Going to dip my toes in the Power Cord abyss

I haven't had much chance to compare cords yet, however. I did not notice an immediate difference, but I did notice on a track I have listened to a lot lately that the percussion seemed to be more "sorted," if that makes sense--I was listening as background while working, and it made me stop and take notice that I was hearing individual percussion instruments better than I had before. Highs also seem slightly smoother than they did previously, and I find I am turning up the system just a little bit more now since it sounds so good. ;)

Sorted is a very good way to say it. Like any other upgrade, I am working my way thru lots of disks and hearing things much clearer. So my take again, is that the good sound was always there, but layers of interference shrouds it. Also, i agree on the volume. The better it sounds, the more volume without the grunge that makes you want to turn it down. Now I want to get a few more for other gear.
 
Now I want to get a few more for other gear.
Luckily I have little left to add a power cord to--just the power amp (for now, and no rush there until I convert it to an IEC input). I already had these components going through separate zones on the Dectet, so it could be the difference I heard was not as audible since some of that crud was already being cleared away. My weak link, other than the in-wall wiring, is the $1 wall outlet--it just about holds the AC5. I will just upgrade to a hospital grade outlet there, so I get better grip.

If I end up with speakers that I want to bi-amp and need to use a second power amp with, or get speakers with powered woofers, then I suppose an upgrade in cords will be needed for those as well.

My phono stage needs a linear power supply--for as good as it is, the cheap wall wart with the skinny cable is not giving me much confidence. A linear power supply might have its own captive cord, and I could see myself having to make my own DC cable to go from the power supply to the phono stage. (I am considering a change to a different phono stage, but that one I believe also might use a wall wart, which is why I am waiting before making a change here.)

The turntable also uses a wall wart, although a much higher quality unit. But since the TT uses a DC motor and has the on-board speed control, there really isn't a need for improvement there.
 
My phono stage needs a linear power supply--for as good as it is, the cheap wall wart with the skinny cable is not giving me much confidence. A linear power supply might have its own captive cord, and I could see myself having to make my own DC cable to go from the power supply to the phono stage. (I am considering a change to a different phono stage, but that one I believe also might use a wall wart, which is why I am waiting before making a change here.)

How about a battery pack? Batteries are generally considered better for phono stages as it isolates it from AC current.

Wall Wart for a charger> Battery Pack with cable > Phono Stage

You can even disconnect the battery from the AC source when using the stage.
 
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For less money, you might want to try a Hubbell Hospital Grade receptacle. I was a sceptic but was surprised at the improvement on my highly resolving main system. Disclaimer: My old house has 80 year old electrical wiring.
 
For less money, you might want to try a Hubbell Hospital Grade receptacle. I was a sceptic but was surprised at the improvement on my highly resolving main system. Disclaimer: My old house has 80 year old electrical wiring.

Not far behind. The house was built in 1940. But the addition on the back was built circa mid 80s, according to the neighbors. So it is a mix of old and not so old. There is also a ground problem in that room I need to address.
 
And yes, I'm checking out the Hubbell receptacles--there are many. :thumbsup: Leviton has some as well. Not sure if one would be preferred over another, but anything has to beat the current $1 outlets in the room.

My problem with the ground issue is that it is disconnected somewhere in the house. I believe all of the outlets in the family room are on the same circuit, but I am not sure if others are. The family room and the kitchen expansion both extend the back of the house by about 14 feet (inside), so both have the current wiring (as opposed to 1940 era wiring in the rest of the house). I am thinking the new kitchen outlets should be on their own circuit. They likely are not, however, tapped into the old kitchen circuit. But at any rate, the way the seven outlets are daisy-chained around the family room, the loose ground could be anywhere at any of those outlets. The grounds are all connected at the breaker panel, so that leaves a disconnected ground somewhere else.
 
Found the ground problem, right at the outlet in the middle of the room. Two lines lead to elsewhere in the room (one incoming from the breaker panel, and two outgoing left and right to the other outlets), so there is a lot of wiring crammed into the box. They used a single bare copper wire to go from the outlet to the wire nut, so that wire nut has four wires stuffed into it. But it's all tightly reconnected so we're good to go now.

This is how I found it when I pulled the outlet:

IMG_20171216_233044-01.jpeg
 
So I procrastinated a bit before ordering another Pangea cable after someone pointed me to Maze Audio. I read some reviews and looked at the connectors and construction.
If you order from the web site with Paypal, the same cables are $10 cheaper.

