Acrolink 8N-PC8100 Power Cable

Looks like it's pretty costly. A model below it is around $3700.

Yes, it’s quite costly. To date, this is the costliest power cable I currently own. I bought it new here on the Gon about 2 years ago. It may sound crazy but this Acrolink cord actually costs higher than the Chord QBD76 DAC that’s connected to it.

It’s a long story with this wonderful experience so I’ll try to make it short. I was happily using the 8N-PC8100 on the Chord DAC until I decided to try another DAC, the upgraditis syndrome. I bought a Luxman DA-06 DAC about 3 months ago and found the sound quality to be slightly warm and lacking in air and transparency of my reference Chord qbd76. In an attempt to salvage the Luxman by making it work, I tried a Wireworld Silver Electra 7 power cable and Platinum 8 USB on the Luxman. All these cables managed to ameliorate the weaknesses of the Luxman and bridged the performance gap with the Chord DAC.

After I switched back to the Chord QBD76, I found the sound to be almost the same as the Luxman. I was expecting the sound to be slightly improved with better air, detail and dynamics but that didn’t happen. I then removed the Wireworld power cable from the DAC and the Acrolink went back in. Damnn. It felt like I added a second subwoofer. Huge impact as the bass and mid bass was pumping like nobody’s business, and I already had a REL sub in duty. In essence, this power cable actually improved the bass quality more efficiently than the sub! This just goes to show the importance of a good power cable especially when used with sources.

I suspect the new Wireworld Platinum Starlight 8 USB has added to the improved performance of the system as well.

I do not have the privilege of trying other good power cables in various price ranges and am just sharing my experience here. In summary, my suggestion is to not neglect the cables particularly power cables on sources if your system is of certain quality. I’m fortunate that the Acrolink 8N-PC8100 has proven to be a good match to the Chord DAC in my system. It didn’t match very well with the warm sounding Luxman DAC though (I picked the WW Silver Electra 7 for the Luxman to brighten things up a little).

Propulsive drive in the bass is a better description for the Acrolink  8N-PC8100 power cable.

It does sound crazy, as a mater of fact please delete this thread. If this is real and not a joke I’m embarrassed just reading it. I do wonder about a possible Acrolink difference swapping out the cord on my Braun coffee maker. Now that review might be worth a post lol.

Cheers

Maybe if I win the Mega Lottery…

I have the 8100 and 9700 as well but in my systems I found the 9700 warmer than the 8100. I actually found the 8100 cool/very neutral though I'd agree with your descriptives of how it presents the various frequencies. They're both two of my favorite cables. It's too bad these top cables aren't distributed in the USA. I ordered mine from an authorized Japanese dealer through a shopping concierge that forwarded the purchase to the USA.

Nevertheless, I recently stopped using them and switched to some others I like in my current system and plan on listing the Acrolink for sale in the near future, I've got two or three 1.5 meter lengths and two 2.0 meter lengths of the 8100 and two 1.5 meter lengths of the 9700.  If anybody is interested, I can list them sooner than. later if you let me know.

I swapped the 8100 and 9700 between the amp and source and prefer the 8100 on the DAC and 9700 on the amp. A slightly livelier and more open sound and an overall more balanced presentation.

That’s a lot of top Acrolink cables you have there. I would need to sell a kidney to own one. Two works just fine in my system and that’s about the limit for me with these premium cords.

ryder

Are you interchanging the Acrolinks and Wire World cords?

Happy Listening!

rnrmf1971

PM sent.   Happy Listening!

Hi Jafant, sorry for the late response. Yes I'm currently swapping between the Wireworld and Acrolink cords. All are good cords and it's a matter of matching the right cord to the right component to achieve the best sound or result. 

The WW Electra 7 has been sold and the WW Silver Electra 7 will be staying for a long time. All WW and Acrolink cords will eventually be used in the system after I acquire an additional component, soon.

ryder

Thank You for the update.  Season's Greetings.

Happy Listening!