Power cords

[Steve Edwards]

Just wondering how you feel about the contribution power cords make, versus other cabling in your system.  In my limited exchanges, speaker cables have made the highest impact on improving the sound quality.  It seems most members of this forum are big Audioquest fans.  I'm considering upgrading the Morrow power cords on my solid state mono amps.  

Play on

[Eric Neff]

I have seen the Morrow cables at shows. They look like they are well made. Hard to move on when I am full on AQ. 

[Steve Edwards]

Which AQ's are you running and what did they replace?  Significant improvement?  In what way?

[Eric Neff]

I am running the RG's for Power. They replaced the stock cables. Big improvement of low end accuracy. I am also using the Niagara 5000.

[Nutznboltz]

I use Wireworld and Cullen cables for power.  great value for those of us on a budget!

[ctsooner]

Sorry I missed this earlier lol. I was given a power cord  by AJ Comte of Basis before he passed. He made some great cords but didn’t push their sale since he didn’t want to have a conflict with dealers of his turntables. It made a nice difference. Then I met Garth Powell and spent the day with him, Richard and Johnny Rutan. 
 

Garth has the Niagara 7000 and prototype of the Dragon, Hurricane and Tornado cords. I was shocked at what they did. 
 

I regret not getting dragons all around, but I do have Hurricanes. They made such an improvement. I was floored. I use a WEL balanced interconnect and it sounds better than any of the interconnects I’ve tried. I will see how his new line sounds when they are coming out. 
 

I splurged and got the William Tell and the Zero speaker cables for bi wiring.  That was the cous de gras.  Speaker cable followed by power cord and Niagara and the. Interconnect for my system and ears. That’s all still AFTER speakers, source, pre amp, amp in that order.  
 

these are systems and should be cobbled together as such. Ordering AQ Foglifters and Vandershoes today.  I will put a 3” piece of granite under the Quatro’s as soon as I can get someone over to help me do it. 
 

What a fun  hobby. 

[Eric Neff]

I have William Tells and a Niagara 5000 for the electronics and a 1000 for the Turntable setup. All Hurricanes for power. It is a huge upgrade.

[ctsooner]

Eric, have you tried the 1000 vs the 5000 to hear the difference? I did in the beginning and felt that the 1000 was best bang for my buck at the time.  

[Eric Neff]

They both do the job. Due to my setup I need both. My Turntable stack s separate from the main electronics stack.

[ctsooner]

That makes sense.  I heard the differences of course, but not so major and I put money elsewhere. 

[Steve Edwards]

ct, are you a customer of John Rutan?  Do you live near Audio Connection?  I have a long distance relationship with him.  I don't plan on leaving California anytime soon, but I sure would love to be close to his business.  Of  course, if that were the case, my bank account would be significantly reduced   :).  He is a beacon in the world of retail audio.  

[ctsooner]

Steve, I live in CT which is about 2.5 hours from Johnny.  He's just a great guy adn the closest dealer to me. I met him when I was at a wedding for my cousin's kid.  They live right around the corner from his store.  I owned Proacs for years and years (many models) and was going to get a new pair so I went to check them out.  Johnny instead talked me into auditioning the Treo's.  The cost was similar to what I was going to spend.  I was floored.  I loved Vandy's when I heard them at Bruce's Stereo Unlimited in SD, but when I went to buy a pair some years later (I had moved back to CT at that time), I was disappointed in the 2's.  I found out later that the dealer never set them up right and he liked Apogee and Proac's better.  He had a close out (for his cost) for a pair of Proac Towers so I got them.  They did so much right and worked perfectly with my Quicksilver full service pre amp and Silver Mono's.  It was a really nice match with vinyl and I loved them for many many years.  

I now heard such a difference wiht all Vandy's.  It's just as much fun as a Harbeth (nothing sounds bad on them, lol), but it has so much more detail.  To me that's where the emotion really is and one reason I can listen to a Vandy speaker for hours on end.  

Where in Cali are you living?

[Steve Edwards]

Outstanding Peter.  I'm in Orange County, halfway between San Diego and LA.  I started my Vandy journey with 2's.  Had 3A's for 10 years, then had them upgraded to the Signature version.  Some 6 or so years later, I found a pair of Quatros on the previously owned market.  Turns out, they were purchased from John.  He was an amazing help getting them packed and shipped out to me.    

