A certain online retailer asked me for a review of Pangea power cords..

Why don't component manufacturers place expensive cables with their units? Simple answer. Audiophiles like to tweak and they would toss them to the side anyway. Also the added cost. 

I am too a fan of Pangea power cords anf ICs. I remember replacing my ICs with Pangea SE and noticed a warm more natural mid range especially on male vocals.

My GroverHuffman cables use an elaborate matrix of  to eliminate EMI/RFI.  They have a copper mesh sleeve over the wiring floating in an air dielectric which encased in teflon tube with vinyl over that.  The copper sleeve is dipped into an adhesive which contains powered carbon, nickel and tungsten.  There maybe an additional sleeve over that (I don't remember the differences between the Empress and Pharoah cabling exactly).  

Since the Empress cabling is $200 to $400, EMI/RFI are eliminated at a reasonable cost.

Anyone really interested can send a message to Jim Aud of Purist Audio or albertporter, Purist dealer on Audiogon. Jim usually replies the same day as if he had nothing better to do. Cost seems incredible, though it is not the most expensive power cord at all, but if it is really that great it's worth it, especially if you have top level equipment.

I say in my above post that a cord that can filter itself out is ’something of a holy grail’ simply because if you can design a cord that filters out "ALL noise" (however you define that) downstream and all of it upstream, then all that will remain, is the noise that comes from the cord itself. Once you’ve solved that last step, you’ve (presumably) made an entirely "noise-free" cord. No noise can get in or out.

No it doesn’t take $15k to fix digital. I have $600 ones that do a great job of that (although they are different in that they have passive digital filtering built in them), but, in the nose-bleed territory, as I understand it, it can come down to a cord design that can filter upstream, down and then also filter out its own noise...that, from what I can gather, is something of a holy grail of cord design...and no, it’s evidently not the same thing as ’coming up with a good braid’. Few designs actually ’filter themselves out’ of the equation. Don’t know anything about the one inna mentions, though.

And now it takes a $15K power cord to fix this? EMI/RFI is pretty easily and cheeply fixed, - that digital interference must be bad stuff.

@jhills, 

Digital interference is broadcast both through the air and will also leak bidirectionally from the source, upstream and down.

Wow Ina, I've been around the business for a long time, it's the first time I've ever heard of digital interference coming through your home power lines, and the need to fix it with a power cord. Explain please...Jim

No, that's not good enough. Didn't hear it personally but heard of it from someone I trust. Purist Audio 30th Anniversary, $15k retail, power cord is incomparable. In addition to usual stuff it deals with digital interference. Street price is probably $11k or so, not bad. 

jhills & shadowcat,
I get it that it makes little sense that audiophile power cables or outlets would make much difference (if any) in regard to sound quality. I didn't believe it either until I dove in & tried it. There is no going back now. It improves clarity top to bottom. It also improves sound stage width, depth, & individual placement of instruments. The nice thing is, it's not expensive. My outlets are $100 each & power cables are mostly oyaide tunami's, with one furutech, & one synergistic research. I've heard more improvement from these than I have from audiophile IC's or speaker cables (which are also important). 

Yes despite the exorbitant price..    
Hey... those OTHER GUYS cables are overpriced. These are just a great deal...I always love advice like.."If you only spend XXX times as much, it will be a lot better....."      Well it is true. i spent many times the amount , and sure enough, the sound was a little better. Gee is that supposed to be a surprise?   
Just fork out the Moola for some AQ Dragon powercords.. Three point six grand a pop.(want 2m? six grand) Go BIG.

May I recommend a high end cable manufacturer who despises the exorbitant pricing of high end cables. He has two lines of cabling, the Empress and the Pharoah, the former which sells for more than Pangea, in the $200-$400 range and Pharoah at triple that. The lower end cable uses the similar technology (design) and manual labor to assemble, differing in a few added design and component changes. Just read up on the Empress and be impressed at GroverHuffman.com. Someone at Agon asked for a sample cable to try for free. No, the manufacturer is not giving free samples at a cost of 1 to 2 hour assembly time. However, they come with a 30 (or 60) day money back guarantee for auditioning.   The same technology is used in each line for A/C, phono and speaker cables.

