A different view of power cords


Hi All,
I read a recent thread here on power cords and it reinforced a view I have that most audiophiles use aftermarket power cords and the vast majority recognize that they make a very big difference in the sound of their system. I'm definitely in this camp, but a recent experience has changed my view of the merits of that difference.

I went back and compared my Transparent power cords to the stock cords I got with my CJ amp and pre and was surprised to hear that with the stock cords my components delivered more natural and tonally "correct" sound. There was more "air around" the instruments and the vocals, overall better clarity and depth and less glare.

The Transparent Premium Power cords gave the sound a very "hyped up" quality that, while exciting and rather appealing at first, wore on me over time. I didn't realize this was happening until I tried the stock cords again which I'd never done before. I even went so far as to try the power cord from my VPI RCM with my amp and that even netted an improvement. Crazy!

Has anyone else had a similar experience? 

If you're interested, I wrote an article about this recently here:

https://www.thebrokenrecord.net/power-cords-the-sound-you-want/
thebrokenrecord
steakster ...

I couldn’t agree more with your assessment of the importance of clean power.

There’s nothing we can do to clean up the power from the transmission lines to the circuit breaker box, but when Perfect Path Technologies was still in business, there was plenty that could be done from the circuit breaker box to the audio system, that’s for sure. Starting with "The Gate" in the circuit breaker box to "Total Contact" on all of the connections.

I was fortunate enough to be able to take care of some of the pre-circuit breaker box power though. My electrical transformer is in a locked metal vault in my backyard. It feeds the neighbor’s homes as well as mine. Tim Mrock was very generous with me prior to his passing. He actually sent me a tub of TC with enough product to paste the entire outside of the transformer box.

I used a 2" paintbrush and spread a thick coat of TC on it. Tim told me that the improvement would be dramatic. I had no idea until I fired up the system. Dramatic? I’ll say. Since then, so much has been done to further clean up the power for further improvement in sound.

My audiophile friends are pretty astounded at how quiet the system is ... without rolling anything off. So, I concur ... If I were starting over, cleaning up the power before anything else is well worth the effort.

Once one experiences his/her system operating on clean power, the compulsion to constantly upgrade the system with more and more expensive equipment is no longer there.

Want to get off of the equipment merry-go-round? Address the dirty AC power and you’ll be done.

Frank
@oregonpapa,

totally agree with everything you say on cleaning up the power. In lieu of TC you might try madscientistaudio.com‘s Graphene Contact Enhancer with like effect. For me passive power conditioning using Acoustic Revive power cords and Rtp-4 or RTP-6 strips has worked wonders. Another winner are WA cable chips on the power cords and Acoustic Revive REM-8 EMI busters on power transformers. The Mad Scientist supplies Blackdiscus Donuts for torroidal transformers with very beneficial effects. Lastly using EMI/RFI rejecting material on the junction boxes and power supplies has proven very beneficial. Unfortunately cleaning up power is a multi-step process but well worth it
@antigrunge2,

Those are some great suggestions, and I appreciate all the details. Thank you for your input!

I wish those AR Rtp strips weren't so expensive! Are they that good?
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