I need advice for power cords


In my system there are 4 components that power cords are interchangeable.  They are PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube Preamplifier, PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube DAC, Manley Chinook phonostage and Dayton Audio sa1000 subwoofer amplifier.   Should they all be upgraded, if not all which one to change to give me the most improvements.  I can't go crazy on cost, 1k to spend.   I've followed along with many threads on this subject. Always looking to make improvements to sound quality.   Many of you have much more experience with cables than I do so what do you recommend and I can do the research.  On a side note my McIntosh MC75's are vintage so old thin manufacturer cables and probably shouldn't change them. 

Thanks 
Mike 
zardozmike

Showing 4 responses by millercarbon

hickamore reasonably asks:
Several posts here make the fundamental claim that upgrading house wiring & outlets should be top priority, and that until this has been addressed, any comparison of audio component power cords is an idle exercise. What say the experts about this claim which, if true, would seem to moot many posts above (and those on other cable comparison threads)? 

Now with 30 years experience with both multiple different house wiring setups as well as a whole boatload of different cables and tweaks, I can say with absolute certainty one of the last things you should do is re-wire. If running wire for the first time then yes of course do it right. But even if you are capable and comfortable and willing to DIY the cost of the wire alone makes re-wiring a poor use of funds. The only time I would recommend it is if your cost is near zero because you have some way of getting the wire for free. Even then I would question your use of time. 

But Miller! What about you! You did all that stuff! https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367  Yeah which is how I learned what its worth and more to the point what its worth relative to other things you could do instead. 

A partial list of upgrades that offer a lot more sound quality improvement for your audiophile dollar:
Power cords, speaker cables, interconnects, power conditioners, cones, shelf, HFT, ECT, fuses, you get the idea, house wire is way down there near the bottom of the list.

AGAIN this is NOT talking about new construction. This only applies to ripping out what you got in order to make it better. This is NOT to say its not worth doing. It is only to answer the question of priority.  In other words, it applies to anyone who hasn't already addressed every tweak and accessory. Pretty much everything right down to a $70 sheet of FoQ tape is a better deal than re-wiring. In a word: don't.

Unless (there are always exceptions) you just really enjoy crawling around under the house pulling wire, drilling holes, pushing wire, skinned knuckles, cobwebs, ....
Skip the sub amp. It will make a difference however slight compared to everything else. When you have a budget you make budgetary decisions and this is the first one- skip the sub.

Next after the sub amp, I don't know where people get this idea they need a power cord for this and a power cord for that. If the power cord is good it will improve everything, even the sub amp just not as noticeable. But listen, its not that it doesn't make just as much difference on the sub amp. Sorry, know that sounds confusing but bear with me. It makes little difference on the sub amp because the sub amp operates in only one very small part of the audio spectrum, and a part we are not good at discerning fine detail at that. 

Everything else though works all across the whole spectrum, including midrange and treble where our ability to hear and discern fine detail is exceptional. So do yourself a favor. Forget everything about a power cord for this, power cord for that. Focus on finding the best two power cords you can for your phono stage and pre amp. Skip the sub. I would also skip the DAC because there is sadly no way of making digital sound good so why bother? But that's a judgment call, not everyone has figured this out yet, its your money, your system, and so if you want to divide your $1k into 3 then go for it.

Anyway, that's the deal. Forget about components, concentrate on the best 2 or 3 power cords for the money. If you go with 3 then it becomes super easy, just search around and buy 3 used Synergistic Master Couplers. That will be right about $1k, if that. If along the way you find a $500 SR Blue or something like that, go for it. Put it on the pre or phono. Whatever. Just do yourself a favor and focus on Synergistic.