Going to dip my toes in the Power Cord abyss

Saving my money now for a complete system redo in the next few years.
Lucky you. :D My "redo" has been spread over the past five years, taking opportunities as they come along. I have feelers out on HiFi Shark to watch for the speakers I'm searching for, as well as the monoblocks that are the more powerful version of the amp I have now.
 
Lucky you. :D My "redo" has been spread over the past five years, taking opportunities as they come along. I have feelers out on HiFi Shark to watch for the speakers I'm searching for, as well as the monoblocks that are the more powerful version of the amp I have now.
I have no clue what to get, way too many options and not enough places to demo gear.

I frequent another HE message board, AudioShark, run by Mike Bovaird, who also owns a HE store in Sarasota Florida and will be stopping there during an upcoming trip to FLA.
https://suncoastaudio.com/

Along with looking at systems in the $20K range for me, we will also get a chance to hear a few $100K Plus systems he has setup. I don't plan (at this moment) to bring anything home, but one never knows.

Back in October I went to a Local Audiophile Club Demo day where the gear was all Lampizator, Hattor Audio, and Pure Audio Project speakers. OMG did I get the bug that day.

I doubt that I will ever buy a $50K DAC, but it sure was nice to hear one. The Pure Audio open baffle speakers were also really impressive with all the options and driver / crossover choices.

The Hattor Audio gear was really affordable and impressive.
 
I have no clue what to get, way too many options and not enough places to demo gear.
If you were closer, I'd say to pay a visit to AXPONA. But given your proximity to the east coast, there are a couple of very good audio shows worth visiting. They are not the ideal place to audition anything, but there are a lot of advantages. You get a rough idea of what something sounds like, which will lead to a follow-up visit at a dealer for a proper audition. You can see the equipment in person. You can also talk with sales reps with the audio stores or the manufacturers themselves. I can't afford just about anything at the show, but I come away with a lot of positive impressions and a hatful of ideas of things to try with my own system. Networking with fellow audiophiles is also helpful.

I primarily buy used equipment, so there isn't much out there I would audition new. I have a new digital rig coming my way once it is built (it's in the build queue as I write this), and bought a new cartridge last year. But most anything else is purchased used, and not too old to where I would start having problems. Even my better interconnects and most of the power cords were previously owned. I just like being able to own equipment I otherwise never could have afforded when new. I totally get that "new car smell" thing though. :D
 
Hey, guys,

Here's a shot of my C7 power cable with a Viborg C7 plug on my Bluesound Node 2 streamer.

Cheers,View attachment 1112097

Scott

I ordered a C7 power cable for my Bluesound Node 2i from Patrick Cullen 8 weeks ago. When I placed the order he told me 3 weeks. After 5 weeks I emailed him to make sure it was still happening. He promptly replied to my email saying he was building my cable that week and he'd notify me with a tracking number when it shipped.

Three weeks have gone by since....

.......not cool.
 
@Hyfi - did something similar a number of years ago. would add a few comments..
1. the wallet can get really thin fast, depending on what you are buying.
2. I heard more of an improvement on SS gear than tube gear changing out power cords.
3. would suggest you beg, borrow a shunyata annaconda power cord. As far as power cords go, they were among the best.

Back in my sand days (SS gear) i had 4 Anacondas - one on the preamp, two on each monoblock and one on the DAC. I was in awe at the SQ improvement.
when I sold off all the SS gear, and bought tube gear, there was still some improvement using the shunyatas, but no where near as much as with SS gear.

good luck...its a murky pond you are wading into.

best.
 
@Hyfi - did something similar a number of years ago. would add a few comments..
1. the wallet can get really thin fast, depending on what you are buying.
2. I heard more of an improvement on SS gear than tube gear changing out power cords.
3. would suggest you beg, borrow a shunyata annaconda power cord. As far as power cords go, they were among the best.

