Atlas Mavros (5m) review

You'll need an extravagant system for these excellent speaker cables

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

With an appropriate system and a fat wallet, you'll find these cables offer excellent performance

Pros

  • +

    Exceptional detail resolution

  • +

    Strong dynamics

  • +

    Tonal neutrality

Cons

  • -

    They are not cheap

  • -

    You will need an equally extravagant system

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

We know there are many readers who will never get past the price of these Atlas cables. Thankfully for Atlas, these cables are great performers in the context of an appropriate system.

We're quite fond of the 15 percent rule, which says that you should spend that percentage of the total system cost on cable.

Start thinking of the Mavros in the context of a 20-grand-plus system and the price doesn't seem so outlandish, particularly when you hear just how clearly this pairing out-performs cheaper, quality competition.

As you would expect, the Mavros sound is very much in the Atlas mould: it's neutral, detailed and smooth without blandness, except here it's to a higher level than we've heard from the brand.

Listen to Beethoven's 5th and the cables deliver a greater level of insight and stronger dynamics than most other cables we've tested.

It'll come as much down to taste and careful system matching as anything else, but either way, at this end of the market, the Mavros makes a strong case for itself.

What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.


Read more about how we test