The bass seems to be holding steady at "almost just enough."  I think this is a very accurate portrayal of my system and my room.  So I'd say that these are very accurate.

Imaging and soundstage are wonderful.  These are very impressive speaker cables.  I ended up crimping some spades on the ends . . . probably not ideal but really didn't notice any downsides to just using plain wire ends (which is hard with most speaker and amp posts.)

I've just ordered a pr. of 10 ft. Zen Styx & am awaiting them!!! Will let you know how I like them before & after burn-in! I had some silver-coated copper Vampire Wire speaker wires back in the early '80's & they sounded much better than the original Monster Cables, but over the years the casing cracked & the wire corroded!!

   What terminals(best value) do you recommend, Anyone? I have my Selects in for the CCE mod, does anyone know what it would cost for Steve to upgrade the speaker terminals per amp? I'm quite excited to hear the CCE mods & will listen to the amps first, then put the Zen Styxs in the system!!!

Happy Tunes,
KellyB

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Lon: After a mishap of mine, I finally have my 10' non-terminated ZenStyx! Because of the very large ga. of each end, what BRAND of speaker terminal &/or speaker wire terminal do you recommend? Each tip of the bare ends are tinned, is there a terminal that is big enough to fit over & twist-on OR crimp-on? ANYONE have any recommendations, please?

If I have to cut-off the tinned end, what method will give the cleanest result? I have cutters & I also have a Dremel tool(cut-off wheel)!

I do have some gold-plated Monster Cable banana clips that i could use if I cut-off the tinned ends! Are crimped spades the best? What spades will fit the ZenStyx, Zen Selects, & RL-3 speaker terminals?

ANYONE can add their 2 cents!!!

I also purchased two short pieces of smaller ga. silver wire to mono each Select - going under the amps from red to black speaker terminals.

I hope everyone had a good year & will have a prosperous new year!!! KellyB

I went to Radio Shack & got some gold-plated Solderless Ring Terminals for 8-gauge wire with a 5/16" hole, Part No. 278-334. I will have to snip(open?) the ends of each circle because the plastic tightening nuts for the terminals on the amps & speakers cannot be removed without breaking them, so you could slip the ring terminals over the studs! Do the new-style speaker output terminal nuts come completely off?

Lon: These might be the same terminals you have!

Tip: Cut the tinned portion of each(Zen Styx) non-terminated end off so it will be easier to crimp the terminal, because the silver solder is VERY hard to crimp!!! MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE ENOUGH WIRE TO CRIMP!!!

Will try to finish & hook-up the Zen Styx today & start the burn-in period. How long will it take to "burn-in"?

Thanks for all the tips!!!
Kelly

I was reading the notes on the speaker cables. At 8AWG, I am sure that it must have taken a long time to break in. It would be nice to hear the details from the ones who have it.


shreekant

There's an awful lot of wire in these cables!  I wouldn't say it took that long to settle down, but it did take time for them to begin to be all they can be.  Just like the amps I find that improvements, seasoning come with time.

I'm very happy with these cables. VERY happy.  They're the perfect complement to the amps and speakers.

And then I ordered more. Put in the final orders for my ICs, ZenStyx, and power cables in a final spurt of buying (to paraphrase Lon).