NEW ZenWave DSR UPOCC Silver Ribbon Interconnect Cable

DaveC

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Following the release of the PSR-14 UPOCC Silver Ribbon power cables, I'm excited to announce the release of new interconnect cables using the same ribbon wire!

The ribbon interconnect cables will begin with the DSR UPOCC Silver Ribbon RCA interconnect cable and will be followed by an XLR version, and then UPOCC copper versions.

The DSR cable is a 17 gauge UPOCC silver ribbon cable with teflon insulation, with similar advantages to the PSR-14 power cable in that the cable is capable of bending, and is protected by teflon and Furutech nano-fluid at the terminations to prevent corrosion. Please see the power cable thread for more info on the ZenWave ribbon, this cable is the same except for different geometry that minimizes capacitance, and it's 17g instead of 14g.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/new-zenwave-ps14-upocc-silver-ribbon-power-cable.28051/

Let's talk about the fact the cable is a 17g interconnect cable... this is an unusually heavy gauge for interconnect cables, but is used to achieve proper tone and body with UPOCC silver. The ribbon cable also contributes to the cable's lack of thin or cool sound quality often associated with pure silver cables. The cable is not noticeably warm, it's very accurate and resolving, and comes across as extremely neutral. It gives the impression of filled-out harmonics and accurate timbre, soundstrage is excellent with slightly more diffuse imaging vs my D4 interconnect cable. I'd say the imaging is accurate and the images won't blend together, there is still air between images, but they are fatter, larger images vs round wire cables that tend to be more pinpoint accurate.

The DSR cable is similar to my D4 cable in that it achieves the same goal via a different path. They are both Zen(Wave) cables, but from different lineages. Put simply, the goal of ZenWave to offer UPOCC silver cables that have proper tone and realistic timbre. The DSR get there using heavy gauge and ribbon wire, the D4 gets there by using my silver/gold alloy. So in comparison the D4 has just a touch of warmth, not enough to be a warm cable, but enough so the UPOCC silver doesn't come across as cool or thin, it's just right. :) My D5 offers the same cable with more gold, so if you want a warmer UPOCC silver cable I have that too, but you do sacrifice a bit of resolution and clarity to get there.

I also want to point out that both Siltech and Wireworld have 17 gauge UPOCC silver cables for their top of the line cables. With ZenWave, you get a cable made by the exact same manufacturer, handmade with pure cotton jacketing for damping and a genuine techflex braided jacket over top of the pure cotton. You get termination using WBT solder on the best RCA plugs in the industry, further improved by the ZenWave carbon fiber dampers. You get extreme attention to detail in the build and termination, with Furutech silver/gold nano-fluid used to protect the termination. And you get all this for a fraction of the price vs Siltech and Wireworld. What you don't get is a dealer sale experience, fancy packaging or glossy color borchures. You also won't see full-page Stereophile ads for ZenWave cables. You pay for the cable direct from the manufacturer without all the BS and no pricing games.

On price, this is going to be a couple hundred less vs the D4 cable. I wasn't going to release this cable until the new website comes out, which will include a long overdue price increase. For now, and until the website is ready, I will offer this cable for $200 less vs the current D4 pricing, so $975 for a 1 meter pair of cables. This will be a major discount on the price the cable will sell at once it goes live on my new website, and as many of you know, I never give discounts or have sales. The cable will never sell for this price again, and will be about 30% more when the website goes live.

I have had a few folks test out the DSR vs the D4 and if anyone would like to try out the new DSR cable with the D4 please let me know, I just ask that you pay shipping to the next person or back to me, and you post your thoughts here on this thread. Just send me a PM and I'll add you to the list! :)

Pictured is a DSR cable in carbon fine-mesh techflex, black is optional. It uses WBT 0102 Ag RCA plugs with ZenWave carbon fiber dampers added.

 

bazelio

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Dave sent me this new DSR interconnect for a demo in my system and along with it, he sent the most recent iteration of the venerable D4 interconnect. Here are a few thoughts, without completely waxing poetic.

I'd demoed the D4 in the past and this time around, I felt the newest D4 was a tad less aggressive. This is going off audio memory now, but it seemed to have a bit more of a laid back character and for me, this was welcome. Tonally it sounded the same as I had recalled, and most of its other traits remained. That is, it's still supremely detailed and dynamic. It sparkles up top, it slams down low, and it never sounds cold or steely. In fact, it has just a tad of tonal color, I suppose as a result of its gold content.