Pangea cabling that I’ve heard sometimes rivals expensive cables and beats some bad cabling (High Fidelity) at a reasonable price. It is no match for the patented, extensively shielded cabling by GroverHuffman.com

My first non-stock power cord was the High Fidelity Cables Reveal and after 400-hours of burn-in, it has come into song.
I purchased the Pangea AC-14 to replace the 89-cent stock power cord. It sounds better than the stock cord.
In a perfect world, I would have a CT-2 Helix power cord for the Gungnir Multibit and move the Reveal back over to the PS Audio SPROUT100.
Burn-in is necessary to achieve the maximum benefit.
The Affordable Audiophile.

I'm too old and too smart to think that I know everything, nor have I tried everything. I'm open to the fact that while something may not make any technical or marketing sense to me............as stated above, it may still make an audible difference in some applications. I don't question anyone's personal experience. You and I could sit in the same room listening to the same system and hear different things.......Perhaps when I get bored one day I'll get a or some loner PC's and give them a listen............Maybe I'm wrong........I have been before :)

I do believe that IC's can sound different in different systems and that some people use them to tune their gear...............That said, an IC, like a PC, should do NOTHING beyond transfer power or signals from point A to point B.......If it has a "sound", it's either poorly made or intentionally made to behave in a certain way at certain frequencies.

If you do or think that you do, hear a favorable difference using "X" PC or IC, by all means buy it and enjoy. My opinion is just that, my opinion. 

I enjoy these discussions and I usually learn something along the way. Not here to dis anybody or slay someones sacred cow. It's your cow. If you like it, ain't up to me to stick a knife in it.

A good day to all :)

I have a ton load of Pangea cords,,,,  Just tried one Audience entry level Forte 3 Power Chord. At least on my Yggdrasil DAC it sounds far superior to anything I heard from Pangea. 

They used to have 94 around here that I always bought, significantly better than 93 and I was not driving sports car. Not any longer, so I stopped driving altogether. No good gas, crowded bumpy roads, lots of police. No fun. I had high performance tires, shocks and springs and ignition wires too, by the way. Manual transmission, of course.
Elizabeth does not have deep pockets, what she does have is good hearing and common sense.

@inna Over the years, I’ve read way too many posts by cable naysayers who are also relative newcomers to:

AudiogoN ™ The high-end audio community

After an intense flurry of activity on the discussion boards, they disappear again into cyber-space. It’s my theory that they surreptitiously tried a better cable - and heard better sound. Suddenly, they’re at a loss to understand.

Perhaps, they mosey over to a high-end community for top-fuel dragsters and say that 87 octane is good enough.

Glad you're happy, it's what it's about.

The plus is, the work is done. Between having others try out a high end duplex, or buy an aftermarket powercord.. they have already decided to try one.. I would say the effort is worth it. A few may decide the new toy is not going to do anything and return it. Others will discover new ways to improve the sound of their stereo. The naysayers can wander off and hibernate until the next thread extolling the virtues of good interconnects, or powercords, or what ever irks the nay-sayers into repopulating the threads attempting to put out the fire they cannot comprehend.Good Luck, I already am satisfied.

Elizabeth

Love your posts madame.  Clearly you have good taste and relatively deep pockets.........No disrespect intended, this is a discussion.......Give me one real reason that an ultra power cord and/or magic outlet can and/or should make any difference to your amp/pre/cdp/TT..cat or dog.......Please don't say "because it does".....The stuff coming out of the wall is pretty consistent, a bit dirty perhaps, more so depending on where you live. When it hits your gear, which in your  case is very nice.....mine ain't so bad either......it gets filtered and regulated to the extent that the manufacturer deemed appropriate to GUARANTEE that his equipment will perform as designed for a given price point using the generic wall juice. Pretty much all high end gear is very well filtered and regulated because it's IMPORTANT and they know it..........If including, even as an option, an expensive power cord "upgrade", don't you think they'd be first in line? Come on Lady, I'm sure you're smarter than that. High end gear is ALL about sound.........and eye candy beyond a certain point. If an upgrade PC made any real or meaningful difference they'd ship it with one. Any of YOUR very nice gear come with a $500 PC or list of recommended outlets> I'm betting NOT.....if it MATTERED, it would have.

