"If changing an interconnect or power cord brought a real sonic improvement it would be a wonderful world indeed! Alas ..."
What a wonderful world we live in!
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?
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- 122 posts total
When I was getting back into Audio a few years ago, I purchased a $100 Silnote power cord for a NuForce STA-200. The change was HUGE! My deaf mother and father could have probably heard the difference. Pass Labs and First Watt includes a very substantial generic power cord with his amplifiers. I have tried various power cords with his amps, some I liked a little better than the included cord and others I did not. In several emails, I attempted to get Nelson Pass to recommend an aftermarket power for his equipment. He has always stated that the cord he sends out is very good, but never indicated that there might be cords that some might like better. Getting into the power cord recommendation business might be a rabbit hole that Nelson does not want to travel. In my system the BorderPartrol DAC responded quite well to a aftermarket power cord. From my experience, Horn speakers and single driver speakers are more resolving than other more conventional speakers and tend to reveal changes in cabling more readily. To disagree with the double naught spy crowd; in a good resolving system it all matters.
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@coachpoconnor , well put. And I’ve experienced the phenomenon that you have, with your system becoming WAY more sensitive to certain variables as you upgrade it to become more resolving. In my case this happened when I upgraded to Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker cables, from Clarus Crimson Biwire’s. I had them pre burned-in by my dealer, and connected them up late at night and was floored at the detail and the 3D soundstage depth that they exposed. Everything became clear and snapped into focus. Woke up next day and was excited to listen again over morning coffee, and…. What the hell? What happened to my soundstage depth? Everything is compressed and foggy now! I thought I might be imagining it but then I tried again late at night and again I was treated to a mesmerizing and holographic experience. After a few weeks of this I realized my incoming power is cleaner at night when my neighborhood is asleep. Bought a Torus, installed dedicated lines, and now all is (mostly) well. In that now it sounds great in the day and I can’t complain. But it STILL sounds best at night. I think most have this experience, for those who have highly resolving systems. And to your point, after upgrading to the Valhalla 2 speaker cables, there is no doubt the differences in power cords became magnified. It’s not the highest impact component in the system, but I do find power cords can have a profound impact soundstage depth, and the 3D presentation of vocals and instruments, and the “air” around vocals and instruments. |
- 122 posts total