori bi-wire speaker cables terminated with spades, and to my surprise the spades are not made, as advertised everywhere, by the same single crystal copper that is gold plated, they are instead made of aluminum.
Does anyone have these speaker cables with spades? Is it possible that new batch is made with aluminum spades?
Or this is some sort of a scam?

arthurs · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 01:56 am »

I've had both Satori and Hologram and your spades do not sound correct, mine were gold plated copper. Can you return them? If so, do it and get Gregg Straley Reality cables, took me one evening of listening to Gregg's cables and I sold off all my AZ and I've never looked back.....

bluemike · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 02:24 am »

I Second Gregg Straley's cables

Ready to try his interconnects any feedback on Greg's Interconnects?

tvad4 · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 02:28 am »

How do you know the spades are aluminum and not silver? Have you contacted Acoustic Zen?

This kind of online speculation, without going to the source for answers, is reckless and irresponsible, in my opinion.

Please report back after you have spoken with someone at Acoustic Zen. Call them. No email.

westcoast · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 02:39 am »

Quote from: bluemike

I Second Gregg Straley's cables

Ready to try his interconnects any feedback on Greg's Interconnects?

Lots and lots. Try a search for either Gregg Straley or Reality Cables. But here's a good start.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=21478&highlight=reality+interconnects

arthurs · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 02:50 am »

He just sent me a pair of his IC's, haven't had time to plug them in yet, but will be listening over the weekend, more to come.

Tweaker · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 03:09 am »

Is there such a thing as aluminum spades?

nelamvr6 · « **Reply #7 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 03:24 am »

Quote from: Tweaker

Is there such a thing as aluminum spades?

Oh yes.

Just go to Radio Shack. you'll see them for sale in droves there.

It seems unlikely to me that they would be silver. But certainly not impossible.

Did you buy them directly from Acoustic Zen or from a reseller?

Sasha · « **Reply #8 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 03:35 am »

Bought them from a reseller.
This is not a speculation aimed at anyone, simply a question, as I find it hard to believe aluminum would be used as material for spades on a cable that, as advertised, uses single crystal copper wires, produced in a complex and expensive process.
And it is advertised that spades are made from the same type of copper, then gold plated.
These spades have not seen copper or gold, they are aluminum.
So I think questioning is in order.
I have send the question to Acoustic Zen, awaiting an answer.
And was wondering if I was the only one among the owners of these cables with such spades.

arthurs · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 04:04 am »

The good news about contacting Zen is Robert is an excellent guy to deal with who takes great pride in what is an excellent product line. My bet is he asks you to send him the cables so they can check it out. I have had nothing short of world class service and interaction with Robert Lee.

With all that why did I change cables? Same also goes for Gregg, and his Reality Cables just were better for me in my system.

Tweaker · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 05:36 am »

Quote

Just go to Radio Shack. you'll see them for sale in droves there.

All right then. I think it's a simple matter of someone upgrading the spades to Radio Shack spades. To complete the upgrade you should now purchase some Home Depot wire to replace the existing wire.

Just kidding, of course. I don't mean to make light of your situation. It is very weird that aluminum spades would end up on a pretty high end pair of speaker wires. Strange, and rather frustrating I expect. It will be interesting to hear what Acoustic Zen has to say about it.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 12:14 pm »

I've not seen a set of Satoris or Holograms with aluminum spades. I do have a pair of the entry-level Epochs whose spades are silver-colored (don't know what the material is, but it looks like some kind of plating...there is a name stamped on the spade, but I can't quite make it out).

I do know that Robert continually likes to experiment with things, and has twice mentioned new connectors he was trying out. Like others posting here, I would have some serious questions if they ended up being aluminum...

aggielaw · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 02:33 pm »

Mike,
Regarding Gregg's interconnects, they're even better than his speaker cables. He has a "limited edition" wire - of which he only has about 800 feet left (and I got the impression he can no longer get any more) that is the most amazing stuff I've ever heard. I've considered buying extra IC's and storing them in airtight containers just in case something ever happens to my cables now. (Sounds ridiculous, I know.)

Bottom line is I have joined the crowd that no longer looks for cables, and it's because I Gregg's cables.

Howard

Sasha · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 04:14 pm »

I contacted AZ, could not talk to Robert, he was away at audio show, but did talk to one of his staff, and the answer was that they indeed changed the spades on the latest production run.
They are still copper, but silver plated, not gold plated.
This has also been confirmed by good people that answered my question and confirmed that they also received Satori with non-gold plated spades.
So the only explanation for the dull color is the oxidation.
Before someone jumps in with bashing “high end” cables and the whole “cable scam” industry, just want to say that I am not interested at all in such comments.
This is good news, and I am not concerned with the color any more, silver oxidation is unavoidable, and is not impacting the performance (it is conductive, one of reasons why some manufactures choose to silver plate the actual wire).
I will confirm this tonight, will take cables out of the packaging as it all seems to be in order now, will do a little scratch to see. Not that I distrust the guys at AZ, just to convince myself.
And I will be enjoying sonic improvements resulting from cable transparency, as I have experienced during the auditioning prior to making the purchase, to the sadness of those “it is all scam” club members.

arthurs · « **Reply #14 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 04:43 pm »

Glad to hear you got a quick and acceptable answer. Keep us posted on how they sound for you....enjoy a great weekend of listening!

gitarretyp · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 05:17 pm »

Quote from: Sasha

I contacted AZ, could not talk to Robert, he was away at audio show, but did talk to one of his staff, and the answer was that they indeed changed the spades on the latest production run.
They are still copper, but silver plated, not gold plated.
This has also been confirmed by good people that answered my question and confirmed that they also received Satori with non-gold plated spades.
So the only explanation for the dull color is the oxidation.
Before someone jumps in with bashing “high end” cables a ...

What makes you think they're oxidized? Silver and silver plated audio connectors are not typically polished to a bright sheen and appear dull, see these for an example.

Sasha · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Jun 2006, 05:33 pm »

gitarretyp,

The silver ones in the picture look quite gleaming when compared to mine.
The color on mine is the color of old silver jewelry, which you can bring to a shine quickly with let’s say tooth paste.
That is why I think it is oxidation.