Hawthorne Audio

MAC: Mystics

Pictures are on the website and in the Audiogon Classifieds

Sonic Profile:
Full, extended, dynamic, focused & smooth with a touch of warmth!

Reviews will be out. The MAC test community was blown away!

Construction:
24awg gold/silver alloy conductors
Pure natural teflon/air dielectric
WBT silver soldered
ETI Silver Bullet RCA's
Proprietary twist & internally dampened


Contact MAC directly for the options

Anyone care to post a review here?

Stephen,
I have tried many different interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords, not to mention a few digital cables, over the years from several different manufacturers. In the past my experience has been to choose the ones that interfere with the music the least. Without exception there has been a downside to every one. Some get this or that right at the sacrifice of some other aspect of performance. As an example, cables that are particularly "detailed" are usually too aggressively bright and forward sounding. Until I tried the Mystics I never would have believed it possible for a cable's performance to be balanced in such a way that those trade offs basically don't exist.
The Mystics are the most musically real, and natural sounding cables I have ever used. Over the past two years or so I have been using Audience Au24. Great cables. They do alot right. The Mystics cold, right out of the package, were almost the equal of well broken in Au24. After a couple of days in the system there was no comparison.
It took a few weeks for me to figure it out, but I believe one of the reasons the Mystics sound so believable is that they get the tone, timbre, and complex harmonics of instruments and groups of instruments right. Alot closer to real than I have ever heard from any interconnect that I have used. Combine that with a real sense of the space that the recording took place in. If the recording allows it the imaging and soundstaging is almost 3 dimensional, for the lack of a better description. They are a very detailed sounding cable. But, all that detail is presented in the context of the music and not shoved in your face the way many "detailed" cables do. Bass is deep and well controlled. Voices sound as real as the recording allows. The high frequency characteristics of the Mystics are unbelievable. Air, detail, speed and not even a trace of that grainy, glaring, sound that some "fast" cables have.
To say I'm impressed with these cable is an understatement. If you are an audiophile as a means to get closer to the music you enjoy, whatever that music happens to be, and you think your present interconnects are holding your system back, I believe trying the Mystics will be a huge step in the right direction.
Thanks Stephen,
M. H. in Ohio

How do the Mystics compare to the Palladiums? I've got several sets of the Palladiums and have a hard time believing there is much better.

Mystics compared to Palladiums

They are smoother, very extended, more air, more ambience - in some systems the Palladiums can seem edgy, not the Mystics.

Probably one of the most musical experiences to be had. These cables just do not get in the way of the music!

Steve

FYI- the above writeup (M.H. Ohio) on the Mystics was information from a Palladium previous owner.

Steve or Mark,

I would like to hear your comparison of the Mystics vs the reference IC's, as many of your post comments are similar to my feelings on the references.

Thanks so much.
John

codydog wrote:How do the Mystics compare to the Palladiums? I've got several sets of the Palladiums and have a hard time believing there is much better.

The difference to me between the Palladium and the Mystic pretty much comes down to their presentation. The Palladium is more......vivid than the Mystic. Not bright or sibilant or any of that, just more forward. One big difference though, is at least in my system, the Mystic provides a quieter background. The Mystic is a little more.....natural in the way they present music. No appreciable difference in frequency extension, or bass control. But, the Mystic is smoother and allows a larger and better defined soundstage to develop. The Mystic just seems to be the best of both worlds ; Extended and very detailed on top, but at the same time smooth as silk. There is just more of a sense of real music happening in every way with the Mystic.