Review: Snake River Audio Mamushis Interconnect

Category: Cables


SNAKE RIVER AUDIO MAMUSHI INTERCONNECTS REVISITED

Ever since I connected the Snake River Audio Mamushis, I spend my listening sessions smiling from ear to ear. I have put them to the test with all musical material I was able to find in my huge CD collection.

So I had an idea! I have a Pioneer CD-player/recorder and decided to use it instead of the highly expensive Audio Synthesis components. I was in for some great fun and a few surprises as well!

I started with Jennifer Warnes – of course – and discovered that the Pioneer really has oomph and although it doesn’t come close to the Audio Synthesis duo, with the Mamushis connected, it sounded pretty close. I tried three different interconnects and they all give some kind of disembodied sound. Very musical, but like a mid-class player should sound. Enter the Mamushis! The Pioneer went from being a dwarf to a giant, a gentle giant.

The Mamushis just pulled the best out of the CD-player and I was very pleasantly surprised. Jennifer Warnes sounded as sweet as ever on “The Ballad Of The Runaway Horse” – this time from the CD “Duets” – as ever. Her voice with Rob Wasserman’s plucking bass sounded delightfully. I had to hear the track twice because I actually doubted my ears. How come this combination with only different interconnects sounded so full-bodied? Coincidence maybe?

Not so! On “Way Down Deep” from “The Hunter” things went deep, pretty deep without the slightest hint of getting too muddy or syrupy. Great performances deserve an encore! “The Panther” from “The Well” sounded so very nice, every instrument right in place that I really can’t find any words to describe how good it sounded. “The Patriot’s Dream” has a Scottish Pipes & Drum band marching by. It sounded so very true to the original I found it unbelievable. I said it once before, on drums and percussion these cables are outstanding.

The CD “The Long Black Veil” from “The Chieftains” has a lot of guest performances. I started with “The Foggy Dew” by Sinead O’Connor. Wow! Those drums again. Just plain magic! On the “Coast Of Malabar” by Ry Cooder, there was more than magic in the air! This is one of my favourite tracks and I must have heard it a hundred times or more. But wait a minute…. That sound of the flute…. Weird. Try again. That flute comes from a different direction. All these times I had listened to this track, the sound of the flute sounded so straightforward that it gives an uneasy feeling to the ears. Now the sound didn’t separate itself from the rest, it was somewhere else, more integrated with the other instruments, it was uncanny. I never heard this song being reproduced in such a way before. This was magical!

On “The Wonderful Sound Of Three Blind Mice”, the 24k gold version imported from Japan, there’s Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” sung by a Japanese singer with a beautiful voice. Then there is this sax solo that pops up, a beautiful sax solo, as real as can be. That sax was there in the room with me, the player was present. What a joy to listen to!

Loreena McKennitt’s “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” has so much air surrounding the song, a wide soundstage and you just sit there listening and hear every breath she takes, a gentle voice – fierce at times – that sounds so hauntingly beautiful.

I just had to write this follow-up to my original review because these are things that really make a difference. If there’s a component in your system you suspect might be of mediocre quality, think twice before you spend a lot of money on new equipment. Just buy a pair of Mamushis and give it a shot. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed but delighted instead. I just used a pair of $1700 Mamushis with a $500 CD-player and I was pleasantly surprised. I think the Mamushis shall just stay there and I can then use the – still being under development – Jararacas with the Audio Synthesis duo. Do also check out Snake River Audio’s power cords. Those are next on my “To Discover” list. Now if you’ll excuse me, I shall be in my listening room with a truckload of musical goodies!

Associated gear
Quicksilver Audio tube amplifier,
Audio Synthesis Passion passive attenuator,
Pioneer CD-player/recorder,
TDL Chiltern studio monitors,
TDL loudspeaker cables.