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Has MAS done it again ?

I don't normally write reviews because I'm not much of a writer and I type very slowly, so guess what? I'm not going to write a review, but, I will write enough, hopefully, in this capsule "mini-review" to maybe whet your appetite to at least try this new MAS Signature interconnect. I bought the newly introduced MAS Signature interconects for the introductory price of $150.00 knowing that with Stu's 30-day money-back guarantee I had nothing to lose, but return freight charges. I hooked these up to my beloved Citation Eighteen tuner and listened for a few minutes. I was shocked that even fresh out of the box, unbroken in, I could hear details and naturalness that you only get from quality interconnects that retail for $500.00 and up. I let the cables burn in another 75 hours and took another serious listen. These interconnects are amazing. Incredible musical naturalness( they are quite neutral),amazing dynamics,great extension on bass and treble, and wonderful emotional involvement.Cymbals,especially take on a natural shimmer that I've been unable to get from my tuner.If you're familiar with the MAS previous offerings, MAS Black and Grey, just imagine hearing all the virtues of these,take away a few veils, and magnify the emotional envolvement by a factor of 10, and you get an idea of how remarkable these new Signature interconnects are.I have been listening to some great classical and jazz, both live and on LP's from my local college station and the sheer musicality is keeping me up late nights these past few days.These cables are remarkable at letting through fine nuances that other, if not most interconnects,hide or gloss over.I am going to give them a few more days of breaking in, try them in other locations, and will probably buy a few more pairs to put throughout my system.These are definately keepers for now. My congratulations to Stu Wein for coming out with a new "world-class" interconnect at a realistic price.My ears and my heart thank you. Well done, MAS!
sherod
albertporter's avatar
albertporter
4,927 posts
 
Frankly I'm happy this has gone so well. I used MAS many years ago and was very impressed. I guess I'm not surprised they pulled it off a second time.

I will try to get a pair to test against the new economy priced Vesta line from Purist. Would love to see how that turned out. Thanks for sharing the news and writing a nice review about this over achiever.
sherod OP
1,681 posts
 
Thank you, Albert. I look forward to your comparison.
sundance45
63 posts
 
I have to agree with Sherod, the MAS Sig IC is truly a high end interconnect. A couple of years back I was co-owner of Richmond Audio & Video and was an MAS authorized dealer. At that time our reference system consisted of Duntech Black Knights(originals with Dynoaudio drivers) driven by Klimo Linnet 100 watt tube, class A amps. Both ICs and speaker cable were MAS (gray) silver which produced some of the most realistic music I've encountered. I am still using the MAS gray on my Rel sub. I received my 1mm balanced set of MAS sig ICs 5/15/04 and it's currently breaking in. My first impressions after listening is not suprising, Stu always gave you great performance for a reasonable price. First without going into great detail my system is SS Krell amp/pre, ML Dac, DCS Purcell, CEC transport driving Piega speakers. Digital ICs are all Goldmund Lineal and Jena Labs Sinewave 7 IC from Dac to preamp. From the preamp to amp is a Purist Audio Max. The Purist Audio was removed and the MAS sig inserted. The MAS unbroken in, went head to head with Purist Audio ICs and in my opinion the MAS on cymbals and piano bested the Purist, however; it appears the Purist was much better in layering the soundstage, although the depth of the soundstage was equal. It appears I will have to wait until the MAS fully breaks in to see if this changes. At any rate, I know ultimately the MAS will probably be used as a source IC as in my Esoteric DV-50 and the pre to amp will be another Jena Lab IC. However this does not discount the great value and performance the MAS Sig gives the music listener. Once again, Stu Kudos, great IC.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Upon reading Sherod's review, and being an owner of Stu's MAS Black
and MAS Gray interconnects, I decided to give the MAS Signature
interconnects a try. My comments are made after only a day of listening,
so in fairness to the MAS Signature cables, a follow-up will be in order. I
connected the Sigs between my First Sound preamp and VAC Phi 110/
110 amp, where I ususally have a pair of Acoustic Zen Matrix
interconnects (originally MK1, nowMK II). Immediately, I heard a
difference. The MAS Signatures have incredible focus and clarity, and
this is where the difference between the two is most apparent. The
Acoustic Zen's have been said to have a "euphonic"
character; they provide a slight rounding to the sound, yet not at the
expense of detail or clarity. It's almost as though there is a touch of echo
or reverb added to the mix to make the room feel larger. The MAS
Signatures, on the other hand, are more neutral and dispense with the
"bloat" (perhaps too harsh a word...bloat). But, that's where
the primary difference lies. Where the AZ's have a certain bloom, the
MAS Sigs seem to accurately convey the music with no embellishment.
Treble extension with the MAS Signatures is equal to that of the Acoustic
Zen's (at nearly a fifth of the price). Thus far, the bass from the MAS
Signatures isn't as deep as the Acoustic Zen Matrix II, but it does sound
tighter. Both cables sound excellent, and it's hard to decide which I
prefer. More listening is in order, and I suspect the MAS Signatures will
change slightly with more time in the system. Nevertheless, at $150 a
pair, the MAS Signatures offer incredible value and compete with cables
costing significantly more.
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