Cable Influences: IC SpeakerCables Power Cord?


I recently upgraded my speaker cables from Audioquest Slate biwire to Acoustic Zen Hologram II biwire. (one of the audiogoner's favorites) in search of hugh increase in transpareny. ($200 cable to $1100 cable). The improvements are mainly in the following area: speed, tiny details and a more extended treble. I started hearing nuances in the background and instrument that I have not noticed before. Each individual instrument is more distinct and the treble has more snap. Remarkably, the overall presentation & tonal balance of the music did not change at all. I feel that this is a small step forward but probably not worth $600 (used). Does interconnects exert a bigger influence generally and power cables are even less significant? I know this is system dependent but I am asking this if this is generally true?
Sys:
Ayre CX-7 CDP
Kimber Silver Streak IC
Cary SLP 308 Pre-amp
Nordost Red Dawn IC
Audio Research VS 110
B&W Signature 805s
128x128glai

Showing 3 responses by tok20000

Rule number 1 in audio: No component or cable downstream from the signal can make up for any problems that are in the signal.

Basically a general system signal path is the following:

Power
Source + AC cord
IC from source to preamp
Preamplifier + AC cord
IC from preamp to amp
Amplifier + AC cord
Speaker cable
Speakers

I use Component + AC cord because in reality, a component's sound has the sonic signature of it in addition to the cord you plug it in with.

Thus, if you have bad power, this will not be able to be fixed by any component down the signal path.

If your Source + AC cord has problems, you cannot correct them downstream.

Etc... etc...

In general the more transparent a system is, the more it will be affected by any one degradation in the signal path. I can make my system sound absolutely horrible changing out just one AC cord.

Some people claim that cables make little to no difference in audio. I respond to them, you have not heard your system entirely hooked up with excellent cables and AC cords. Then try changing out one of the cords or cables.

These rules being laid out, I would consider (if you have good power) to upgrade you power cables 1st. You probably will not believe the sonics one can obtain from great AC cords. Next upgrade IC. And lastly upgrade speaker cables. This is effectively starting upgrading upstream then working your way down.

Cables and cords are notoriously the most neglected components in many systems. I personally would rather have a $30k system that had great cables in it than a $200k system that used awful cabling.

KF
S234chang is dead on right about component matching.

If your components do not match, no matter what cables you use, you are not going to get good performance from a poorly matched system.

Because I am in the industry, I do not make specific product recommendations in open public forums.

My best advice is try before you buy (AC cords or anything else for that matter). Do as much research as you can. Money does not always translate into sonics. However, this does not mean the best sonics can be obtained with a $50 AC cord. The cheapest reference level AC cord I have found runs around about $600 retail. And frankly, I think that it performs generally as good or better than anything I have tried at any price point.

$600 may sound like a lot for an AC cord, but some companies are trying to get upwards of $2k-3k retail for their cords. Tireguy knows what I am talking about.

There are AC cords under $600 retail that are good. I have not tried them all. There could be one out there that is reference level. I have looked hard, but have yet to find it.

KF
Stevenkc, it all depends on what you want. You should try before you buy or at least buy at such a good price point that you can sell without loosing too much $$$.

Truthfully, if I had not heard better AC cords in my system, I probably would still be using stock cords. I went for many (too MANY) years oblivious to the affect of power cords on sound.

The best advice I can give is never insert a component or cable or cable in your system you CANNOT afford. This especially goes for AC cords! Because once you hear it, you might not want to give it up... And if you are forced to give it up, your system sound will cause pains in your gut everytime you hear it.

One good rule of thumb is if you put good AC cords on all of your components, that sound will probably exceed one stellar cord on a single component. OFC mileage may vary.

KF