Cardas or Virtual Dynamics power cords? Opinions?

Well I know Ayre likes Cardas cables, so there maybe some synergy there, I do not know. In my non-Ayre system, I prefer the Virtual Dynamics. However, I have not heard the David series. I'm only familiar with the Nite/Master/Revelation series.

John

My pleasure Blaine. Though you are 3000 miles away, I can hear how good your Parsifal's sound from here. :)

Cheers,
John

Hi Ed,

I'm glad you are enjoying the VD Revelations, though to be honest I do have a bit of 'seller's remorse'. I sold them for funds to upgrade my preamp/amp, but I have not heard a power cord that betters them yet. The used prices now seem to have jumped 20-25%, which is prohibiting me from re-aquiring them. Though I do have some Masters on order.

Maybe I should give Transparent another listen. I listened to several Transparent i/c's, s/c's, and p/c's over the years, and even owned some i/c's for a while. I never felt they were a good value though. They sounded good, but I felt I heard many better sounding cables that cost less. However, I haven't heard any Transparent stuff in around 5 years.

I have the PAD Dominus, and it is a very good cord, but not on par with the VD Revelation, IMHO.

Cheers,
John

Hi Ed,

Actually I'm still waiting for my new preamp to arrive. My dealer ordered it on 12/12/06, and I'm still waiting. It's a BAT VK-32SE. He has sent me a VK-3iXSE loaner while I wait.

Yesterday I got a pair of VD Revelation speaker cables, man are they stiff. Even with pre-bending they are a struggle. It looks like I'll have to send them back to VD though, as they broke the binding post on my Rowland amp. :(

John

Blaine, I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards giving them another shot. I can pre-bend them into shape, but to do it right, I would have had to move my right channel speaker out of position. I tried to do it the easier way, by just turning my amplifier 90 degrees. The cables tightened down fine, but as I was turning the amp back into normal position, it popped off the binding post.
Also, even with pre-bending, they will make working behind my system prohibative. My monoblock amps require only 2 feet speaker cables, these Revelations are 6 feet, the shortest VD makes. There is not a whole lot of room behind my system, but enough for me to get behind it and change cables. I don't know if I can still squeeze back there once I put in these rebarb wires, if you know what I mean. I guess what I'm saying is that part of the pre-bending problem is that these cables are too long for my needs. My monoblock amps are right next to my speakers. It'd be great if they were 3 feet shorter.

So I'm thinking of trying the Rev's again, but I'll have to move the whole speaker out of position so that I don't have to move the amp after the cables are hooked up to them. I didn't think of this until after the binding post popped. I never had to move the speaker just to hook up speaker cables before, but I guess there is a first time for everything. At this point, they'd better be worth the effort.

Though I'm not fully positive that I want to keep a cable that is capable of such damage. Luckily, no person or animal was injured on this occasion. I would worry about it snapping at an inopportune time, like if the dog was sniffing around back there, or the wife was cleaning, or myself changing some other cables.

I am starting to question some of my audio decisions lately. I also recently aquired a power cord (which shall remain nameless), that is so stiff and heavy that it twisted the power conditioner around! It makes the VD Rev. power cords look like zip cord. :)

Why do I do this stuff??? Am I a masochist? Why can't all cables just sound the same to me???

John

To all,
I replaced the binding posts on my Rowland amp today, and wrestled the Revelations into place (I have the scars to prove it).
My initial impressions are favorable, they sound very good. The attack and decay of instrumental notes, as well as the power and dynamics stand out as outstanding.
There are some things that I miss about the PAD Dominus speaker cables that I had been using though. The Dominus presented a more relaxed, laid back presentation, with better soundstage depth. The Dominus was also better at making the walls and speakers 'dissapear'.

The Revelations have a more 'immediate' presentation, somewhat like moving up towards the stage several rows. The Dominus has more of a 'laid-back' presentation, more like seating mid-hallish. Obviously different people will prefer different presentations.

Though the Dominus cannot match the attack and decay speed of the Revelation, and sound a bit slow in comparison, I do wish that the Revelation had the spacious dimensionality that the Dominus present.

These are just my initial impressions. Obviously, due to the stiffness of the VD cables, quick A/B comparisons will not be possible. Both are very fine cables, with strong attributes. Which will be prefferable in the long run is yet to be determined.

John

Ozzy,

I see in your system that you have PAD Dominus interconnects and VD Revelation speaker cables, an interesting combination indeed. Have you thought about going all one way or the other? I know Rick Schultz recommends a full VD rig. I'm sure Jim Aud of PAD feels the same way. It might be an intruiging combination of PAD and VD, assuming you get the best properties of both.

The dynamics and power of VD with the soundstage and ease of the PAD........hmmmmmm....intruiging indeed.
Of course I guess the possibility of getting the power and dynamics of the PAD and the soundstage and ease of VD is also a possibility. :(

John

Actually Dennis, the Rev's are used, not new, at least that is what Rick and Abderrahim at VD told me. There is no way of telling how many hours have been on them, maybe 50 maybe 5000. You can't tell when buying used.

If it does indeed take 3-4 months for them to bloom, it's a shame VD only has a 45 day trial period.

Your description of the Genesis sounds similar to my take of the Dominus regarding soundstage. The speakers and walls just dissapear. There is no way that I can afford to try the Genesis though, so I'll just have to take your word on that. :)

John