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Diving into Power... Cable recs for my system and ears....?

Hello All,

 

I have been enjoying a full system upgrade over the past year... the interconnects and digital cables were an eye opener! Now I am bringing my attention to power...

I am currently running my components off a power strip that is 10' long... supposedly designed for audio. All my major components are plugged into this. This power strip is plugged into a wall outlet, which is shared with some lights etc. Also plugged into this power strip is my wifi router. 

 

I have a few questions:

-What is the most important in regards to impact to overall sound if I were to upgrade the power cords? My guess its: 1: Amp.... 2: DAC... 3: Streamer... is that right? Or is it the opposite? 

-Should I have an electrician setup a dedicated outlet to my electrical box, and run my main components off that? Is this worth it? or is there another setup between my electrical box and my components? Or if there is no detectible buzz, should I simply not bother?

-If I should begin looking into power cords as the first upgrade here, what cord would you recommend if I yearn for the following: Extreme startling presence and separation... magic midrange, highs blissful, voice acoustic jazz violin, piano... essentially startling presence as if the instrument is right there... 

I have been enjoying Anticables, and they have a well rated cable in the $300 range which supposedly is as good or better than $1000 cables... but I am open to recommendations...! 

 

Thank you all!

Richard

 

 

 

 

Currently my system (also outlined in my virtual system profile) is as follows:

    • SPEAKERS: Pure Audio Project Duet 15 Horn (Mundorf Silver Gold Oil Cap upgrade and customized crossover w/high pass filter and sweeter meds), Anticable 4.2 Flex Internal wire)
    • STREAMER: Nagra Streamer (Cardas Clear Coaxial)
    • DAC: HoloAudio Spring 2 Level 3 Kitsune edition (Silversmith Fidelium RCA Interconnects)
    • AMP: PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated (RAY TUBES EL34 Reserve power tubes, RADIOTECHNIQUE NOS 12AU7 Gain tubes w/Mullard NOS and Brimar NOS tubes (Anticables 4.2 Flex to speaker)
    • PHONO: Music Hall MMF-9 and McIntosh MP 100 Preamp (Audio-Technica AT160ML MM Cartridge, Anticable 7.3 and Silversmith fidelium Interconnects)
whyrichard
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,175 posts
 

@westcoastaudiophile Why don’t you purchase 4-5 power cords in different price categories and test them in your system. Tell us whether or not you heard any difference. Be it positive or negative, big or subtle.
Or do you think if I hear differences between power cables I should go buy measuring equipment and perform measurements for you. Or should I agree with Amir measuring voltage on the output of his “$99 high performance” Chinese DAC / Headphone Amp that there are no sonic differences between cables if the voltage on the output is the same. Come on dude. I am willing to bet that the large percentage of folks who say power cords make no difference either never heard what a good power cord can do in their systems or don’t have systems / rooms ears to pick out the differences. It’s really that simple  

 

westcoastaudiophile
819 posts
 

“Why don’t you purchase 4-5 power cords in different price categories and test them in your system"

easy one.. because I buy top end gears with excellent power cable (free) provided!  LOL 

why cable guy can’t sell cables to top manufacturers, assuming there is a real “improvement” of SQ? LOL 

invalid
1,389 posts
 

@devinplombier  you do realize that Krell also made an aftermarket power cord costing over $1,000

devinplombier
1,696 posts
 

@devinplombier  you do realize that Krell also made an aftermarket power cord costing over $1,000

@invalid 

Krell also used to make world-class gear. But their power cord appeared some 20 years later, after the company had "reinvented" itself as a home theater manufacturer.

Today, of course, Krell is virtually out of business, save for a repair shop.

Honestly, I love Krell gear from the golden years, but the company deserves its fate.

 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,175 posts
 

@westcoastaudiophile so you take an issue with people not being interested in conducting a blind test but you’re not willing to try higher end power cables yourself. 
I don’t consider my gear top end but it’s decent. And it all reacts to better cables

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