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Power Cables which take the soundstage back

Hello,
I have almost always focused on ICs and Spk Cables...but I always knew that Power chords also make a good difference. This is the first time I am venturing seriously into power chords. I am not looking for anything fancy. Primarily I see power chords should be doing the following:

a) Clean up the background noise (because of better shielding etc) which a stock chord would not be doing a good job at.

b) Provide good current capabilities which enables to make music denser, tones get more body and especially bass gets meatier and tighter (the last one normally happens more often)

These are primarily two things I am looking at.
I have tried some power chords in the near past and I have observed one common pattern:

1. Power chords which tighten up the bass (in comparison to stock chords) also bring the images a bit forward.

2. Some Power chords do a good job of taking the soundstage further back...I dont know how and why but I have seen it happening. Some of them end up presenting a bit loose bass in the process (only some of them)

So, for me at this point, a power chord which can take the soundstage back (without introducing anomalies like loose bass) would be a wonderful addition. Thats a very critical requirement for me. I am sure you guys would have experienced power chords which do such things. I am not intending to shell out more than $200 (new or used) at this point. Kindly suggest.
pani
knownothing
1,298 posts
 
Here are several suggestions around the $200 mark:

The Cable Company has Shunyata Research's Diamondback Platinum on special in 1.5 M length for $125 right now. This cable tends to be forward-neutral, but does a nice job of helping to organize the sound stage left to right. No sloppy bass here.

Others I would look at...

JPS Labs's GPA 2

MIT - Music Interface Technologies's Z-Cord

Analysis Plus's Power Oval 10

DH Labs Silver Sonic's Power Plus
llanger
27 posts
 
Powerful chords, not power cords make music magical. Be it via a Walkman or Krell, it's the music that matters. Use logic and reason when considering materials that merely conduct electricity.
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
It's Magic, It's Magic, It's Magic!!!

I agree with LLanger whole heartedly. I think interconnects in general reach a rediculous level of diminishing returns very quickly. I think after you get past the first level of interconnect and speaker cable upgrades, you will get a much bigger bang for the buck upgrading your equipement. If you are paying $1500 for interconnects, I contend you could pay $150 for a set, and spend the other $1350 upgrading your pre-amp, or one of your sources and make a much bigger improvement in sound.

I have gone down that road several times, and come to that conclusion with speaker cables, and interconnects.

But power cords, that's just MAGIC. Yes you can improve on the ones the manufacturers give you, easily. Get a shielded one, made with excellent condutors and a hospital grade connector (Signal Cable, some PS Audio's come to mind). But come on, if you have a $5000 amp, and you spend $1500 on a power cable??? Don't you think you could spend that $1500 on a better amp and upgrade the sound more? That is if the cable makes a difference at all. I contend IT DOES not, past a certain level.

Buy better upstream gear with your money, or better speakers.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
They do make a difference but I wouldn't pay a fortune. Most of mine are Gutwire B- 16 which retails for $99. I liked them so well I became a dealer for them. I have 2 Oyade which retail for $450 that I got on line for $250 each. I just bought some PS Audio from their SC line, a Statement and 2 of the one just under it for $440 total so I probably have not much more than $1500 in about 15 cords. I would buy one expensive one used and several like the Gutwire and move them around to see if they made a difference in a given application. HIFICRITIC found wild variations in the performance of the same cable in different applications, in some cases cheap generic cords sounded better, especially with digital components. So they do sound different but $$$ do not always = better. With power amps the larger , more expensive cords were generally better. By all means try as many as possible but don't just throw money at it. As always buying used or with return privilege is the safest corse.
shellie
110 posts
 
If you can not hear a difference with different power cords in your system then none exists (for you). However if you CAN hear a difference then don't let ANYONE talk you into thinking you can't trust your own ears. After all if you cannot trust your ears then who's ears can you trust? The person telling you to ignore your senses?

To my ears power cords (yes the cable that connects a component to the wall for its AC power) is the single biggest contributor (cable wise) to what a system will ultimately sound like. I don't care what anyone else has to say regarding why this cannot be true and neither should you. Call the Cable Company and have them send you a few different cables for your digital front end and perform a week long listening test and let YOUR ears decide. After that you will either believe in power cords, or not.

In my system I've had good luck with Synergistic Research and Audience power cords.
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