Nihal reviews the PLUSSOUND Palladium Fusion Hybrid, a new high-end aftermarket 25AWG audio cable with a hybrid alloy coaxial design. It is currently priced at $1999.00.
Disclaimer: I received this sample in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links. I thank the team at PLUSSOUND for giving me this opportunity.
Click here to read more about PLUSSOUND products that have been previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This article follows our scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
PLUSSOUND is a well-established US brand, and they have been putting out some seriously good cables and IEMs for a while now.
I have been a quiet admirer for some time, and I have genuinely loved a few of their recent releases, especially the Hybrid XL cable and their flagship IEMs like SONORA SE and VOLTA SE. These releases feel well-thought-out and properly crafted.
For me, it was honestly hard to find obvious flaws or things that annoyed me. They do not seem like a brand that cuts corners. The craftsmanship is consistently high, and most of their products sit right up there as strong picks in their price brackets.
Last year, alongside Hybrid XL, they also released a new cable called Palladium Fusion Hybrid. If I am not wrong, at $1,999.99, this is one of their most premium cables yet.
That is the base price, too, and if you go into customizations, the final number can climb further. PLUSSOUND calls it the next evolution of their earlier Palladium-Plated Hybrid (PPH) release.
In this review, I will go through what this cable brings to the table, how it pairs with a few IEMs, and how it stacks up against the Hybrid XL, Effect Audio’s Fusion 1, and the PWA 1950s (with shielding).
Material & Geometry
The Palladium Fusion Hybrid is PLUSSOUND, taking the usual copper vs. silver debate and basically saying, why not fuse both and spice it up with palladium?. That is the whole point of this build.
The Palladium Fusion Hybrid is infused into both copper and silver strands, and the goal is not some vague “better” claim but a very specific kind of refinement: deeper stage, cleaner outlines, and more obvious micro detail without turning the presentation into a sterile lab report.
Structurally, the wiring is a 25AWG tri-layer, coaxial-type Litz design, and a three-layered design. The center layer is palladium and silver alloy, and it uses the largest diameter strands, so that is the performance core.
Around it sits a full palladium and copper alloyed middle layer, which is doing the practical job too, keeping the cable more flexible and less stiff in hand.
The outer layer is a mixed alloy layer using both palladium and copper alloy and palladium and silver alloy, and it is not just there for flavor. It also works as a shield for the two inner layers, isolating them from electrical interference and helping the cable keep that black background thing people chase.
Each strand is enamel-coated to reduce electrical anomalies and prevent oxidation, so it holds up and does not look tired after long use. The proprietary PS insulation keeps it soft and ergonomic, and the production wire is cryo-treated for long-term stability.
The result, at least on paper and by design, is faster signal transfer with low resistance and less distortion, plus the whole “no crystal boundaries and molecular junctions” angle that PLUSSOUND loves to talk about. Either way, it is clearly not a basic cable recipe.
Design
The Palladium Fusion Hybrid looks like a PLUSSOUND cable from across the room, but the colorway here is the big tell. That black-and-burgundy hardware combo just hits. It has that premium vibe without screaming about it.
The cable has a clean shine due to its sleeve and the conductors that make it pop under light. The jacket is transparent, so you can actually see the conductors, and that copper and silver mix looks really good. The braiding is tight, everything feels properly finished, and nothing feels like it’ll loosen up over time.
The termination setup is the same PLUSSOUND adapter style you see on a lot of their cables. Practical, familiar, and built like a tank.
The black hardware all over feels clean, and those burgundy collars add the contrast I was talking about. It’s one of those small details that makes the whole thing feel more expensive than their usual cables.
The splitter is a cylindrical barrel, slightly big, visually speaking. The central part is finished in burgundy, and there’s a bit of pattern on it. The chin slider has a fresh, polished glow that makes the top half look like it’s dressed up for fine dining.
The 2-pin connectors keep the same theme: black bodies, burgundy collars, neat and consistent. They look clean and feel sturdy. The diameter of pins here runs quite accurately, as I never had any struggle to place them on most of my IEMs.
Next to the stock cables on SONORA SE and VOLTA SE, and even compared to Hybrid XL, this one is designed more premium.
Still very PLUSSOUND, same family vibe, but the colorway and the thinner, shinier cable design make it feel like a more elevated version of that style.
Handling
The Palladium Fusion Hybrid’s handling is honestly the first thing that makes you like it. The moment you pick it up, you can tell it’s thinner than most premium cables, and that alone changes the whole experience.
It’s not thin in a sketchy way, not flimsy, not “is this going to snap?” thin. It just feels slim, intentional, and way easier to deal with. It sits lighter, doesn’t fight you, and never gives that thick-rope vibe that some flagship cables bring along.
And even though it’s supple and easygoing, it still has character. It doesn’t feel like a generic soft cable or some “lightweight” compromise.
It feels properly designed, as they knew exactly who this cable is for. If you’re someone who avoids thicker cables because they feel demanding, heavy, or just annoying to manage, this one will click instantly.
What I love is how it behaves once it’s on. No bulk around the ear, no stiffness, no weird tension pulling at the IEMs. You put it on, and it basically disappears. It’s one of those cables you stop thinking about in five minutes, and for me, that’s the best compliment.
No pressure points, no annoying memory, and no constant adjusting to make it sit right. Even when you move around, it follows along quietly, without tugging or acting dramatically.
Storage is equally stress-free. It coils easily and doesn’t fight back or tangle when you drop it into a case.
I personally keep looking out for thinner cables for exactly this reason. They’re easier to live with, less fussy, take up less space, and just make premium IEMs feel more effortless. For day-to-day use, Palladium Fusion Hybrid gets full marks for handling. It’s the definition of put it on and forget it exists.
Packaging & Accessories
The Palladium Fusion Hybrid packaging is classic PLUSSOUND: the same tiny matte-black box they use for everything, with no marketing paragraph screaming at you and the PS logo stamped in the middle in a subtle gold tone.
Opening the box, you get a card reading the usual “designed and hand-assembled in Los Angeles” line. There’s a little pull tab at the bottom, so you slide the inner tray out like a drawer. Simple, neat, done.
Inside, there’s just the burgundy pouch. The cable and other accessories are packed and sealed in thin plastic baggies inside this pouch.
The Palladium Fusion Hybrid pouch is the star: deep wine color, pebbled skin, and the PS logo pressed in the center. The stitching is clean, and the drawstrings on it don’t feel like they’ll fray after two pulls. It’s genuinely a nice pouch, but I still see it as cable-only.
Yes, you can technically fit IEMs in there, but I would not recommend it. Metal shells, metal hardware, pins, and plugs all rubbing around in one soft pouch are just asking for scratches or stress on the connectors.
You also get the small extras like a cleaning cloth and a thin leather strap to tie the cable once it’s coiled. It keeps the whole presentation minimal, which I do like. I am not someone who enjoys a ton of foam and air-filled packaging anyway.
But for the price, I still feel a proper leather carry case should be the default. Some smaller brands like Nostalgia Audio really push presentation harder with more useful inclusions. PLUSSOUND keeps it clean, but one more step would turn ‘nice’ into ‘wow.’
Click on page 2 below for my performance impressions and recommended pairings.