My best man in our wedding was born in Simsbury, CT.  I love New England   ............. in the Spring and Fall  🙂

I have a good friend in Boston.  The next time I'm out to see him, I plan on making the trek to Verona.  I've had countless conversations with John (once at 10:00pm West Coast! - the guy must never sleep), but I've yet to meet him in person.  Someday soon I hope.  

Completely concur with your assessment of the emotional connection to music.  The more detail you hear, the greater the impact.  Guess that's why most of us are knee deep in it.

Play on

Steve

[ctsooner]

Great stuff Steve. I was stationed at North Island/Coronado from 82-87.  I am a retired Commander. I drove the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier among other ships.  Had a place in Coronado, Mission Valley and a couple of other places in SD.  Loved it there, but moved home for some stupid reason, lol.  Have you been to Stereo Unlimited before?  Bruce still owns it.  

[Steve Edwards]

Hey Peter, the USS Kitty Hawk?  Interesting indeed.  I had a distant uncle that served on the USS New Jersey.  I was able to board her years ago, just dumbfounded by her sheer size, let alone the enormity of the 16" guns and the destructive potential of the 2,000 lb plus projectiles they launched.

I have not been to Stereo Unlimited, but it sounds like a trip down the I 5 is in order.  I assume Bruce is still a Vandersteen dealer?  North San Diego County; Cardiff, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Leucadia, etc. is about my favorite area of Southern CA.

[ctsooner]

I loved it up there. my cousin lives near you.  Bruce is still an outstanding Vandy dealer.  We were over 1000' long. I loved driving her.  We ran over a Soviet sub on the way to the Straits of Malacca.  I was the repair officer and was in charge of getting us fixed in the Philippines.  Met some of the best men you could meet (no women on board back then).

[Tomstruck]

I know this is an older post but sense I have been a member for less then a week  my biggest power cord change was the Audioquest Thunder for the Ayre Codex 

[Eric Neff]

The Thunder is a great power cable. I use it to power my Niagara 5000. It is a beast.

 

[ctsooner]

I have friends who keep trying to tell me that AQ cables are nice when compared to Kimber, Cardas, Nordost and the like, but aren’t true high end cables. I’ve had A couple of esoteric cables in the system before and feel most are not as neutral as my loom of AQ. My buddy distributes Enklein cables. I think I’ll invite him over for a shoot out. I’ve heard them in a large Rockport based system and liked them a lot. I want to see how they compare. 

[Eric Neff]

I am all AQ with two Niagara's in the system. I am pleased with their improvements.

[GdnrBob]

@Eric Neff

I concur.

After a visit to Audioconnection with Peter (ctsooner), I had to admit the new cables are in a class beyond anything I would have imagined.

I ended up selling all my other cables (Zu and PS Audio) and buying the AQ.

Especially the one's Garth is putting out are miles ahead of what they were offering.

Bob

[ctsooner]

I run a Basis power cord (retails from around 2800 I believe).  I will be using that on my server/dac first and then I'll try a Hurricane to see which one I like better.  I have to say the Basis cord (2m) had been as good as most any power cord I've heard until Garth's came out.  AJ Conte (RIP) of Basis used physics in his designs and it showed.  His tables are dollar for dollar as good as there are and these cords are pretty amazing, so it will be a fun shootout.

[Stringreen]

I found a couple of older Shunyata power cords and replaced the stock set in my 5A's.    A surprising improvement especially in the mids.....space, depth, etc.  Only the basic level will allow connection between the fins.

[TomicTime]

Maybe Brad or RV can comment on the spec IEC that fits into the subwoofer amp section of powered bass Vandy models.

[Richard Vandersteen]

Most of the aftermarket power cords will not fit because of clearance issues.  Try them before you buy them and make sure the stock cords are the weakest link in your system to be investing in wisely.  Most of the changes the aftermarket power cords make like tighter bass (turn the contour down slightly) and more bass (turn the subwoofer level up slightly), etc.  Once you have Model SEVENS, M7-HPA amplifier, best pre-amp/phono stage, turntable, cartridge, interconnects, equipment rack, digital and a large record collection your power cords on our sub amps may be the best place left to invest in!  Investing in any other priority will only delay your ultimate goal amongst the better source and speaker where the big differences lie.

RV