The DSR, on the other hand is clearly identifiable as a different cable as soon as it enters your chain. The DSR presents a larger sound stage both front to back and left to right. DSR gives you the detail and micro-detail, but presents them with more nuance and less brute force. In terms of scale, the DSR's is larger with its sound filling the room. Comparatively, the D4 tends to locate and isolate individual constituents of the performance to confined regions on the sound stage, while the DSR allows them to bloom and expand with ease. Overall, the DSR sounds more "refined" to my ears, while the D4 sounds more analytical. I'd want the D4 if I'm doing some critical listening, and I'd want the DSR when I'm ready to sit back and enjoy a performance without my thinking cap on. Neither cable was stereotypical silver-bright, though the D4 does have a touch more tonal color. At the end of the day, both cables have their rightful place in a given system, especially with proper matching to the needs and preferences of the user. I happened to prefer the DSR. Not everyone will.

Nice work, Dave. And thanks for the opportunity to audition them!
 
Last edited:

DaveC

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Here's more feedback on the D4 and DSR cables:

I’ve been demoing the D4 and DSR IC’s for a week now and agreed to share my impressions. I've been using Teo Game changers from a Border Patrol tube dac to a Don Sachs preamp, and High Fidelity Reveals between the pre and Sachs Kootenay tube amp. I prefer tubes over solid state because it sounds more realistic to me. I’ve been very content with this set up for a long time (in audiophile time). I put the D4 in between pre and amp and my first thought was “Holy Shit!" The music sounded explosive! It had lots more impact and the music sounded live. The realism I’m hearing has put my rig in a whole different league. Perfect balance of high resolution and a smidge of warmth.

Next I tried the DSR and it had a similar sound but was different. I heard even more details without it sounding bright or edgy. It didn’t sound as tight, it was a smidge more diffuse. I found that the higher resolution was too much of a good thing in my rig, but if you are a detail fan then you’ll like this one. That live and explosive sound was still there.

Last month I demoed the new Zenwave power cord and it sounds similar to these IC’s. It totally bested my Sablon Gran corona in every way. This new power cord transformed my rig when it was feeding my Uberbuss power conditioner.

I heard a more significant improvement using the D4 vs the power cord. I can only imagine what Dave’s speaker cables sound like or a rig outfitted with all Zenwave cables

I removed the D4 and put my old cables back in and my rig sounded like a broken flat tire

Once I experienced what’s possible it’s so hard going backwards, so I’m in the market to buy some used D4s.

Dave- you are da Man! These new cables you created kick some serious ass! Truly the Best I’ve ever heard. I’ve been having many late night listening sessions because it sounds so intoxicatingly good that I keep putting on one more song. Thank you for making these and offering them up for demos.

Ernie
 
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Al M.

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Dave sent me this new DSR interconnect for a demo in my system and along with it, he sent the most recent iteration of the venerable D4 interconnect. Here are a few thoughts, without completely waxing poetic.

I'd demoed the D4 in the past and this time around, I felt the newest D4 was a tad less aggressive. This is going off audio memory now, but it seemed to have a bit more of a laid back character and for me, this was welcome. Tonally it sounded the same as I had recalled, and most of its other traits remained. That is, it's still supremely detailed and dynamic. It sparkles up top, it slams down low, and it never sounds cold or steely. In fact, it has just a tad of tonal color, I suppose as a result of its gold content.

The DSR, on the other hand is clearly identifiable as a different cable as soon as it enters your chain. The DSR presents a larger sound stage both front to back and left to right. DSR gives you the detail and micro-detail, but presents them with more nuance and less brute force. In terms of scale, the DSR's is larger with its sound filling the room. Comparatively, the D4 tends to locate and isolate individual constituents of the performance to confined regions on the sound stage, while the DSR allows them to bloom and expand with ease. Overall, the DSR sounds more "refined" to my ears, while the D4 sounds more analytical. I'd want the D4 if I'm doing some critical listening, and I'd want the DSR when I'm ready to sit back and enjoy a performance without my thinking cap on. Neither cable was stereotypical silver-bright, though the D4 does have a touch more tonal color. At the end of the day, both cables have their rightful place in a given system, especially with proper matching to the needs and preferences of the user. I happened to prefer the DSR. Not everyone will.

Nice work, Dave. And thanks for the opportunity to audition them!

Thanks, Bazelio, for these impressions. Yes, things will be dependent on system and preferences. I have ZenWave D4 interconnects all through my system, as well as the matching SMSG speaker cables. All that signal cabling now falls into place in my system perfectly.