If YOU think you hear a difference and it makes you happy, it's your money and gear. Do what makes you happy, I do :)

I consider this, as well as any topic, simply a discussion and sharing of experience and opinions. It is not, nor likely ever to be, my intent to "dis" anybody, regardless of whether I agree with them or not..............A friend of mine has a favorite saying........."Nobody has a monopoly on the truth"....I respect that.

Hard to find two people who agree on much of ANYTHING in this hobby......maybe that's one of the reasons it's fun.

@inna 
Incompetent?   To whom are you referring, inna?

Jim

Yeah, sad day every day. More and more incompetent people trying to invade the place and space. This does make America great, no doubt.

Sad day in audiotown. The nay-sayers have invaded the place.. Like an infestation.

@shadowcat2016 +1

As both an audiophile and technician for 40+ years I have a VERY hard time with the idea that either a fancy outlet or power cord can or should make ANY audible difference in your or my system. If they really did, why wouldn’t most, if not all, of the better manufacturers include something of the sort with their expensive gear??? If it made their gear sound better, they’d be all over it. Why not? It would be a cheap selling point. AC is AC, it doesn’t do anything except deliver power to your gear. I don’t pretend to know everything, but that seems completely logical to me.

A better outlet may grip your plugs tighter, not a bad thing, I’ve replaced a few sloppy ones myself. If the attached power cord can comfortably handle the current demands of what it’s supplying, it can do no more. A gold plated/Rhodium/Sasquatch approved outlet is still just an outlet. I can't get drunk enough to believe otherwise :)

Keep your power lines away from your signal lines, sure. Install a dedicated high current line for your system, sure. Spend a hundred bucks on an outlet or hundreds on a power cord?? .............Your money. If it makes you happy, spend it.

I’m not saying that some folks don’t "hear" differences, or at least think they do. Your experience is not for me to question. I simply think it’s more the power of suggestion than reality. If you paid good money for a tweek and BELIEVE it will sound better, it probably does, at least to you.

Inna, you misunderstand what I said. Regardless of what your incoming line voltage is (mine is constantly between 120 and 122 volts) If you take a quality digital volt meter, read the line voltage at the end of the wire feeding the receptacle, hook up the receptacle and read the voltage at the output of the receptacle - on a cheep, standard grade receptacles, it is possible to see as much as a .3 voltage drop; on a hospital grade outlet, I guarantee you will see no voltage drop.
Considering the standard for US line voltage is 120V +/- 5%, @ 60Hz, (even though, nearly all power supply companies are more stringent than that) even the .3 Voltage loss of a standard receptacle is somewhat insignificant, but it does attest to the standard of quality of hospital  grade receptacles. The notion that it takes something more or different than a hospital grade receptacle to be a adequate receptacle for home audio - is absurd....Jim 

Dude, this is a forum, where differing opinions, through a dialectical process, result in helpful conclusions. Were it not so, someone might ask the same of you. 👮‍♂️

inna

No outlet can deliver unrestricted power, it is always restricted to a degree. This is not straight wire from power station.

This is silly. You wouldn't want power straight from the power station, because electricity is distributed via kV lines that would fry your equipment. The goal is to get as close as possible to the current available at the stepdown transformer that feeds your house. Of course, you can only get so close to that, which is one reason to use things like dedicated lines, and even derated lines.

A properly connected, quality receptacle can easily deliver (when needed) whatever current is available at its input. You can measure this.

Even the power station power gets 'restricted'.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission

No outlet can deliver unrestricted power, it is always restricted to a degree. This is not straight wire from power station.

