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Power Cord Review

I'm going to be performing power cord review for www.stereotimes.com. First review will be Power Cord shoot-out for power cords under $600. Power cords to be reviewed in initial article are following.
Harmonic Tech. PRO AC 11
Audio Magic Sorcerer
VooDoo Mana
Shunyata Sidewinder
DELTA LABS REDLINE POWERMASTER
ZuCable Birth
Acoustic Zen Krakatoa(over $600 but will be used as reference)
Acoustic Zen Tsunami
Custom Power Cord Co Model 11

I also was thinking about reviewing BMI Black Eel and Whale Elite(considering affordable price of Whale on Audiogon) and
"Absolute Power Cord" considering amount of controversy surrounding later cord on Audiogon discussions.

I was wondering should I exclude any of above cords from review(not enough interest for them, or they do not belong in the budget group) and did I miss any good contenders in that group. Any feedback will be highly appreciated and lead to the more usefull review.
Leon Rivkin
678-296-5208
lcat
jamestakamatsu
25 posts
 
This is a great idea for a review, but it sounds like a monumental undertaking. Perhaps this topic would be best split into several categories: 1)Is there a difference, and how large a difference relative to other tweaks (vs. other cable changes, power conditioning, etc); 2)Mid-priced cables (since you're starting with a mid-priced cable, the HT), between say $200-600 or so; 3)Low-priced cables, below $200; 4)High-priced cables.

And yes, indeed, do include the BMI Whale Elite and the Absolute PC- they are the most talked-about PCs on Audiogon. Adding the Synergistic M/C is great choice. And NBS. And the list goes on and on.

The potential for disaster (erroneous choices of winners and losers) is extraordinarily high in this massive a shootout. Please tread carefully.
nilthepill
842 posts
 
Lcat, I suggest you also try Radio Shack's one of thoes Power surge protectors, one with high current capabilities($35.00 to $60.0), with multiple out let for your front end. It may knock your socks off.
jim
418 posts
 
I was going to keep this a secret but guilt is getting to me...

C.C. Poon at Monarchy Audio has a power cord for about $100 that has been great in my system. It's based on a propietary (patented?) Hitachi design. He bought all of the Hitachi stuff and had it made up into PC's. Anyone else tried this?

I have the Absolute PC, too. Not bad at all, especially for the money. I had a hodge-podge of mis-matched cords and needed 8 cords so cost was an issue. Like I said, not bad at all -- much better than Beldon. But check out the Monarchy cords -- if you don't like them you can return with a small re-stocking charge.
jaykapur
70 posts
 
Jim - The Monarchy cords are pretty good. I like the plugs the light, flexible cord. However, I think that it is unfairly priced. Yes, $100 is cheap compared to $1,000 cords, but the parts and labor in the Monarchy cord don't seem to add up to $100. I guess that the standard 100 percent dealer mark-up is in the price, so maybe at $50 wholesale it is more reasonable.
jim
418 posts
 
Jaykapur, you are probably right about the mark-up. But... these cords made a great difference when connected to my Mesa Baron.(wider, deeper more black soundstage). I know that conventional wisdom says that PC's make a bigger difference at source components, but these are a nice addition to my power amp.

I think the intrinsic value in these cords is not in the construction, which is nice, but in what is underneath. But the surface appeal is nice, especially for the $$$.

If anyone is interested, check with Monarchy directly to get more accurate info than I can provide from memory. For me, these are the best value PC's out there. Not the *best*, but the best value according to my ears,l and in my system.
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