Anyone tried Active Interconnects?

[smartins]

I have a ATA Air Palladium cable that I like very much. It's probably the sound signature I like most of all the materials I tried.

Mine is 1m but because of limited space I prefer a 0.5m one so I'm thinking on sell mine and buy a shorter one.

But I've noticed that Aural Thrills Audio also has several Active Cables:
http://www.auralthrillsaudio.com/sto...?idCategory=50

Anyone tried any active cable before and if so can you share any comments you might have about them compared with non-active ones?

Thanks!

 

[Jon L]

I have a bunch of Aural Thrills cables, including the Air Palladium (non-active), Gold active, and Gold Alloy active.

Basically, if you like the Air Palladium's sound, I wouldn't necessarily go with the active version. I asked Tom (ATA) about this; he likes the active version due to blacker background and enhanced soundstaging but agreed with me that the non-active version will tend to have more apparent treble detail and more forward/exciting.

The Palladium is already so smooth that it doesn't need any extra smoothness of the "active" shield IMO; I found similar results with my active cables comparing with the power connected/disconnected. Same with my active Omega Mikro power cord.

 

[smartins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a bunch of Aural Thrills cables, including the Air Palladium (non-active), Gold active, and Gold Alloy active. Basically, if you like the Air Palladium's sound, I wouldn't necessarily go with the active version. I asked Tom (ATA) about this; he likes the active version due to blacker background and enhanced soundstaging but agreed with me that the non-active version will tend to have more apparent treble detail and more forward/exciting. The Palladium is already so smooth that it doesn't need any extra smoothness of the "active" shield IMO; I found similar results with my active cables comparing with the power connected/disconnected. Same with my active Omega Mikro power cord.

Thanks! I'll probably go with the regular version instead.

Btw, how do the Palladium compares with the Gold versions? I've tried most of the cable materials so far but gold is one that I haven't yet managed to listen to.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartins /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks! I'll probably go with the regular version instead. Btw, how do the Palladium compares with the Gold versions? I've tried most of the cable materials so far but gold is one that I haven't yet managed to listen to.

Palladium, while being just as smooth as gold, tends to have more resolution of detail and apparent speed. Gold counters with deeper tonality and more weighty bass. ATA Gold alloy is somewhere in between but not as dense-sounding as Gold and not as detailed as Palladium.

Actually, I love the sound signature of Palladium, but the one I REALLY love is the Palladium alloy used by Silversmith Audio. Ahhhh...