Aside from working for one of the worlds largest manufacturers of all manner of electronic devices, I've built and wired (to code) three homes and a large shop building. I also organized and supervised construction projects on a large campus in CA - having to deal with all of the codes and permits involved. I don't believe I have a problem with the understanding of cables, cords and wall outlets.
Elizabeth -I do appreciate quality and performance but also good value, it seems that the Pangea cords of your original thread, checks all of those boxes.
Happy listening...Jim

" anything beyond that must be magic.." Anything folks fail to understand 'must be magic'...                          
No problem. If you think aftermarket powercords are magic? Fine by me.

Trucks and cars has nothing to do with wall outlets and the only thing unique and special about hospital grade wall outlets is their stringent quality, their ability to deliver unrestricted power from the source to a device and the ability to maintain a secure grip and contact with the blades of a plug. Wither a $100K medical device or a $10K amplifier is plugged into it, it’s job is the same; anything beyond that must be magic...Jim

Yeah, hospital grade duplex. Last forever. grip well. But not one single person in a hospital cares about how audio components SOUND, connected to those hospital duplex.  
Same as asking what sport car to get, and the guy tries to tell you: "This truck can tow 20,000lbs..." And HE thinks he is giving you great advice.

Some things that many audiophiles, always on the quest for something better and more expensive, don't get about hospital grade receptacles:1) they have to meet very stringent, Federal, State and Local Codes for quality, grip, conductance and reliability. 2) Their contacts, screws and blade contacts, are made of high quality nickle plated brass, the purpose being:  On point to point contact, as in a receptacle, the voltage transfer is considered lossless - meaning there is no measurable voltage loss and no altering affect on the transfer of voltage. Unlike copper - nickel plated brass is tough - it holds it's grip and stays durable, even after many cycles of plugging and un-plugging. While the surface of copper tends to glaze when exposed to oxygen, causing a lose of conductivity - nickel/bras does not. The properties of nickel plated brass, even after many years of continual current, have proven to be very stable. If there is a sonic quality attributed to a tight, conductive connection, you can expect it to start out very good and remain the same for a long time, without the many hours of break in associated with some outlets.
Re. cables: of course, insulated stranded 99.9 pure, Ox free copper, of adequate gauge (14, 12, or 10 AWG - depending on application) rubber sleeved and shielded or chocked with a ferrite clamp in areas of possible EMI/RFI interference.
If you live in one of those rare areas of bad power, don't expect expensive power cables to fix it for you - get a line conditioner. Much more effective and, in the end, would probably save you a considerable bit of $$$...JMO...Jim  

On the topic of receptacles. Went to the local Home Depot a few days ago, walked over to the electrical dept. and grabbed a 3 prong replacement male plug. I pushed it into the typical $3 receptacle with ease, and pulled it out with ease. I then pushed it into a $10 Orange hospital grade outlet, it was difficult to push in. While removing it, if I did not hold the outlet with one hand and pull on the plug with the other, I think the outlet would have came of the board. $10 is a small price to pay for such a secure connection. 

@elizabeth Exaggerating? :-) Maybe a little, but there are some who do believe that a multi $K cord is what it takes. I know better!
A $200.00 power cord, I can almost understand. For about $60.00, I can build a very, very good cable that would deliver clean, unrestricted power from a wall socket or conditioner, to any 120V, SS or tube amplifier or component and it would last a lifetime. Not everyone has the time, understanding or ability to build good cords or cables, so I can believe that $200.00, for some, to get a real good power cord, might not be unreasonable.
I also know that there are a good many, cheaply made, outlet receptacles, out there (in fact, some I wouldn't want to plug my toaster into) but companies like Hubbell and Leviton have been making industrial and hospital grade receptacles for a very long time - using durable, lossless, contact materials, quality shell materials and have a history of sound design and build. I'm not disputing that there are other good companies out there, who make fine outlet receptacles, but beyond what has been proven to provide a tight, durable lossless, connection and able to hold up to many years of use without loosing the integrity of that connection - everything else is smoke and mirrors...Jim

Exaggerating? just a little. $10K power cords are not needed to have better sound. $200 do pretty good too. And in fact, after owning hat VAC for a year, THEN you try another powercord, you might discover you DO like it with a better cord. Just sayin'.

