MAC Palladium IC's-Follow up, are they really.....
I've used Palladiums between pre and amp for over 2 years now. I've tried a couple of other ICs since, including some highly touted Dynastrands, and still find the Palladiums to be my choice. I also had the Mystics, but found them too warm for my tastes. The Palladiums really are, in my sytem, very neutral in the best sense - musical timbres are accurate, dynamics are wonderful, stage is huge, and they do not emphasize any part of the spectrum. I tried the Cuqs and power cords as well, and although they were good, they were replaced. The Palladiums deserve their chatter on the net - they perform way beyond their price level. And if you want, Steve will make you some speaker cables out of this stuff - which I'd love to hear sometime! |
Welllllllll, I confess that I just got the Palladiums a few days ago and they are not burned in yet, and familiarity breeds contempt, so it may be that the 'new' sound of these is impressing me more than they should. So, I am willing to go on record, with the option of retraction, and say of the dozen so so cables I have tried--from respectable lowish stuff to quite elegant designs from Big Boy makers, the Palladiums are the best ICs I have heard so far, as I have so far heard them. From the moment I put them between my Cal Alpha 24/96 (and Kora Hermes#1 briefly) and my EMP (all with the finest tubes of all colors and creeds ever made, except those deformed at the head or seductive in their waist), I thought the MAC Palladium: "just sounds right". Transparent, extended, good bass (not profound bass, but rightly tight, subtle but rightous), excellent balance--and most importantly--excellent rendering of mids. great stage, just right air. Worthy of Siemens, Telfunken, Amperex (US) and Philips (Hereleen/Hamburg)finest in the EMP, and Sylvania's, GE and Raytheon's best in the Alpha. If Steve sent these uncooked, and in fact cables do need to be cooked (up to now, I have bought only used), I may not have to retract. |
FYI: Positive Feedback just reviewed the Mac Palladium cables: http://positive-feedback.com/Issue30/mac.htm. |
I'm not calling your equipment crap, what I was suggesting is that you talk about your equipment on other threads. Diversify yourself, make it appear that you have more to say about audio then one brand of interconnect. When all you talk about on threads is a cable, it makes one wonder if the cable is the best piece of equipment you have. FWIW, I've yet to hear a cable make any digital outperform my vinyl rig, even multi kilobuck cables. Yes, digital can be made to sound very good, but......... John :) |
John, We’ve been playing ping-pong between our Jolida CDP and our vinyl set-up for the last year. The Palladiums finally nailed the digital crap and made it palatable, if not pretty darn good. Unfortunately they now have shown up short comings with the vinyl. The recent addition of some copper wound Bent Audio SU transformers although superb have distinctly “flavored” playback, curious only in comparison to the neutrality of the palladium ICs, otherwise imperceptible. Hence all my inane flap over the palladiums. So now back to the drawing board with the vinyl. Gonna do some Bent silver SU’s and just give a listen…..without palladium. Check my other posts for my equipment list, it's there. Respectable and hardly what I’d call “crap”. The best to ya.... Ger |
Well if that's the case Ger546, I apologize, and welcome to Audiogon. I do suggest that you expand your audio interests outside of just one cable though. Talk about cd players, amps, heck even music. That is how we get to know each other and one's word carries more weight. You can understand when a relative new stranger comes in spouting words of praise from some relatively obscure product claiming it's God's gift to audio and it's all he's interested in talking about, smells like an agenda. Business has tried to come in through the forums in disguise before. We had issues here a year or so ago with newbies pushing the D&K integrated amps acting like regular audiophiles. Build up a history like Norm (Hartwerger), talk about something else besides MAC Palladiums, so it doesn't appear as if you have an agenda. Is your cd player any good? How about your speakers? Do you have a decent amplifier? Or are they all just crap and the MAC Palladiums make them sound wonderful? Cheers, John |
FYI- Both the above gentleman have no ties to My Audio Cables other than the fact that they are very satisfied audiophiles. I am a proprietor with some part time help. (my sons) Anyone is free to contact me with any questions they might have about MAC. My phone number is also posted on my website. Enjoy! |
I'll vouch for Ger546. I have the Mac Palladiums and they are easily the best ICs I've tried. (Of course, the usual caveats apply, that is, my system, my room and my tastes.) The Palladiums have all the smoothness and holography of silver, great powerful bass, and a clear, open, very life-like midrange. Though I have only had them for a few weeks, I am hard pressed to find anything wrong with them. Time will tell if they hold up to the scrutiny. But, so far, they are simply outstanding. At first, I didn't even think they had a sonic signature, they sounded like no cable was there at all; however, after experimenting with different lengths, I can safely say they do have a flavor and its an extremely neutral one at that. And, the neutrality shouldn't be confused with bland or boring for they are anything but. I find them quite engaging. I have also had private emails with Ger546 and he is legit. Interestingly, we do have similar taste in cables. He not only likes the Palladiums, but also Luminous Audio cables, which he still has, but have been replaced by the Palladiums in my system. I'm still a fan of the Luminous cables, but the Palladiums are tickling my funny bone at the moment. |
