Black Sand Arctic Blue MK II Power Cord Review/Info

[RuSsMaN]

Black Sand Cable Arctic Blue MK II Power Cord Review/Info

Black Sand Cable Arctic Blue MK II Power Cord

*PLEASE POST ONLY REVIEWS FOR THIS PARTICULAR CABLE IN THIS THREAD*

www.blacksandcable.com

$149 4-6 ft

Terminated with Ultra High quality 15A Hospital Grade Male Plug and Hospital Grade 15A IEC Connector.

(Furutech FI-25 IEC & Male available as an upgrade - $150.00USD per cord)

12 AWG 3 (99.9%)conductor twisted pair internal wire alignment that has been treated to prevent corrosion and oxidization

Entire assembly is EMF & RF shielded

Copper annealing process that produces a crystalline structure that has current flow unidirectionally

Stranded core

Each conductor is Teflon shielded

Wound dielectric

Audio grade outer jacket

New braiding technique that creates an active level of shielding

UL listed and CSA certified

Temperature range: -40ø C to +90ø C

Voltage rating: 300 volts

Max. Amps @ 120V: 30

All terminations, IEC and male end are treated with CAIG Pro Gold prior to final assembly

Final cord is bench tested and burned in before it goes out the door!

 

[Tangent]

I like!

It's been a week and a half, so it's time to post a review.

My tests discs include Love is the Thing by Nat King Cole for vocals (DCC gold disc), Venus and Mars - Paul McCartney & Wings (DCC gold disc), The Doors (DCC gold disc) Max Webster's greatest hits (Anthem), Kinks GH (Polytel), Bad Company (Audio Fidelity gold disc), The Beatles, Abbey Road (Japanese first pressing), Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (Japanese first pressing) and others. I also tried some UK vinyl of Deep Purple, Mott the Hoople, Beatles, etc.

Compared against stock power cables:
These power cables are like interconnects! I heard an immediate improvement in clarity like a veil was removed from my speakers. There was better imaging, you could more easily pinpoint where the guitar was, etc. And the "realism" improved too - an acoustic guitar actually sounded like an acoustic guitar! Well worth the investment!

Now the acid test:
I have a DH Lab power cord with "audio grade" plugs which are supposed to be better than the hospital grade plugs (don't remember the brand, sorry). No, they're not Furutech. My DH Lab is a bit better than the Arctic Blue MK II! :scratch2:

Still, the Arctic Blue MK II is a very interesting possibility. The upgrade to Furutech ends will probably levitate this cord above my DH Lab cord. Why, you ask? There is a local place here that sells Furutech ends. They replaced the female end of a stock power cord with a Furutech power cord. It was a distinct improvement with only one end replaced!

But wait!

Checking their website (www.blacksandcable.com) I realize that there are two PC's above the Artic Blue II! Now this is very interesting!

Still, I'm signed up to try out two other PC's - I'll wait until they wind their way to me and make a decision then. Even other contenders would be local suppliers.... but not the DH Labs!

The rules say I should forward the cable on to the next tester - but there isn't any! I might be briefly visiting BigErik this weekend so I may make him the next tester.... (how can the Forum Moderator refuse, eh? )

By the way, John from Black Sand Cable sent me a PM about the PC before I even received it. As I was in Canada, he offered to send a test PC directly to me but I declined. Great customer service! Thank you again for the offer, John!