power cords for Pass Labs Amps

Do you think Pass is being untruthful?

I've used many aftermarket cords on a number of Pass amps and posted this same response more than once. I find very little difference. The cords on my XA-60 mono blocks are the most inexpensive cords in my system.

However, based on the recommendation of an EE friend who is also an audio component designer, I recently installed a dedicated ground for my dedicated lines and another dedicated ground for the components themselves both of which are more important than a single power cord IMO. The difference was night and day; no single power cord or combination of them ever made this much of a difference.

The use of an aftermarket power cord without the grounding systems may enhance the performance of your XA-160 more than my XA-60. YMMV

Disclaimer: Pass retailer

My older Pass Aleph 3 manual states that an aftermarket PC would do little to improve the sound, due to the highly regulated PS he uses. I suppose Nelson is still of this opinion with his latest amps.

I used a Oyaide Tunami Cryo GPX with Furutech terminations and heard a nice difference over the stock cord. Clearly more dynamic and sound that was more open and deeper tighter bass... I would think any truly good PC that is worth is metal is going to do better. But like everything else, Its critical to get a good system match..you must try different cords and hear the difference for yourself as to which suits your preference.

Tboooe, I haven't tried all the power cords out there, but I've tried several. None of them provided any dramatic improvement over the $6 Volex 17604 cord I am now using. Because of almost no positive sonic change, the price difference between the Volex and the cords I tried doesn't justify the change at all. I keep alternating the Volex and Shunyata Taipan Helix Alpha once in a while.

I was thinking of giving a DCCA Extreme reference power cord a try next, since Don from DCCA said several of his customers are using this cord with positive results on Pass amps.
If you happen to try any power cords on your amps and find that they made a dramatic difference, please let me know which cords are these. I am not excluding a possibility that something like Purist Dominus may make a difference, but the price of this power cord is insane even used(at least to me, at this point) so I'd rather upgrade speaker cables and most likely achieve more or buy more music instead.

Thanks for the respone everyone. Audiofeil, no I do not believe Pass is being untruthful but I also believe they have not heard every possible combination of pcs with their products, that is why I wanted to this forums opinion. Also but please excuse my ignorance...how do I go about doing dedicated ground? Is it expensive? I am adding two 20amp circuits for my system soon. Is this something I would do when the circuits are installed?

Audphile1, thanks for the input as alwasy. I am going to audition some pcs from the Cable Co. I will try and sample a broad range of prices including the Dominus to see if I can hear a differnece.

>I also believe they have not heard every possible combination of pcs with their products<

I agree wholeheartedly. However, if they've auditioned for argument's sake 5-10 high end cords with no appreciable difference, there is very little chance IMO that a cord exists that will shake the earth and make an astounding difference. Let's not forget the difference among power cords in not as disparate as the manufacturers would have us believe.

The design and build quality of the component's power supply is much more important in most cases.

The design and build quality of the component's power supply is much more important in most cases.

Audiofeil, right on, man! Totally applicable to Pass X.5 series.

there are some companies that will tell you there is no difference between power cords you use with their amps, preamps or whatever else they make. For the most part they give you this answer because they don't want to deal with you or be blamed for the crappy sound you will get in your system with the cable they recommended.
From my experience with Pass' customer and tech support, I don't beleive such to be the case though.
I am pretty sure Pass guys have auditioned reasonably priced power cords and found them to make no or very little difference. And that is why you received the above answer from them. Now, did they audition a $2k power cord with their amps? I don't know.

Tboooe, I'd be very curious to know the results of your audition of power cables through cable company. I'd appreciate if you can keep me posted on this.

I wish there is a reasonably priced cord that will make a substantial difference with these amplifiers. Honestly. But so far, I haven't had any luck. Heck, if it requires something in a ball park of Shunyata Anaconda or Purist Dominus, I doubt I'll be buying it. But if they do make a difference worth the money, I wanna know.

Tboooe,
I also have the Pass XA160's which I run on 15' JPS Labs In-Wall cables directly to dedicated 20-amp circuits from my AC panel terminated with Furutech IEC plugs. I tried this approach with my Pass Aleph 2 monoblocks and found it made a big difference. Lower noise floor. There are no additional connections (outlets and powercords) between each amp and breaker. I plan to talk to my electrician about a dedicated ground and will try Walker Extreme SST on connections at the breaker and back of amps. You can refer to my virtual system for more details. Very interesting topic.

Yes, Pass suggested that their stock cords were enough. However, I have managed to achieve dramatic changes with PAD Dominus, Venustas and ESP Reference. I do not own the XA160 but 2 pcs X350.5
Dominus and ESP really excells in the bass and the Venustas is a true all rounder.

Terryakhan,

What is the difference with the Dominus and the ESP?

Apart from price,the Dominus bass has a bit more clarity than the ESP. However the ESP is an oustanding product also. ESP is a terrific value.
Hope this helps. Terry