Over the past year I’ve extensively auditioned some very nice and, at least for my budget, somewhat pricey, amps, - including a VAC, PHI 200 a pair of $10K per ea, Ayre mono amps, and a PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP as well as Vincent and others. They all came equipped with power cords and ea. in their own right, sounded very, very good. We, an audiophile friend and I, auditioned them, mostly through Wilson, Sophia II speakers. Not once, during extensive auditions, were we inclined to believe that what any of the amps really needed, to truly sound good, was a nifty $10K power cord.
If you are buying a $25K amp and it comes with no power cord and the manufacture requires a multi thousand dollar power cord to make it sound good - I’d ditch that dawg fast and buy a VAC - they sound spectacular and come with their own cord....just sayn...Jim

Comments about high end companies providing power cords with their products remind me that more and more companies don't do this any more, specifically recommending the use of after-market cords.  And even the ones who still do supply cords often suggest (in their owner's manuals) that the buyer could do better by substituting after-market cords.

To jhills,
Think power cords as tires on sport cars.  Most sport cars probably don't come with optimal tires although they perform pretty decent with stock tires.  But in order to extract more performance on the cars, you probably need some after market tires.  

IME Pangea makes products that shoot way above their weight class. Although I don't have any of their PC's in my system currently, they certainly bettered the Tributaries I had in the system prior to them. It wasn't even close. I also recently bought one of their $100 receptacles & it betters the PS audio receptacle that was there prior, by a long shot. Good product, reasonably priced.

Absolutely love the pangea AC 9SE. 

I use it for my Burson soloist headphone amp for a more strict and clinical listening along with my hd 800's, chord qutest dac and my cyrus cd i with a PSXR-2. 
Honestly it is a real headphone system that demands great power chords and interconnects. 

Love it!! Fair price for unbridled bass response. 

@loganfan
You are correct, particularly high current amps, shouldn’t be ganged into a single power conditioner with other devices. While most components SA. DACs, CDPs CD Transports and TTs, pull quite low current and work very well on conditioners, many high current amp manufactures, SA. ADCOM, Bryston, Krell and others, specifically recommend that their amps be plugged directly into a wall receptacle and on a circuit without other devices. My Rogue, integrated tube amp, (not considered high current) on the other hand, is recommended to be plugged into a common circuit with the other components connected to it, to prevent a ground loop.
I agree, keeping power cords and IC cables separated and organized, is part of the battle of getting clean sound....Jim

Yes, current is key!  I ended up making my own PCs out of thhn in a quad star configuration.  My Rowland amps absolutely came to life!  So much so that my wife, who will never be accused of being an audiophile, noticed it immediately.

loganfan

If we are worried about our amps getting the most voltage when it is needed, we would certainly not plug the amp into a multiple outlet device? Would we?

It's not a question "getting the most voltage" to an amplifier - it's a question of delivering sufficient current to the amp.

So let me ask a question.

I am in the construction field, I notice sometimes that a 14 gauge SJ extension cord is not suitable for some heavy power tools, making the breaker trip. Why would we (audio enthusiasts) then plug 8 or 9 audio devices into one power conditioner/surge protector. To me this is like plugging 9 drills into one cord. That would never work. If we are worried about our amps getting the most voltage when it is needed, we would certainly not plug the amp into a multiple outlet device? Would we?

 I am not trying to down play the importance of an after maket power cord, I am willing to learn or at least listen to why we would do this. Is it that our audio equipment draws so little power that it is ok? And then it really does not matter?

 To me, this is a hobby, I take maybe to serious. When I hear music on the job site coming through a radio and then listen at home it brings a smile to my face. I just ordered a couple of moderately priced after market power cords for my tube Amp and tube Preamp. Even if I do not hear a difference (unless it is worse sounding) I will keep them. As I did measure there length to thread through my rack in a very neat and secure way. And mainly to keep the power cords on one side of the rack and the speaker and interconnects on the other side. I fell its always good to keep these far apart when you can.

As much as the build quality of the original ac9 impressed me, it did not match well with my Rowland Model 1.  The sound became very dull.  That said I have not heard the more recent iterations of this product.