[Gym_Turtle]

Anyone have any impressions on the Auteur 2k Copper and Silver Michanikós cables?

 

[jgwtriode]

I've heard stranded is technically inferior to pure solid core but the Jenna Labs uses cryotreatment which I have noticed with tube pins increases detail and dynamics. Easy to fall into a cable wormhole. Zachs offering looks gorgeous though and it seems like he tuned it with the Auteurs in mind. Smooth and detailed seems to be the best match for the Auteurs sound signature, but of course neutralness is where I should probably be looking.

I must say music that I've really enjoyed in the past, under a neutral sound signature sound way less appealing. It's fun getting to pick apart tracks by the production alone tho!

On an absolute basis solid core is a bit better and litz is probably a bit better than stranded but maybe not as good as solid.

However not all things are always equal and metallurgy, insulation and geometry probably play a bigger role than solid vs stranded.

I have heard that solid core of the same type might be a bit less grainy in the highs.

Realize that headphone cable needs to be flexible and compliant and able to resist twisting forces that lead to breakage.

Litz is probably the better way to go with separate isolation of each conductor. However Silver 1%gold Neotech stranded OCC beats the pants off of their litz copper OCC and is actually noticeably less grainy. Imagine that if you will.

I have run both on my modded HD 650's and thouroughly expect the improvements to be more obvious on the Auteurs.

The silver gold even helps clean up the midbass over said copper and is musically noticeably more correct while bring more detailed open and dynamic.

The copper sounds somewhat warm, not unpleaingly so; but clearly a coloration, and a bit blurred, constrained, smeared and less involving!

At a bit more than twice the price the silver gold it is a better value because of those improvements.

OCC is great stuff in any form and while OCC copper is better than even 6/9's silver it just doesn't stand up to the silver gold.

Speculate, equivocate but listen before you pontificate.

Not cheap but like every real, significant upgrade, worth every penny!

Happy listening!

 

[hikaru12]

My main two goals with an endgame headphone cable are 1) microdetail and 2) smooth neutral mids (essentially don't add coloring to the Auteurs mids because they're perfect as is). I've heard thicker gauge silver might get me what I want since silver is great at revealing detail but like you said, gold might counteract any harshness or brightness from the cable itself. The thicker gauge of silver helps give body to the mids and bass so it doesn't sound overall thin but I've never heard a pure silver cable or hybrids so don't know if it's better to pick one over the other specifically for the Auteur. So many options to choose from!

 

[Speednut]

Anyone here have any experience with OFC vs. OCC cable from Zach?

I have an OFC on order with my Auteur, but since i already have an OFC for my Atticus, I was wondering if i should try the OCC sleeved cable instead.

 

[Hedonism]

Will soon be joining the club! Super excited; these ones will be mine. One of the cocobolo ltd pairs.

 

[Gambitek]

^beautiful. more auteur talk and less about magic cables <3

 

[Viper2005]

Joined the club this week with this set of blackwood Auteurs that I got locally from Hivemind Cables!
Impressions later once they finish bbq'ing in pink noise

 

[LCMusicLover]

Joined the club this week with this set of blackwood Auteurs that I got locally from Hivemind Cables!
Impressions later once they finish bbq'ing in pink noise

Interesting -- your Blackwood is a lot more brown than mine - or maybe it's just the lighting in your photo. Mine look very dark, nearly black. I still like my brass grills and rods

As an aside, two Auteur's showed up f/s used today -- 1 teak, 1 blackwood. Looks like the Teaks sold in about 8 hours.

 

[Redmetal1897]

Interesting -- your Blackwood is a lot more brown than mine - or maybe it's just the lighting in your photo. Mine look very dark, nearly black. I still like my brass grills and rods

As an aside, two Auteur's showed up f/s used today -- 1 teak, 1 blackwood. Looks like the Teaks sold in about 8 hours.

Theres something about these ZMF woods! My teak looks different during different times of the day, its fascinating.

 

[Viper2005]

Interesting -- your Blackwood is a lot more brown than mine - or maybe it's just the lighting in your photo. Mine look very dark, nearly black. I still like my brass grills and rods

Theres something about these ZMF woods! My teak looks different during different times of the day, its fascinating.

This is very true! When indoors with ambient room lighting they are very dark. But when the sun shines in, the glorious wood grain details appear!

 

[Daemon Ursus]

Theres something about these ZMF woods! My teak looks different during different times of the day, its fascinating.

It's called chatoyance, most well finished exotic woods have some level of it. Zach gets really good cuts for his cups, and as we know, finishes them well So, most of them have some chatoyance to them.

 

[Pharmaboy]

It's called chatoyance, most well finished exotic woods have some level of it. Zach gets really good cuts for his cups, and as we know, finishes them well So, most of them have some chatoyance to them.

Give that man a cigar! That's the word I couldn't quite remember--it's exactly the right word for that "this wood looks different from different angles/in different light" phenomenon.

Fact is, that any degree of chatoyance in a given piece of wood is kind of "built in" courtesy of the wood's hardness, color, tension w/in the grain, and features like knots or burls. ie, easy to get it from curly maple, harder from plain maple. The key to bringing it out seems to be a rich, reflective (but not mirror-like) finish on the wood that helps "see into" the wood. And nobody finishes earcup woods as well as Zach...

One of the thrills of owning ZMF headphones is being in close physical/visual contact w/these beautiful woods. There's just something about wood as a structural material. Nothing else quite equals it....

 

[Old Dirty Puppy]

Was at the Socal Canjam this weekend and I picked up a pair B stock Blackwood Auteurs at a huge discount price. Zach from ZMF sold them to me personally. The only reason they were B stock was because they had the smallest imperfection in the cut around the grill. I would have never noticed the imperfection if Zach didn't point it out. I was comparing them against non B stock and they are just as beautiful. Zach also hooked me up with a free OFC balanced xlr cable. Overall I am incredibly happy with my new Auteurs. Can't wait to see how they sound after some more break in time. My Ether Flows have some tough competition now!

 

[q2klepto]

@Viper2005 Nice! Yea they are pretty goregous - kinda sad I sold them so fast as I was kinda hoping to keep them for myself theyre so pretty lol. Got a few more coming in the pipe though! I think the Zebra Eikons will be my new office pair replacing my mahogany THX00

 

[LCMusicLover]

...My Ether Flows have some tough competition now!...

I'll be interested to hear how that comes out. I've been focused on Utopia/Auteur comparisons, as my planars (HEKv2, EFO) feel very different from the two dynamics. What are you driving them with?