Has anyone tried the Audience Forte F3 power cord?

Save your money and buy something that will really make a difference - speakers!

I read a very good review on this pc, maybe google it, you might find it.

This is the only thing I've found, and it's on their page.

http://audience-av.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/powerChord_review_fortef3_red_leaf_040618.pdf

JD

I read the review on the Forte F3 and I am wondering what the review on the $1200 power cord was like?  I agree with roberjerman, spend your money on something that makes a real difference.  I recently purchased a Bryston BP26 preamp to replace my 32 year old Bryston .5 preamp.  The person that sold it to me was local and he had not been using the preamp for a few years, and did not have a power cord for it.  He let me use one of his Pangea power cords until I was able to get a cord of my own.  It was a Pangea Audio AC 9SE MKII three meter cable that I priced online at $349.  I just bought a $10 power cord on Amazon.  I can tell you that I heard absolutely NO difference in audio quality when doing A/B comparisons of these two power cords.  However, I really heard a substantial change in my system when going from the 32 year old Bryston .5 preamp to the BP26.

GK

Maybe Jim is not in the market for speakers or any other gear, he is looking into power cable, Jim call cable company they can send you one for audition.Its better to hear it, in your own system...

I can't speak to the new Forte F3, but I have a few Audience PC's and they do have a house sound; organic but tend to be rather warm, spacious. But their greatest design element is the incredibly low noise floor.

Hi Jim - I have 2 of the Forte F3's in my house. Jim McDonald sent them to me a couple months ago and unfortunately I just haven't had the time to listen to them extensively. I'll try to do that this weekend and get back to you. 

I've been using some of the older Audience powerChords for years, and lately have been using the powerChord SE-i which is superb (review also pending). My first impression of the Forte was that it wasn't as full, refined and harmonically complete as the powerChord, which is to be expected at 1/4th the price, but it was pretty nice, much much better than an $80 Pangea I have lying around, or an expensive older Cardas cord for that matter. For an Audience cord, it is a little brighter and airier-sounding. However it is not broken in yet so I expect that to change a bit. 

Not meaning to shamelessly plug, but if you follow my page on Facebook, you'll see when I post updates and reviews.

Cheers,
TAWW
http://taww.co

Thanks taww,

I’ll be looking forward to your review.

JD

taww - I tried one and my observations are similar to yours.  I am running it in some more and will give it another try.

The brightness may be due to the unplated brass used in the connectors.

I also wonder which $1200 power cord in the above review the f3 was " ... better [than] in nearly every category right out of the box ...".

@maxima95 who knows about the $1200 cord, but I don’t think it matters all that much. Price-quality correlation is largely a crapshoot with these things. :) If it’s a highly-regarded cable that many people can vouch for, that’s a different matter.

Good call about the brass. My friend is playing with different connectors and was shocked how different they sound, e.g. Wattgate vs. Cardas copper/rhodium, with the same wire.

And apologies to JOHN McDonald for getting his name wrong... it’s been a long week at work. :)

BTW the "brightness" of the Forte is relative to the ultra-smooth powerChord, or a Cardas cord. It's definitely much less bright than the Pangea. 

taww
I had it on a Hagerman Fry Corder for a few (more) days and tried it with a tube preamp.  Better than the first trial on a solid state DAC.  Still a slight "brightness" or something like that - but not objectionable or attention grabbing in a negative way.

I'll leave it in for a while; it has some potential.

taww

Have you been able to log some hours with the f3 and form any conclusions yet?

So I bought two Fotre, f3's.  I hooked them  into my power conditioner and my Servo amps. I'll let you know my thoughts  in a few weeks. 

taww, have you a report yet?

JD

Curiousjim - 
Anything to report on the Audience Forte power cords?  Thanks.

The 3’s now have about 250-300 hours of use. The difference between the 40 year old stock cords is noticeable mostly in the base. I have Acoustat Model X’s the have a really great midrange, a very good upper end and a somewhat weak bottom end. While nothing will give them the punch of an (your speaker here), the definition and clarity  is definitely better.

More to follow.

JD

Thanks for the reply, Jim.

Yeesh, "40 year old stock cords"! 1978 vintage?!
Guess it WAS time for an update.

Thanks again.

Yep, mine are numbers 502 and 504. They were made in 1978 or maybe 1979. I replaced some of the caps and the Opamp chip thirty years ago. They were mostly stock until late last year when I got the bug to update. I replaced the input jacks and added tube risers last year. I had the the fuses replaced with hydraulic circuit breakers, the auto on circuit was removed and replaced with switches, and a few odds and ends replaced. So while I was at it I replace the power cords and even got a set of new tubes for them!

JD

I’ve added Audience Forte F3 to my CJ ET5 pre-amp, Auralic Aries G2, and PS Audio DirectStream DAC. Very noteworthy improvements in sound over my older cords, which were between $500-$700 cords. At their $300 MSRP, they are truly one of the most astounding values in all of high end audio. I bought mine for $125 as b-stock, and at that price they are simply a preposterous value. I loved them so much, a bought 4 more for my home theater system (different audio stack than my 2-channel system), with equally remarkable improvements in sound. If you can find any still available at $125 b-stock price, run, don’t walk and snap them up. Even at the full $299 they are worth it. Very highly recommended and I agree very much with the glowing reviews written about them.

They sound good out of the box, but like many power cords, need 300 hours to fully burn in.

It’s my first experience with Audience, and I was so blown away, I picked up an Au 24 SE+ USB cable from them on discount from a trade show, and after about 300 hours burnin, I’m flabbergasted at the improvement in sound from my Auralic Aries G2 and PS Audio DSD. I’m becoming a big fan of Audience as a result...

The component's stock cords will rob and steal dynamics and clarity.So?  If you are going to try a audiophile cable in your system? In able to hear the difference? All the other components that are still using their OEM cables will veil and muffle the benefits of the better cord.  You might as well not bother. 

I find that typical stock cables choke and veil.  You need to find a place that offers a thirty day return and order a power cable for all your system.   A good place to start is Audio Advisor Pangea cords.  Cords need to burn in for awhile. But, if you can not hear a difference right away (which will keep getting better burning in) ?  Then there is no hope.  

Even if it sounds lousy at first?  It proved the point that power cords effect the sound....

I have been using Pangea for about four years now.  With better cables when you try a different audiophile cable?  They will allow you to hear the change in sound quality when trying a different cord.   I find trying the new cord in a source component shows up the best to test the difference.

It’s now been almost 7 months, and everything seems to have stabilized and is good as it’s going to get. I’m glad I purchased the F3’s. So all is good until I get the bug again. Might buy another PC for my spinner, an OPPO UDP 93. 

Thoughts?

JD