An interesting, enlightening and tasty lunchtime conversation with the CEO, or rather “Chief Engineer” of Atlas cables in London at their launch of the new Atlas Mavros Ultra range of Reference Series interconnects and Mavros XLR connectors this week.  The chief engineer tag refers to Mr Kelly’s passion for his subject and his engineering background, honed from Strathclyde University and nearly twenty years at Linn before joining Atlas.

The  Mavros Ultra shares the research and learning from the development of the flagship Asimi Ultra.  The new Mavros Ultra takes the existing Integra plug design from the Asimi that reduces negative currents at the termination of the cable.  A reduced mass, Mr Kelly explains, and a metallic sheath that manages the uneven expansion of the low mass plug combine to present an aesthetically pleasing finish that exudes “Reference Series”.   The terminals are all hand finished to ensure the highest quality is maintained ensuring high fidelity.

The copper conductor in the Mavros Ultra is drawn from Ohno Continuous Cast (known as OCC) grain free copper that is cooled slowly.  A new dielectric made of PTFE and also Polyethylene ensures the geometry of the cable is stabilised correctly, ensuring the highest speed performance from the cable.   Incidentally, I was interested to hear that the copper cable is arranged in six groups of twelve strands of OCC copper (72 strands!); remember the old ‘79 strand’ cable from the 80s!

So advancements in the conductor, dielectric, RFI management and terminal plugs all combine to give the Mavros Ultra a speed advantage that Mr Kelly is a pains to point out should only be judged by the listener.

More information from Atlas Cables (Scotland) Ltd
moreinfo@atlascables.com
www.atlascables.com

Atlas Cables originated in Scotland in 2001 to bring high quality no-nonsense cabling solutions to audiophiles the
world over. Their range of hand-made cables consists of interconnects, loudspeaker cables, digital cables and video cables (including HDMI) along with a new range of mains products.  Recent technology and testing developments have meant that they can now show real answers to questions posed about the effects that cables have and the importance of the materials used in the design.  Atlas cables are priced from £45 and are available in over 30 countries worldwide.