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Whom to invite to a Powercord shootout party

I have ordered 2 of the new PS Audio P5 conditioners and plan to use one each for my Monoblocks (each one on a different circuit). While I upgrade powersource, I will also need 4 new cords; 2x for P5 into the wall, and 2x between Mono's and P5. I am planning to do an in house shootout between what I currently have and one or two cords I am hoping to pick up on A'gon reasonably priced

What I have in house now are:

JP Cables Maximum Gold (very heavy gauge, but cheap cable)
PS Audio AC-12
Gutwire B12
I also just bought one Synergistic Research Precision AC

I am willing to buy one more contender in the $500 used price range for the shootout. Whichever cable wins I'll need to get four of.

Any recommendation for a cable in this price range for a high current application? It has to be a cable that is easy to buy and sell with minimal loss - so not the real esoteric stuff.
edorr

Showing 4 responses by edorr

edorr OP
714 posts
 
I was in the PC = Snakeoil camp until I tried the PS audio ac-12 which really worked. No double blind tests so it is entirely possible this is all just the figment of my imagination. Even if this is the case I'm quite happy in my delusional world of high grade powercords and stillpoints.
edorr OP
714 posts
 
I just ordered a pair of Mojo XPC-7 (30 day trial) and that will be the final contender in the lineup. I like to idea of having three different design principles represented: (Ribbon, Active Shielding and regular cable)
edorr OP
714 posts
 
Here is what happened. I had set up my new PS audio P5's conditioners in a convenient (temporary) location behind my Monoblocks for the shootout. I had run my class A Monoblocks a few days non stop to burn in the P5's. The first time I swapped a powercable (I had the Mojo XPC-7 connected and switched to the AC-12) for comparison, my Monoblock blew up. As it turned out they had overheated and melted a fuseholder and shorted. I ended up being without the Mono's for weeks and during that period set up the P5's in their permanent location, burried behind my audio rack, and too far away for the 1 meter AC-12's to reach my poweramps. Also, when I got the Mono's back the 30 day trial period on the XPC-7s had expired. As a result I then decide not to bother with a shootout and just keep the XPC-7. By the time I had my monoblocks back, my P5s in my system and the new cables in my system, I had no idea what change made what impact on SQ. I decided not to worry about it and just assume the XPC-7s are probably good cables (they better be fr $800 a piece). Oh well....
edorr OP
714 posts
 
The party is over. I have $5K worth of powercables in my system, by most people's standards (i.e. the 99%) enough to get me admitted to a mental institution.

The only holdout are the two cables from the wall to my two PS audio conditioners/regenerators. I am using cheap (but very heavy gauce) cables for this application, because I refuse to accept that this would make a big difference, because the power is regenerated anyway. Of course, everyone on the PS audio forum is telling the opposite. May-be one day I'll get my hands on a pair of additional (short) PCs to try this out (I briefly inserted an AC-12 when I still had just one Powerplant Premies and heard no difference).
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