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Cable Influences: IC SpeakerCables Power Cord?

I recently upgraded my speaker cables from Audioquest Slate biwire to Acoustic Zen Hologram II biwire. (one of the audiogoner's favorites) in search of hugh increase in transpareny. ($200 cable to $1100 cable). The improvements are mainly in the following area: speed, tiny details and a more extended treble. I started hearing nuances in the background and instrument that I have not noticed before. Each individual instrument is more distinct and the treble has more snap. Remarkably, the overall presentation & tonal balance of the music did not change at all. I feel that this is a small step forward but probably not worth $600 (used). Does interconnects exert a bigger influence generally and power cables are even less significant? I know this is system dependent but I am asking this if this is generally true?
Sys:
Ayre CX-7 CDP
Kimber Silver Streak IC
Cary SLP 308 Pre-amp
Nordost Red Dawn IC
Audio Research VS 110
B&W Signature 805s
128x128glai
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
Stevenkc, it all depends on what you want. You should try before you buy or at least buy at such a good price point that you can sell without loosing too much $$$.

Truthfully, if I had not heard better AC cords in my system, I probably would still be using stock cords. I went for many (too MANY) years oblivious to the affect of power cords on sound.

The best advice I can give is never insert a component or cable or cable in your system you CANNOT afford. This especially goes for AC cords! Because once you hear it, you might not want to give it up... And if you are forced to give it up, your system sound will cause pains in your gut everytime you hear it.

One good rule of thumb is if you put good AC cords on all of your components, that sound will probably exceed one stellar cord on a single component. OFC mileage may vary.

KF
wellfed's avatar
wellfed
690 posts
 
In my own system I would rank improvements from cable upgrades in the following order

1) power cords
2) speaker cables
3) interconnects

A couple of power cords to add to your list of possibilities are

1) Zcable Gold Lightning - $200
2) Cryo treated Acme - $??, but less than $100

The Zcable has a trial policy and treated Acme's do not. I have heard neither of these suggestions, but am making an educated guess based on having heard the original Lightning and untreated Acme's. I really liked both of these, but they did not increase the resolution of my system in the way some more expensive power cords were able to do.

As for speaker cables at $600, you might get better results using a product called the Zero Autoformer that allows a user to get a better impedance match between amp and loudspeaker. I don't actually know what this means technically, but in practical terms they can potentially provide really signifigant performance gains. Zero Autoformer Website

I just noticed a previous Audiogon thread on this same subject and there is a poster there that owns a system very similar to my own and he essentially recommends the opposite to my ranking. One thing to note, he has a world class power conditioner and I use none. This could explain alot. Previous Audiogon Thread
twl
3,251 posts
 
Well, the first thing is that you need the best power supply you can get, so power cables would be very important. Then if you follow the signal path, the order of importance will follow it. That is the way I've attacked it.

I've used the Sonoran Plateau cables throughout my system to very good effect. They are not only great audio cables, but they have a design that eliminates the effects of vibrations on the cables, so that the sound is additionally improved. This improvement is alot like the sonic benefits you get when you put good Audiopoints under your equipment. With the Sonoran cables, you get both benefits at the same time. I found these to be a very worthwhile investment.
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