Zeus Z1 XLR XLR Balanced High-End Interconnect

The Zeus z1 is a no-holds-barred unbalanced cable from Germany that has been tested against the likes of Siltech, Bertrum, Audience, VDH Kimber, and without a doubt has won hands down.

The cable has a flat frequency response across the audio spectrum, with a filled out midrange, smooth highs and weighty and tuneful bass.

The resonant strokes of piano keys, wailing violin notes, caterwauling sax notes, the twang of the acoustic guitar, the grate of bowed cellos, various percussions, massed strings and massed trumpets in heat – all sound quite palpable and present.

Good attack and gentle decay allow one to see deeper into the mixes and bring a naturalness to the music (acoustic instruments have characteristic decays that can be heard when played live, especially at close range).

Dual-plated conductors with an ofc copper shield create a lively and dynamic music experience, akin to a concert hall. The realism focus and perfect timing of this cable are incomparable.

Because of an additional grounding conductor, the OFC served shield is only used for shielding, which leads to an even better electrostatic screen. This guarantees a pure signal transmission and a homogeneous sound, both for analogue NF connections such as from a preamplifier to a power amplifier and from source to amplifier

Solder termination is done using a precision International MFR Cartridge System and Mundorf Silver solder.

XLR plugs used are Neutrik GOLDs

Stock cable is 1.5 m pair

The Cable was critically reviewed by one of our very experienced and old Audio enthusiast customers in Europe:

And the extract is below:
Frequency response: This cable has a flat frequency response across the audio spectrum. It doesn’t highlight or suppress any part of the audio spectrum. It has good extensions at both the bottom and the highest octaves, with a filled-out midrange. The highs are sparkling, and the bass has heft and nice tonality.

Tonality: the tone is quite likeable. The resonant strokes of piano keys, wailing violin notes, caterwauling sax notes, the twang of the acoustic guitar, the grate of bowed cellos, various percussions, massed strings and massed trumpets in heat – all sound quite palpable and present.

Resolution: With the right program material and audio chain, this cable resolves micro details well.

Soundstage width, depth and separation: well-separated voices in the lateral space. Depth is well behind the speakers, with layering of voices. However, there is a slight sense of being overwhelmed when program material gets complex and loud. It is not a breakdown, but a certain mushiness creeps in, slightly degrading the quality of sound. But this could also be due to a limitation in the rest of my playback chain. Musical passages that are loud and complex are, in any case, a severe test for any component. My system, not being a highly evolved setup, I suspect it isn’t the cable alone but the system gracefully saying, “this much, but no further.”

Attack and decay: good attack and gentle decay allow one to see deeper into the mixes and bring a naturalness to the music (acoustic instruments have characteristic decays that can be heard when played live, especially at close range).

Dynamics: handles macro dynamic swings well. Felt no sense of compression when the notes hit the fortissimo end of the musical scale. In conjunction with its good resolution, it is remarkably good at resolving microdynamics, nicely filling up the music with the ebb and tide of musical flow.