I just ordered a 4' Eden Power cable in Black/Blue for $59.95 plus $9.95 shipping.
http://www.mazeaudio.com/power-cables.html

I should have it in about 1 week and will probably use it on my APC, which will free up a PS Audio AC3 for my Pre Amp and that frees up a Pangea AC14 SE MKII that I will use on my Oppo.

The Maze cable is 10gauge but per reviews, way more flexible than the Pangea AC9 and better results

3800724_orig.jpg
 
The Maze cable is 10gauge but per reviews, way more flexible than the Pangea AC9 and better results
They do have some interesting products--the speaker wiring caught my eye. I just hate to order speaker wire since, if I move the system in the room or reconfigure where everything is located, or move to another house, the lengths will be off.

Their Reference4 power cords caught my eye as well...

upload_2018-1-22_13-31-7.png

I missed out on a killer deal on a PS Audio AC-5, but, I'm sure there will be others. My Oppo 105 came with a nice cord, and I ended up using that on my little tube amp on my desk, as it was a few inches longer and allowed me to put the amp in a better place.
 
Yeah, all the cords look decent, but most out of my budget. But reviews are specifically claiming better results over Pangea and I wanted something thicker than 12g so the Eden makes perfect sense and not to costly to give a try.

Pretty sure the one you posted is all Hand Braided.
 
Wow, I am floored right about now. I am not so sure anyone should be dealing with Kent Maze, he appears a bit touchy and irritable if you ask him any questions.

He cancelled my order and refunded my payment seconds after I emailed and asked him if I got the right tracking number because it kept telling me there was nothing to track.

You tell me, was I way off base asking about the tracking?

--------------

Hi,
Wednesday morning I got an email with a tracking number for the shipment.
xxxxxxxxx
Still today when I try to track from the included link or directly on the USPS tracking page, all I get is the below message so I am trying to figure out if the package actually shipped or not.
Tracking Number: xxxxx
Status
Label Created, not yet in system
A status update is not yet available on your Priority Mail® package. It will be available when the shipper provides an update or the package is delivered to USPS. Check back soon.


Kent Maze
7:36 AM (14 minutes ago)

to me
cleardot.gif

Let me explain something to you. My sons and I run Maze Audio for pleasure. It’s not a business. We are each audiophiles and very much enjoy building quality cables and components to further the hobby. We make these products available to other hobbyists to further their enjoyment. When we get overly demanding customers acting like their small purchase is somehow supposed to be a priority for us and should be pushed to the top of our list it very much takes the enjoyment out of our endeavor.

On Monday you asked about shipping I said "Assuming quick payment, the cord will probably ship Wednesday.” The PayPal invoice that you paid on Tuesday stated shipment within seven days. Today is day number two. The cord is done, packaged, and was to be dropped at the Post Office this AM. However, I have learned that demanding “customers” generally are very difficult to make happy under any circumstance. I believe you will be better served obtaining your cables elsewhere.

I have canceled your order and refunded your money in full.
cleardot.gif


to Kent
cleardot.gif

Kent,

I was just confused about getting a tracking number that was not tracking anything. I had no idea about the size of your business. I read many reviews of your cables and decided to try one instead of another Pangea. I don't think I was a "Demanding Customer" but rather one that asks questions and becomes informed. I never demanded anything, I merely asked for information.

If this is how you are going to treat customers just making sure they didn't get a correct tracking number, I will relay this to others that are also interested in your cables. Some of who are waiting for my review of this cable.

Cheers,
Brian
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Kent Maze
7:45 AM (5 minutes ago)
to me
cleardot.gif

Sounds good to me. Enjoy your day
 
Wow. Someone's a wee bit touchy! If it's that much of an imposition, why sell them in the first place? Or at least just mention it's a three-person operation and shipping can get a bit tight at times. A little good customer service never hurt anyone.

I had that on Amazon--package was shown by USPS as having the tracking number generated, but no movement. I waited a week and a half and contacted the seller, asking to cancel if there was a slim chance it hadn't left their facility. In this case, the seller was nice enough to admit that he had goofed personally, and the package was still sitting in their shipping room, so he issued my refund immediately. No hard feelings and I left some nice feedback anyway. Mistakes happen, and the seller was courteous in letting me know how it happened.

