about to jump into the power cord foray

Guys,

Thanks for all of the advice. It is appreciated.

Foster 9: Your comments seem to echo what one of my buddies has been telling me for quite some time. He’s been begging me to try his Cambridge 840C for a couple weeks, to open my eyes to a better source. I guess since I’ve had this changer since college, I’ve always liked the convenience of loading five great discs and put the changer on random. The only changer that I probably would replace it with, would be the Mac MC-205. Another option would be to audition a music server.

Kotta: Thanks for the tip on building your own cables. I’d probably be more comfortable at first by putting one together on my tuner.

Musicnoise: I guess that everyone has their own threshold on wasting money. I don’t feel that spending up to $150/cable is really considered a waste. If anything, I can always reseller here on the site and only be out some pocket change. While I certainly could afford spending up to $500 for a power cord, I still am in the juvenile stage of this hobby. I figure that I’ve got a good 30 years of upgrading/swapping out components and cable a head of me. That’s assuming my fiancé doesn’t put her foot down.

Jimyork/ Blindjim: thanks for the suggestions on cable mfg’s. The try before you buy route seems to be the way to go. I’ve also seen a lot of great comments on VD cables and I might give them a whirl.

Lissnr,

Thanks for the tip on Signal Cables. I'll definately keep them in mind. I ended up placing an order for a Virtual Dynamics Power 3 yesterday on their 45 day trial. We'll see how it goes.

Jimyork,

I’ve put about 150 hours into the burn-in time on the cable now. Of course, I had to hook the cable up right out of the box. Even though it was a bit on the bright side, it was obvious it was much better than the stock cord. After having the cable burn in on my pc at home for about seven days, I plugged her into the IEC socket on my changer (soon to be replaced). I was nothing short of amazed with the Power 3’s impact on my mid-fi system. I noticed a significant increase in detail and clarity. While listening to Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism release, some of the notes on the track “Lightness” became more pronounced. Prior to installing the cable, they were greatly muffled or absent altogether. I also noticed the bass was tightened up a fair amount in the Dynaudio’s. About the only complaint I have at this time, is the cable is rather stiff. Of course I knew that going in, but it’s mostly a non-issue.

I also purchased a VH Audio Flavor 4, of which I have a couple more days of burn-in left. I noticed the VH came in brighter than the VD cable out of the box, but that should disappear after about 200 hours. The VH cable also demonstrated great clarity and speed. It'll be interesting to do a comparison between the two. It's also drawn an inquisitive look from my girlfriend as to why I keep replacing cables on the pc at home.