I've been testing the following power cords that I just purchased:
Pangea AC14
Pangea AC9
Signal Cable Silver Resolution Power Cord
Signal Cable MagicPower Cord
I'm testing them along with an older Audioquest NRG-2 I have.
My gear is the following:
Mcintosh C2200 Tube Preamp
Denon 5910 CI digital player
Mcintosh MC202 200 watt stereo power amp
Speaker cables are Morrow SP4 Reference BiWires
JBL Northridge E90 Floorstanders ( a cheap speaker from a few years back that does nothing wrong and just about everything right to my ears-very musical and surprisingly not outclassed by the other gear, although i will eventually step up to something that i find with more transparency and depth)
First, I NEVER expected power cords to make such a HUGE difference to the sound. The music changed in marked ways, but there were 4 basic categories that I put the cables in.
1) Stock power cable quality-Lack of depth to the soundstage and an overall flat sound, in that the music wasn't involving
These were the OEM power cables and the Audioquest NRG2, which i found to be nothing more than a well made standard cable. It didn't change the presentation much from my stock power cables
2)Heavy Handed and dark dynamics
First and foremost the Pangea AC9, and to a lesser extent the Signal Cable MagicPower cord.
3)Mid Range and dynamic presentation
This would be the Pangea AC14
4)Transparent Depth
This would be the Signal Cable Silver REsolution power cord.
The two favorites of my shootout were the Pangea AC14 and Signal Cable Silver Resolution. The former emphasized soundstage, black backgrounds, dynamics, and midrange. I've never heard guitars sound as good. The latter gave more emphasis to the higher frequencies, the sparkle, if you will, and allowed me to hear deeper into the soundstage to hear more of the details of cymbals, hi-hats, and, yes, even cowbell and the panning of it in the mix (I was listening to tracks from Cheap Trick "In Color" for awhile)
The Pangea AC9 was too dark sounding and obscured details on each component i tried it on. I was surprised to hear the Pangea AC14 sounding far superior on the power amp, as it's suggested for other line level components.
The Signal CAble MagicPower cord was similar, but not as dark or dynamic. More neutral than the AC9, but still less than neutral to my ears.
I ended up with the following setup:
Pangea AC14's on my Denon 5910ci and McIntosh MC202, and the Signal Cable Silver Resolution on the Mcintosh C2200 PreAmp. That was the formula for the best music my system has ever made. The bass guitar sounds as if it's in the room and electric guitars the same. The sound came to life.
I tried reversing the AC14 and Silver Resolution on the Denon and McIntosh preamp, but that didn't give the dynamics of live music to me.
It's worth noting that i didn't like AC14's on everything at the same time. It was too warm, and not transparent enough. It is a sound one could get used to. It is involving, but I needed to find a little more depth to the soundstage, which i found by adding in the Silver Resolution in the preamp spot.
It's also worth noting that the Silver Resolution cables were too revealing by themselves. It was as if the treble knob was turned up too high. I wouldn't be able to use it, if I didn't have the AC14's at the cd player and power amp.
For what's it's worth, I'm also using Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's between the preamp and power amp. I tried these out before messing around with power cables and found them more transparent and better sounding than my bettercables.com silver serpent XLR"s.
I didn't know what improvements I was looking for when i started my comparison, because i didn't know what was possible. In summary, I'd say my ultimate satisfaction came with the enjoyment that my system sounds more like live music, with increased clarity, separation between instruments and sounds (what I'd call a larger soundstage), and wonderful dynamics. I've never enjoyed listening to my system as much as i do this week.
Cheers
Pangea AC14
Pangea AC9
Signal Cable Silver Resolution Power Cord
Signal Cable MagicPower Cord
I'm testing them along with an older Audioquest NRG-2 I have.
My gear is the following:
Mcintosh C2200 Tube Preamp
Denon 5910 CI digital player
Mcintosh MC202 200 watt stereo power amp
Speaker cables are Morrow SP4 Reference BiWires
JBL Northridge E90 Floorstanders ( a cheap speaker from a few years back that does nothing wrong and just about everything right to my ears-very musical and surprisingly not outclassed by the other gear, although i will eventually step up to something that i find with more transparency and depth)
First, I NEVER expected power cords to make such a HUGE difference to the sound. The music changed in marked ways, but there were 4 basic categories that I put the cables in.
1) Stock power cable quality-Lack of depth to the soundstage and an overall flat sound, in that the music wasn't involving
These were the OEM power cables and the Audioquest NRG2, which i found to be nothing more than a well made standard cable. It didn't change the presentation much from my stock power cables
2)Heavy Handed and dark dynamics
First and foremost the Pangea AC9, and to a lesser extent the Signal Cable MagicPower cord.
3)Mid Range and dynamic presentation
This would be the Pangea AC14
4)Transparent Depth
This would be the Signal Cable Silver REsolution power cord.
The two favorites of my shootout were the Pangea AC14 and Signal Cable Silver Resolution. The former emphasized soundstage, black backgrounds, dynamics, and midrange. I've never heard guitars sound as good. The latter gave more emphasis to the higher frequencies, the sparkle, if you will, and allowed me to hear deeper into the soundstage to hear more of the details of cymbals, hi-hats, and, yes, even cowbell and the panning of it in the mix (I was listening to tracks from Cheap Trick "In Color" for awhile)
The Pangea AC9 was too dark sounding and obscured details on each component i tried it on. I was surprised to hear the Pangea AC14 sounding far superior on the power amp, as it's suggested for other line level components.
The Signal CAble MagicPower cord was similar, but not as dark or dynamic. More neutral than the AC9, but still less than neutral to my ears.
I ended up with the following setup:
Pangea AC14's on my Denon 5910ci and McIntosh MC202, and the Signal Cable Silver Resolution on the Mcintosh C2200 PreAmp. That was the formula for the best music my system has ever made. The bass guitar sounds as if it's in the room and electric guitars the same. The sound came to life.
I tried reversing the AC14 and Silver Resolution on the Denon and McIntosh preamp, but that didn't give the dynamics of live music to me.
It's worth noting that i didn't like AC14's on everything at the same time. It was too warm, and not transparent enough. It is a sound one could get used to. It is involving, but I needed to find a little more depth to the soundstage, which i found by adding in the Silver Resolution in the preamp spot.
It's also worth noting that the Silver Resolution cables were too revealing by themselves. It was as if the treble knob was turned up too high. I wouldn't be able to use it, if I didn't have the AC14's at the cd player and power amp.
For what's it's worth, I'm also using Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's between the preamp and power amp. I tried these out before messing around with power cables and found them more transparent and better sounding than my bettercables.com silver serpent XLR"s.
I didn't know what improvements I was looking for when i started my comparison, because i didn't know what was possible. In summary, I'd say my ultimate satisfaction came with the enjoyment that my system sounds more like live music, with increased clarity, separation between instruments and sounds (what I'd call a larger soundstage), and wonderful dynamics. I've never enjoyed listening to my system as much as i do this week.
Cheers