But, more strangeness--I ordered a camera bag Monday morning, and the eBay seller marked it shipped within an hour. No movement on the tracking number. Yesterday it arrives on my front porch...Priority Mail. Wonder how that got through the system without a trace. Another shipment is coming today by Priority Mail and it has the usual tracking information available.
 
Yeah, Shipping and tracking is a nightmare anymore, Amazon specifically.

My last PS AC3 cable was just sitting in Processing for a week and showed up with no other notice or tracking. Another Amazon order recently said shipped for 3 weeks but never was and I cancelled it.

But this guy takes the cake. I had no idea you could provide someone a tracking number days before a package actually ships.

I may have to up my budget and try a Cullen Gold Series.
 
I just ordered a Cullen Gold Series cable to try. Very nice guy to deal with and he gave me a New Customer discount of $12.
 
But this guy takes the cake. I had no idea you could provide someone a tracking number days before a package actually ships.
You can print a shipping label at any time when shipping a package, so that means the tracking number was generated at that time. Since it was neither picked up by nor dropped off with USPS, the initial "origin" tracking scan did not happen.

In fact, that could explain the issue where a package shows up with no tracking--it could be the package never received an origin scan when the USPS took possession...yet that does not explain how the package did not show up on tracking when it was scanned at all the intermediate stops. I get several text messages for any incoming USPS package (including arrival and departure at each distribution center along the way).

Thing is, I thought that per USPS rules, when you generate a label, you have to use it the day for which it is dated. Years ago we used to have a Pitney-Bowes postage meter at the office, and the PO used to send out a nasty letter every so often if we stamped the postage one day and put it in the mail on another. The postage wasn't wasted if you didn't, as you could stamp the envelope with $0.00 postage with the correct date, and they'd let it fly; the idea is that the machine stamp is considered a dated postmark.
 
Here is the reply I got from Cullen after asking about shipping and delivery....

"I will build it today and it will ship tomorrow. You should receive it on Monday or Tuesday. I will send you a tracking number when the cable ships.

Thank you for the business!

Patrick Cullen"

A far cry from "You are a Demanding Customer and I just cancelled your order"

Patrick went back and forth with me for 12 emails and answered all my questions including best placement based on my gear and other PCs currently in play. He also agreed that the APC would be best location if the Amp is plugged into it, or the Amp if direct to outlet.
 
I just ordered a Cullen Gold Series cable to try. Very nice guy to deal with and he gave me a New Customer discount of $12.
Cullen's a great company! They're on my short list as well. ;) I like this feature of the Gold Series power cable:
  • 24 K Gold plating over 99.99% OFC Red Copper on both IEC and Plug
Copper is where it's at. ;)

The battery in my daughter's car died down at school, so I was chasing batteries and chargers last week. I came across a site that sold battery accessories, and found an interesting article about a rejuvenator and a neglected battery which a neighbor had bought a few years earlier, then let it sit outside unused. (Short version--the rejuvenator does a desulfation process wherein the battery is sent pulses during a controlled charging process.) Anyway, the blogger had gone through the charging and desulfating process and couldn't figure out why the battery was still testing so poorly. By any measure, it should have been maybe not quite new, but pretty close to new. This was one of those wacky GM side terminal batteries that are threaded.

He finally found the culprit--it wasn't the charger, or the battery...it was the brass bolts he used to connect his wiring to the battery! He replaced those with the correct bolts, reran the charging process, and the battery came back to life. He noticed the brass bolts were getting quite warm during the process (heat being a sign of resistance).

I knew prior to reading it that brass was a poor conductor (~28% IACS conductivity rating, vs 100% IACS for copper), so I kind of figured out where he was headed with that.

This is why I want to either replace the Neutrik RCA connectors on my current interconnects, or build all new ones using copper RCA plugs and Cardas wiring. I realize it's a small thing, but having that brass in there certainly can't be helping matters.
 
Even the lower series cords look great and priced very reasonably. I wanted a 10g for this one so picked the Gold. The Crossovers are what most people recommend but a bit out of my range....for now.
 
Actually it looks like the price on the Crossover is really not too bad compared to the Gold--for a 5 ft. Crossover it's $191, vs. $123 for the Gold. The Red Copper is the cheapest--under $100. The Crossover II starts getting pricey as it's over $300, but the others really are not too badly priced considering their quality!
 
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