Amadi Maddie Sig. RCA Interconnect


I was in the market for an interconnect to fit between my EE Minimax dac and Decware CSP2+ preamp and spent several hours poring over alternatives. I was intrigued by the Amadi Maddie Signature cable with its construction of 8X24 awg solid silver wire. I love the sound of silver cables when they are done right and despise them at their worst. I searched the Internet for reviews or customer experience with Amadi cables and was frustrated as there were none to offer any guidance. After trading a few emails with Amadi, I felt comfortable placing an order - especially with the money-back guarantee.

The cables arrived quickly via Priority Mail. I found the build quality was first rate and the cables extremely flexible. I was warned they take a little time to settle in so I installed the cables and let them suffer a burn-in cd on repeat for a few hours. I couldn't wait any longer and gave them a listen. They were sounding good but I could tell they needed more time to "relax".

The next day I was prepared for a serious listening session. I warmed my system for 1/2 hour andd sat down to critique my new cables. What I heard was the smoothest midrange/upper midrange I have ever heard. Recordings that were difficult to listen to became smooth and lush - and that was an issue. I like a smooth warm sound but the bass I was getting was fat, bloated and flubby. It was bleeding into the midrange and robbing detail from my music. After a 3 hour listening session and contacted Amadi to let them know I was not happy with the sound of the cables. I was told not to worry - that the bass in these cables takes more time to burn-in due to their silver content. It was a busy week so I was able to rig the Maddies up to my "burn-in" system in the basement and ran them in for 75 straight hours. Saturday morning came and I sat down for another trial.

I have to say, these cables sound absolutely amazing in my system. I am sensitive to glare/grain/harshness in the lower treble / upper mids. There is none. These cables are possibly the smoothest I have ever heard. They do not achieve this smoothness by rolling off highs. Cymbals and snares sound correct. Electric guitars have bite and are crunchy. These cable are appropriately fast but at the same time relaxed. Mids are not at all bloated but crystal clear with a totally silent background. I am hearing voices like I have never heard them. My bass is perfect. It is not accentuated or rolled off. When the recording calls for it it is there in its glory. Listening through my LCD2 headphones I am amazed that I can feel the bass in my chest. I am hearing deeper bass than I have heard previously and the quality is superb. It has weight and texture and is never boomy.

I inserted new tubes into my rig and could readily hear the different sound signatures of those tubes. I feel the Amadi cables are not adding anything to my sound. The impression I get is they are effortlessly allowing the music to flow. Imaging is wide and deep. My LCD2's are not know as being tops in soundstage creation but my stage is extremely wide and fairly deep.

I cannot find a flaw with the Maddie cable and am saving money to purchase another.
chatnoir

Showing 1 response by thriftyray

I have to say that I am very much in agreement with what Chatnoir has said concerning the Maddie Signature cables. These cables have replaced the Audio Metallurgy and Synergistic cables in my sytem and really bring some fine qualities to my music. After burning them for 3 days, I first inserted them between my Dac and PreAmp and put on a Dire Straigts disc. When I hit the second trac, On Every Street, I couldnt beleive my ears. This disc always sounded good, but this was superlative. The bass underpinning this song was extended and controled in a way that gave the soundstage both more depth and width. Knopfler's guitar was so rich, and then his voice so present, I was hearing this song in a way I never had before. This held true with almost every disc I played. This is the kind of thing that makes you stay up most of the night just enjoying old favorites. Oscar Peterson Trio's We Get Requests was well served also. Oscars piano was more tangible than before. The lefthand on the keys had proper wieght now and in some cases before where the right hand seemed a bit strident, the notes came through with proper dynamics, but completely under controle. Ed Thigpen's drum kit and especially his brushed cymbals are wonderful and Ray Brown's bass is full and harmonically well developed. Notes decay in seemingly real space. Sometimes Eva Cassidy's voice would be just a bit over the top with respect to stridency on Live At Blues Alley. With these cables, the vocals are still very much alive, you feel you are there, but most of that stridency (which I don't tollerate well) is gone. These cables let emotion come through in spades. Diana Krall, Holly Cole, and Casssandra Wilson to name a few shine with these cables. This weekend I tried the Maddies between my Chinook Phono Stage and PreAmp and found the story to be the same. Instruments are reproduced in their own space, voices are fleshed out, brass has all the pressence it should, and strings are glorious. My system is tube pre and solid state power amplification. Speakers are Magnepan 3.7 .Compared to any other resonably priced cable I have tried, these are incredible! Highly recomended. Considering that they are satisfaction guaranteed, how can you loose?