Power cords or power conditioner


I’m at a cross roads and I’m looking for some advice from those have have gone down this road. I recently added a 2 channel integrated amplifier to improve my 2 channel performance. I had been using my Datasat LS-10 for music and while it sounded really nice, it was missing the depth and clarity that I know my speakers are capable of. My speakers are KEF Reference 3s, rest of my 2 channel set is is as follows:

Luxman L 509x

Luxman D-03x

Roon Nucleus Plus

Lumin U2 Mini

Transparent Audio Super speaker cables

Nordorst Red Dawn XLR, Blue Heaven USB

Wire World Platinum USB

All power cables are DYI using Oyaide Tsunami V2 cable

So what I feel I am missing is that 3D holographic sound stage. It was there with the Luxman 509 when I demo’d it, but I am unable to get that experience at my house. I feel that majority of equipment is up to the task but I am curious if I should ad a top shelf power condtioner like a Shunyata Triton or Torus AVR20 into the system or replace my Intergrated’s power cord with a Shunyata Alpha NC? I’m getting tapped out, so for now it can only be one or the other.

Or should I skip the above and focus on room treatments?

wheelndeal1099

One clarification - when I mentioned that the Torus is not a conditioner, I meant not in the traditional sense. Rather than filtering noise out, it electrically isolates your system from your house’s AC.

Interestingly, it was Nordost who first turned me on to Torus, when I had some questions about my Valhalla 2 speaker cables. They told me they thought conditioners can be tricky and unpredictable and yes, they also mentioned they can have an effect on tonal balance. They then suggested I look into Torus, along with another industry-veteran contact of mine who also strongly suggested Torus.

The RM20 definitely helps with soundstage depth. Details become more coherent, and I find that mid and upper detail are prerequisites for soundstage depth. Or maybe they just happen to always go together, not sure. But as mentioned speaker position and room treatment first…

And, dare I say it given the controversy in my other thread regarding power cord length: I think @ghdprentice found that when comparing like power cords of differing lengths, the longer cord offered a deeper soundstage? His test was with Audioquest Hurricanes.  And while I think of it - in my experience if you are using a USB cord shorter than 1.5m that will also clobber your soundstage depth somewhat and will compress everything more.  I did this test with two Audioquest  Diamond USB cords and two Nordost Valhalla 2 USB cords.  The longer cords from both manufacturers were blatantly better than the shorter cords in terms of openness, detail and soundstage depth.  I thought it might be a burn in issue at first so I actually ran the cords hundreds of hours, with no change - longer cords were superior.  So you might want to ensure you have no ultra short USB cables.  

 

in the words of Nelson Pass the power cables supplied with Pass amplifiers are sufficient to deliver more current than the amplifier is capable of.  Typical of most reputable amplifiers.  

Bark up another tree to improve the sound in the ways you are attempting.  

@nyev  My usb cable is pretty short, I'll have to look at it but I think it is around a meter.  I've also heard that a longer power cord will work better than short one.   Never experimented with it thought.   

As to speaker toe in, KEF states in their owners manual for the KEF Reference to not toe the speaker in much.  They claim that their speaker design doesn't need toe in like many other speakers.  I've played extensively with this over the 2 years I've had these speakers and I agree.  When I used Monitor Audio speakers they responded well with pointing the speakers at ones shoulders as someone suggested. 

While I'm new to a dedicated 2 channel set up, I've had many very high end HT processors over the years.  Lyngdorf MP-50, Lydgdorf MP-60 2.1, and now a Datasat LS-10.  I've also had some very nice amps including 3 BHK 300's that ran my front speakers.  The issue that I kept running into with the amps is nothing really sounded better than my current ATI amps.  A Mcintosh MC207 was the worst amp I've ever had in my system.   Now with the Luxman, I am seeing a nice improvement with things.

I did order a Shunyata Triton V3 with an Alpha HC PC.  I should have that possibly tomorrow.  It was between the Shunyata and the Torus I'm going to also order some sound panels to take care of the first reflection point.   I live in the City of Chicago, so I have a hard time believing my power supply is clean.  We will see, if the Triton doesn't do anything for me, I'll sell it.  

@wheelndeal1099 , try a demo of 1.5 or 2m quality USB cord. You might be surprised at the results….

No matter the vendor they always say that their products cannot be improved on. Best policy is to try for yourself, ideally with a blind test so it is objective, and see what you hear. Power cables can help improve soundstage depth, but I agree they shouldn’t be your first focus to address this issue though.