Reviewer: Edgar Kramer 
Financial Interests: Click here 
Source: AMR CD-77.1 CD player, MacBook with BitPerfect player and AIFF files 
Preamplifier: Supratek DHT Reference with Bendix rectifier tube; NuForce P9, NuForce P20, DEQX PreMate 
Amplifier: NuForce Reference 18 monoblocks; Parasound Halo JC 1 monoblocks 
Speakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 
Cables digital: Cerious Technologies; Harmonic Technology Magic; NuForce digital cables; ZenSati Seraphim; analog interconnects - Bocchino Audio Morning Glory; Cable Research Laboratory (CRL) Gold with Bocchino XLR and RCA; Cerious Technologies; DanA Digital Reference Silver; Eichmann eXpress 6 Series 2; ETI Quiessence Reference; Exakte IC; Harmonic Technology Magic and Truthlink Silver; MIT Giant Killer MPC; NuForce IC-700; PSC Audio Monolith AG; PSC Audio Pristine R30 Ribbon; ZenSati Seraphim RCA & XLR; speaker cables - Cerious Technologies; ETI Quiessence Reference; Exakte speaker cable; MIT Giant Killer GK-1 loudspeaker cables; NuForce SC-700; ZenSati Seraphim; power cords - Cerious Technologies AC; Eichmann eXpress AC power cables; Exakte AC; Harmonic Technology Fantasy; PSC Gold Power MKII; Shunyata Research Diamondback 
Stands: SGR Signature racks 
Sundry accessories: Burson Audio Buffer, Bright Star Audio IsoRock Reference 3 and BSA IsoNode feet; Bocchino Audio Mecado isolation diodes; Black Diamond Racing cones; Stillpoints ERS paper in strategic positions, Shakti On Lines; Densen & IsoTek CD demagnetizer; Auric Illuminator CD Treatment 
Room size: 6.4m wide by 7.1m long with high ceiling and narrow cavity behind speakers. Room has been professionally measured and found to be extraordinarily flat and neutral 
Review component retail: 1m interconnect RCA & XLR €10,000, 1m digital €8400, 2.5m speaker cables (2 runs per side) €27,500


It was at CES 2011. Via a fellow Aussie, I was introduced to the statuesque and rather gentlemanly Mark Johansen, owner and founder of ZenSati cables. Back then, I believe that it may have been the company’s first CES. Regardless, there was a vibe among journos about the sound in the company’s room shared with stalwarts Krell and Sutherland Engineering who provided the electronics whilst German newcomer Surrountec showed off its massive flagship speakers.


I remember that the room featured a complex system with an intricate grid of copious ZenSati flagship cable—the ZenSati #1 back then—whose sound seemed effortlessly dynamic and utterly transparent. I spent quite some time there and Mark Johansen, Australian distributor George Fracchia and I chatted about many things, including the state of the high-end in general and then more specifically about cable. Johansen showed a reassuring passion for his company’s products and even back then had grand plans for extending the range and taking the ZenSati brand to the very top of the high-end cable design tree.

After that year’s CES, Johansen periodically kept in contact and I subsequently reviewed ZenSati’s #2 cable and was suitably impressed with its performance and build quality. That was in late 2013 and the review can be found here. Since then ZenSati have substantially expanded their range,  book-ending their 2013 lines with the ‘entry-level’ Angel and at the very top of the heap, the Cherub and then Seraphim ranges.