These ZenWave Audio cables have been a high-resolution, neutral and uncolored arbiter that has faithfully guided my system in the right direction, most recently with the acquisition of the absolutely superb Octave HP 700 preamp. If I would have tried to 'tune' my system with more 'forgiving' cables, I would have missed the mark in terms of realistic tonality, among other things.

In a few days I will receive Dave's new power cord to try. I am a known power cord skeptic, but we'll see. I'll try it first on the preamp, then on the DAC.
 

bazelio

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In a few days I will receive Dave's new power cord to try. I am a known power cord skeptic, but we'll see. I'll try it first on the preamp, then on the DAC.
Preamp is a good starting point for the PC to be sure. Try it on the amp also, at some point. Tripp Lite computer cords are choking the system, and I'm not sure how much mileage you'll get out of a single cord, but hopefully you will still be able to hear what Dave's cord can do.
 

Al M.

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Tripp Lite computer cords are choking the system,

Not. And I'm not even sure if they are computer cords, they are 14 gauge.
 

Al M.

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bazelio

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Al, Tripp Lite vs PSR-14 isn't a contest. Yeah, I'm strongly opinionated on that. Look forward to your experience.
 

Al M.

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Al, Tripp Lite vs PSR-14 isn't a contest. Yeah, I'm strongly opinionated on that. Look forward to your experience.

Perhaps that is the case, we'll see. What I thought you meant is that Tripp Lite cords "choke" the system more than other standard power cords -- that would be obvious nonsense. But perhaps I misunderstood.

In any case, I couldn't hear an appreciable difference between the Tripp Lite and the hyper-expensive AudioQuest Dragon cord, which is supposed to be top of the cream, on my power amp (that's the only place where I tried; I had it on very short term loan and was not motivated to try it elsewhere than there, according to the dealer's suggestion). And no, that is not because my system is not resolving, energetic or dynamic, or anything like that.
 

DaveC

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I just had a potential customer do a Dragon vs PSR-14, his impressions are posted in the PC thread... He liked the PSR-14 but Dragon is highly regarded and also uses UPOCC silver conductors.

Al, I'm going to guess you'll hear a major difference but otoh maybe Octave has a power supply that is different and better vs anything I've experienced. However, I have no idea what that would take, as I don't understand how power cables work 100%... I can talk about LCR and other stuff but that's not enough to get the whole picture. If that's the case you can try the source components... :)

I would say my SET tube amp is far less sensitive to power cables vs most A/B and D amps. I can't explain that either beyond a class A amp's relative constant power consumption, but that's generally the case for source and pre which can show major differences.

Anyway, thanks very much for giving it a try Al, I appreciate it no matter what results you get. :)
 

Al M.

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I just had a potential customer do a Dragon vs PSR-14, his impressions are posted in the PC thread... He liked the PSR-14 but Dragon is highly regarded and also uses UPOCC silver conductors.

Al, I'm going to guess you'll hear a major difference but otoh maybe Octave has a power supply that is different and better vs anything I've experienced. However, I have no idea what that would take, as I don't understand how power cables work 100%...

Well, for one the power supply of the power amp works with an external capacitor bank almost the size of a shoe box (no kidding).

I can talk about LCR and other stuff but that's not enough to get the whole picture. If that's the case you can try the source components... :)

I would say my SET tube amp is far less sensitive to power cables vs most A/B and D amps. I can't explain that either beyond a class A amp's relative constant power consumption, but that's generally the case for source and pre which can show major differences.

Anyway, thanks very much for giving it a try Al, I appreciate it no matter what results you get. :)

As is obvious, Dave, I am a huge fan of your signal cables, but I have low expectations on this one. That can only be good; if I do hear a substantial and worthwhile improvement, then my perception of it is real. I certainly don't go by: more expensive equals better, so I am not that easily inclined to fool myself based on that.

I am just not impressed by prices, and I have heard my DAC, upon extensive and repeated A/B testing, beat another one more than 10 x the price (on the other hand, paying the $ 15 K for my preamp was worth it, in my view). Your power cord is not as expensive as some of the competition, but hardly anything beats $ 6 and 49 cents that I paid for my current power cords (I think they have gone up in price by a whopping 2 dollars in the meantime ;)).

So if I decide to buy your power cord, you sure have a real winner ;).
 
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DaveC

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Well, for one the power supply of the power amp works with an external capacitor bank almost the size of a shoe box (no kidding).


Interesting, people have been doing that for years or even decades with car audio, sometimes using multiple farads of capacitance. Since it's only 12V DC the resistance in the wire from the battery matters and the cap near the amp helps with the issue. Probably exactly the same for your amp and maybe it does isolate it from the AC power source to a large degree. I've also built cap banks for battery powered components, same idea... batteries aren't awesome power supplies on their own. But doing something like that for AC power is different. It's large enough it's likely for storage and probably not (just) a power factor corrector. I'll have to think about this, it's not something I work with everyday.
 