Back in my sand days (SS gear) i had 4 Anacondas - one on the preamp, two on each monoblock and one on the DAC. I was in awe at the SQ improvement.
when I sold off all the SS gear, and bought tube gear, there was still some improvement using the shunyatas, but no where near as much as with SS gear.

good luck...its a murky pond you are wading into.

best.
Thanks for the feedback. I can't believe I started this thread in 2017. I ended up with 1 Shunyata Venom, a Cullen, 2 PS Audio AC-3s and several Pangia AC-14SEs
With previous system I saw results with each and have upgraded everything which made a ton of SQ improvements. I have not even played with the PCs since but know they help and feel good trusting their construction vs the $4 PCs included with gear.

Cheers
 
I said this in another similar thread and got crickets and tumbleweeds. Consider investing in a pure sine wave power source for your system first before going down the boutique power cord rabbit hole.

Can anyone link me to what is being suggested? I am finding DC to AC units for Auto

If you are fairly competent with electronics and buying used, Tripp Lite Double Conversion UPS units decouples the wall power by turning it into DC and converting it back to AC, and then produces a perfect sine wave.

I've been trying to get one on Craigslist, but the units coming up have been way too big for my application,
 
Got my C7 PC today for my Bluesound Node 2i from Cullen Cables. Took nine weeks but it finally made it. Sure is pretty....
 
Once required ampacity and safety requirements are met by a power cord, any worries beyond that are just nervous puddle pissing.
 
Well, I've certainly heard the benefits of upgrading the PC's on my amps and preamp.....but the claims I read about the Cullen Cable improving sq on the Bluesound Node 2i are just not audible in my system. I'm not hearing an improvement or any change at all.

Maybe it just needs some time to burn in....we'll see. All the other PC's I've experimented with sounded different right off the bat and wasn't until they had a minimum of 100 hours on them that I heard an improvement that was worthwhile.
 
Not if your life depends on it:
Interesting, and good news for Shunyata.

However, even the most gear-rich audio geek typically doesn’t have a hospital full of electronic diagnostic equipment in their listening area. I suspect all of that diagnostic equipment throws of a crap ton of electronic noise of all kinds.
 
If the power cord has the current carrying capacity needed by the equipment, then you are good to go. Getting better than that does nothing but thin your wallet.
 
Well after 50 years of being involved in this hobby, I can make a couple observations.

1) Prior to any experimentation, clean all your contact points.
2) Coming from a rigorous science background, do all testing in a double blind fashion, to remove bias.
3) Trust your ears, if the sound improvements are not obvious, they probably don't exist.
4) Remember "The Law of Diminishing Returns".

The biggest pitfall is the "price is no object" opinion. People who are wealthy, inherently assume that their hearing is better. (They are also better looking in the mirror, smarter, more successful and are much more attractive to the opposite sex) They have the cash to throw back at the marketing departments who are happy to exploit them.

@Mojo Warrior I have also found cleaning contacts to be a revelation...but...for the latter part of your post, I am so glad you are clairvoyant about "people who are wealthy" . While I am wealthy only in love from friends and family...I resemble those remarks..." Smarter, more successful" and definitely more attractive to the opposite sex. I guess not you?

I have met many rich people in my life and they have been some of the most hard working, intelligent and genuinely nice people you could meet (many anyway)...so...as you might have guessed already I beg to differ..judgement based on anecdotal assumption is UN-scientific.

I cannot believe I have to defend the rich?_&#&++#@:( ...oh yes...I almost forgot...my hearing IS better too!

I'd also like to point out (tongue out of cheek)...that when folks talk about cable they always use the nuclear option of talking about uber-expensive cables, when in fact modest investments in cables, some diy, can result in very pleasing improvements.

One such example is the old Asylum Cable formula for a power cord.. About $35 in parts and some minor work and you already will find a very nice improvement.
 
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[One such example is the old Asylum Cable formula for a power cord.. About $35 in parts and some minor work and you already will find a very nice improvement.
I use two of those and four using double shielded Belden 83803 across multiple systems.

Yes, I do also use a couple higher buck Harmonic Technology cords.
 
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