This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below
Apart from minor internal tweaking the updated Panatela interconnects are outwardly identical to the previous version: cryo-treated solid silver wire encased in a natural fiber dielectric and pressure terminated with Xhadow RCA plugs.
The Panatela Digital is a 75Ω unshielded twisted wire design with a pure silver conductor and natural fiber dielectric. Connectors are pressure-fit Xhadow RCA or Atlas BNC. The Digital is pre-conditioned too. Mark also updated his Gran Corona power cable. Out goes the previous IEC connector, in comes Oyaide’s platinum and palladium-plated beryllium copper IEC. By swapping this but keeping the existing pure copper AC plug, Mark realized an ideal synergy and "significant improvement in clarity and dynamics without changing the overall voicing".
Mark recently also introduced an entry-level power cord called Petit Corona although it’s difficult to refer to a 7-gauge power cord as ‘petit’. Whilst halving the Gran Corona’s conductor mass for far greater flexibility with a change to less expensive connectors, the overall design of the Petit Corona mirrors that of its big brother including the use of noise-reducing crystals.
All Panatela cables are attractive, well-constructed, wonderfully flexible and easy to route. Although the digital cable is a tad stiffer, it posed no issues. I particularly liked the Xhadow spades and RCA connectors because they offered a good tight fit and appeared to be of excellent quality. The power cords are similarly well sorted if somewhat more difficult to route behind equipment racks. However the Petit Corona was far more flexible than the larger Robusto or Gran Corona.
The revised Gran Corona offered the same set of strengths I noted in my previous review but with a significant uptick in excitement and drama as well as greater clarity, depth and dynamic graduations - if such a thing were possible with a cable already well-endowed in this manner. The presentation was even more highly charged with transient attacks and dynamics that had my pulse pounding. What a fun ride! It’s a terrific power cord that should easily match any component or system.
This new Gran Corona projects music into the room with great elemental force. It’s a very physical sounding power cable with a lower perceived noise floor. It’s not for those seeking a more restrained pipe and slippers approach. The Petit Corona possessed the identical set of strengths albeit to a lesser degree. I found the junior cable to be an ideal match on my DAC or turntable power supply and it might be the most cost-effective power cable in Mark’s lineup. It’s also more neutral than the Robusto which could be too much of a good thing for some systems and tastes. While certainly ideal to have Gran Coronas all around, if cost were an issue I think a Gran Corona on amps and Petit Coronas on everything else would be awfully close. If that was still too rich, putting a Gran Corona from the wall to a decent power bar such as a BPT Pure Power Center feeding an entire system would dynamically speaking definitely give it a kick in the pants whilst simultaneously reducing AC grunge and hash.