Al M.

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Interesting, people have been doing that for years or even decades with car audio, sometimes using multiple farads of capacitance. Since it's only 12V DC the resistance in the wire from the battery matters and the cap near the amp helps with the issue. Probably exactly the same for your amp and maybe it does isolate it from the AC power source to a large degree. I've also built cap banks for battery powered components, same idea... batteries aren't awesome power supplies on their own. But doing something like that for AC power is different. It's large enough it's likely for storage and probably not (just) a power factor corrector. I'll have to think about this, it's not something I work with everyday.

Here is the description:
http://www.octave.de/en/htdocs/verstaerker/superblackbox.php
 

bazelio

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Perhaps that is the case, we'll see. What I thought you meant is that Tripp Lite cords "choke" the system more than other standard power cords -- that would be obvious nonsense. But perhaps I misunderstood.

In any case, I couldn't hear an appreciable difference between the Tripp Lite and the hyper-expensive AudioQuest Dragon cord, which is supposed to be top of the cream, on my power amp (that's the only place where I tried; I had it on very short term loan and was not motivated to try it elsewhere than there, according to the dealer's suggestion). And no, that is not because my system is not resolving, energetic or dynamic, or anything like that.

I tried two "standard" power cords myself: Tripp Lite and Ching Chong. I liked the Ching Chongs better, but differences weren't significant. I tried an Amazon "hospital" power cord, and it was terrible. Then I made a few DIY cords, and found them to be better than standard cords. I tried High Fidelity Reveal (terrible), and Wywires Platinum (OK). In the end, standard cords choke the system compared the PSR-14 and even compared to the DIY cords, but less so. I think I said in my PSR-14 demo feedback that you'd swear something in the signal path had changed given the way the sound just opens up and becomes more dynamic. In any event, I do still worry (based on experience) that one good cord with a Tripp Lites everywhere else will limit the experience. I never tried it that way myself though, since I'd moved on from Tripp Lites well before the PSR-14 demo arrived.
 
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Al M.

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I tried two "standard" power cords myself: Tripp Lite and Ching Chong. I liked the Ching Chongs better, but differences weren't significant. I tried an Amazon "hospital" power cord, and it was terrible. Then I made a few DIY cords, and found them to be better than standard cords. I tried High Fidelity Reveal (terrible), and Wywires Platinum (OK). In the end, standard cords choke the system compared the PSR-14 and even compared to the DIY cords, but less so. I think I said in my PSR-14 demo feedback that you'd swear something in the signal path had changed given the way the sound just opens up and becomes more dynamic. In any event, I do still worry (based on experience) that one good cord with a Tripp Lites everywhere else will limit the experience. I never tried it that way myself though, since I'd moved on from Tripp Lites well before the PSR-14 demo arrived.

Thanks for the clarification, Bazelio.

I already know that the power amp probably will not be significantly affected (see above), and I expect little on the CD transport either. That leaves preamp and DAC. If I don't hear a difference on one of them, I can try to add a second non-standard power cord ;).
 
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bazelio

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When I first tried the PSR-14, I had a DIY cords on the amp and the phono stage. The line stage is AVC passive, so no cord. I demo'd one PSR cord and found the most impact from using it on the phono stage. Switching to DIY->phono and PSR->amp wasn't a significant improvement over DIY+DIY. However, once I demoed two PSR-14 cords, then I found the amp position did make a difference once the phono was already taken care of. I can't explain why.
 
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jsn

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Just wonder if the PSR-14 would apply to the Speaker cable in future soon.
Any sharing ?
 
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DaveC

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Just wonder if the PSR-14 would apply to the Speaker cable in future soon.
Any sharing ?

Yes, I do have silver and copper ribbon speaker cables available!

I was going to wait until the new website was up to announce them but will probably do it soon as it's taking longer to get the new site ready than I planned. For now PM me or send me an email at dave at zenwaveaudio dot com for more info.
 

heebrog

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Hi Dave. Your IC's have an option of "shielding" or "no shielding".
Can you explain what the difference would be.

I have your SMSG speaker cable which I believe is 20G which I was using direct from Chord DAVE.
I'm now pairing DAVE with a FirstWatt F7 amp.
My system has a brighter tendency so wonder which between the D4/D5 or newer DSR would suit best.

Thanks in advance for your time.
 

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