MAD
20-03-2010, 00:08
http://www.madengland.com/reviews/Silver%20Cable%20review.pdf
My Audio Design - Silver Cables Review (Interconnect & Speaker Cable)
The use of silver as a conductor foraudio cables goes back quite a long way. It was being offered commercially as far back as the late ‘70s – possibly earlier. Yet there have always been doubts. Some listeners ‘like’ silver, others don’t.
The usual complaint is that silver cables sound bright and harsh. My Audio Design opts for very high 99.9997% ultra-purity silver. This is about as good as it gets – a purity level of 99.99997% would be achievable – but at a huge increase in price (it’s the kind of silver NASA uses).
The range of silver interconnects from MAD consists of the entry-level My Pleasure, followed by My Sweety, Diamond Signature, and My Queen, which is also available as a loudspeaker cable. MAD cables are sold on a 30 day
no-obligation trial basis, allowing you ample time to reach a decision regarding their worth. This is a good thing, because some of them are worth a lot of money!
My Pleasure
Is the entry-level cable, and is all-silver. It costs £288 for a 0.5m run. It produces a clear, focused, solid sound that’s free of HF hash and nasties. While I did think the more expensive MAD cables had the edge, My Pleasure proved very very good.
My Sweety
This is MAD’s middle range cable. It costs £459 for a 0.5m run, and consists of 4 x 0.4mm Diamond-Die Super-Pure Litz Silver conductors of 99.997% purity. Construction is Quadcross Golden Section, with Constant Q Crossfield. Each cable is terminated with Cardas Rhodium over Silver-Plated RCA connectors, using Cardas Tri Eutectic Copper/Silver solder.
My Sweety has a lovely open pure sort of quality that sounds crisp and tactile, yet free from tonal hardness and ‘grain’. It’s well-balanced and very clean, yet with a nicely spacious ‘airy’ top end and clear bass, and seems more refined than My Pleasure.
My Diamond Signature
Sits near the top of the range, and costs around £517 for a 0.5m stereo pair. Specifications are similar to My Sweety, except slightly thicker 4 x 0.6mm conductors of 99.9997% ultra-purity are employed. Can you hear 0.001% purity?
Where My Sweety has a bigger ‘airier’ sort of presentation, while My Diamond Signature is a touch less glossy and glamorous, but sounds even cleaner and more solidly focused.
My Queen
Is the top cable in MAD’s Silver Series. It costs around £1,494 for a 0.5m stereo pair. The manufacturer claims it’s as good as any current high-end interconnect. My Queen produced an impressively refined yet tactile sort of sound that had presence allied to a gorgeous transparent purity.
My Queen seemed effortless detailed and crisp, while at the same time sounding smooth and clean. We’re getting into Diminishing Returns territory here, but there were definite gains in purity and refinement.
My Queen is also available as a speaker cable, and costs £2,241 for a 1m stereo run. This increases to £3,735 for a 2m run, and £5,228 for 3m. I need 10m runs for my speakers, which puts us into the region of nearly £18k! But I was still able to sample the 2m cable sent for review.
As with the MAD silver interconnects, My Queen speaker cable proved to be very very good – sonically, more of the same; increased transparency and greater purity, with increased definition and superior fine detail over the similar length of expensive high-quality copper cable I’d been using.
by Jimmy Hughes
contact
My Audio Design
Tel: +44(0)7782 137 868
URL: www.madengland.com
admin@madengland.com
+
Reproduced from HiFi Plus, Issue 71
My Audio Design - Silver Cables Review (Interconnect & Speaker Cable)
The use of silver as a conductor foraudio cables goes back quite a long way. It was being offered commercially as far back as the late ‘70s – possibly earlier. Yet there have always been doubts. Some listeners ‘like’ silver, others don’t.
The usual complaint is that silver cables sound bright and harsh. My Audio Design opts for very high 99.9997% ultra-purity silver. This is about as good as it gets – a purity level of 99.99997% would be achievable – but at a huge increase in price (it’s the kind of silver NASA uses).
The range of silver interconnects from MAD consists of the entry-level My Pleasure, followed by My Sweety, Diamond Signature, and My Queen, which is also available as a loudspeaker cable. MAD cables are sold on a 30 day
no-obligation trial basis, allowing you ample time to reach a decision regarding their worth. This is a good thing, because some of them are worth a lot of money!
My Pleasure
Is the entry-level cable, and is all-silver. It costs £288 for a 0.5m run. It produces a clear, focused, solid sound that’s free of HF hash and nasties. While I did think the more expensive MAD cables had the edge, My Pleasure proved very very good.
My Sweety
This is MAD’s middle range cable. It costs £459 for a 0.5m run, and consists of 4 x 0.4mm Diamond-Die Super-Pure Litz Silver conductors of 99.997% purity. Construction is Quadcross Golden Section, with Constant Q Crossfield. Each cable is terminated with Cardas Rhodium over Silver-Plated RCA connectors, using Cardas Tri Eutectic Copper/Silver solder.
My Sweety has a lovely open pure sort of quality that sounds crisp and tactile, yet free from tonal hardness and ‘grain’. It’s well-balanced and very clean, yet with a nicely spacious ‘airy’ top end and clear bass, and seems more refined than My Pleasure.
My Diamond Signature
Sits near the top of the range, and costs around £517 for a 0.5m stereo pair. Specifications are similar to My Sweety, except slightly thicker 4 x 0.6mm conductors of 99.9997% ultra-purity are employed. Can you hear 0.001% purity?
Where My Sweety has a bigger ‘airier’ sort of presentation, while My Diamond Signature is a touch less glossy and glamorous, but sounds even cleaner and more solidly focused.
My Queen
Is the top cable in MAD’s Silver Series. It costs around £1,494 for a 0.5m stereo pair. The manufacturer claims it’s as good as any current high-end interconnect. My Queen produced an impressively refined yet tactile sort of sound that had presence allied to a gorgeous transparent purity.
My Queen seemed effortless detailed and crisp, while at the same time sounding smooth and clean. We’re getting into Diminishing Returns territory here, but there were definite gains in purity and refinement.
My Queen is also available as a speaker cable, and costs £2,241 for a 1m stereo run. This increases to £3,735 for a 2m run, and £5,228 for 3m. I need 10m runs for my speakers, which puts us into the region of nearly £18k! But I was still able to sample the 2m cable sent for review.
As with the MAD silver interconnects, My Queen speaker cable proved to be very very good – sonically, more of the same; increased transparency and greater purity, with increased definition and superior fine detail over the similar length of expensive high-quality copper cable I’d been using.
by Jimmy Hughes
contact
My Audio Design
Tel: +44(0)7782 137 868
URL: www.madengland.com
admin@madengland.com
+
Reproduced from HiFi Plus, Issue 71