Audioquest custom made triple weave design power cable (Storm Series).
Hi everyone, I am interested in having my own customized Audioquest power cable build based of their new power line Storm series, which can be found here:
These great performers also use the same triple twisted design.
There must be something good going on with this geometry? That is why I want to apply it.
• Finally add, Oyaide plugs at each end (046, 079 or 004) and fill it with special crystal mineral against vibration, EMI, RFI, see: http://sablonaudio.com/index.php/power
First of all, would the geometry and design help you guys think?
Would it be worthwhile to try?
I can get Audioquest nrg4 relatively cheap. It has to be Audioquest wiring for me.
I just had to add my comments to what is becoming a consistent stream of love for these amazing cables. I actually went for the less-mentioned, middle-child Tornado - to connect my AQ Niagara 1000 to the wall-socket. Integrated amp, DAC, streamer all plug into the N1000 with a variety of mid-grade cables: an NRG-4 for the amp, Morrow MAP3 for the DAC and streamer power supply.
I was stressing for days, waiting for the Tornado to arrive. (a) Would that chunky cord even fit behind my audio unit? (b) would this be another disappointing (and expensive) nothing-burger, after all the hype.
After a few minutes wrestling the Tornado into position (it just about fits without major kinking) I was ready for the big moment.....and then.... nothing. For minutes, I literally couldn't get a sound out of my system. And yes, everything was apparently hooked up correctly, with all the appropriate lights on. No mute buttons inadvertently activated.
I have no idea what caused the unwelcome silence, but suddenly the music came to life. And how. Forget burn-in. Right out of the blocks the sound is obviously and instantly, massively improved. I'm enjoying only my second evening with them, and I'm bowled over. Seriously folks, it's an absolutely stunning leap in musicality My system has never had such a transformation with any previous equipment change. I'll save you the clichés. I'm just going to have to play my entire music collection this weekend.
I have no idea how much better things could get with a Hurricane or Dragon attached to my mid-level electronics, but the Tornado is worth every penny for me.
They are stunning aren't they? Makes you wonder just how good was your equipment to begin with. You spend all that money, then add these things and go "Wow"! I didn't think my system could be improved that much.
I'm interested in the statement that Richard Vandersteen recommends upgrading the powercords on the Model 7's. Does this improve the really low frequencies or what? Could you elaborate more on this?
I have two Hurricanes on the Atlas Eclipse amps and two Hurricanes on my Aesthetix Io Eclipse stand alone preamp. I'm pretty sure that the amp was broken in at about 290 hours. I knew the preamp would take longer because these are HC cables and the Io does not draw as mush current as the amps. At 330 hours the preamp was starting to change and come in finally in ways that I could not believe. Everything became more dynamic, soundstage became amazing and so forth. I cannot imagine anything else on the market being superior. Also, R. Vandersteen recommended putting Thunders on the Model 7 speakers. Audioquest will change out the termination to fit the 7s. All this is beyond my wildest expectations.
No, that didn't read well on the sound part, sorry. Yes, I have the blue outer sleeves. I wonder why they changed them. I love the plugs. They are the nicest I've ever seen adn that includes the top Furetech or Oyides.
The original Hurricanes had red in the outer jacket/sleeve. The latest hurricanes are solid blue. So, you have the latest version if the outer jacket/sleeve is blue. In addition, I stated the grip on both ends appears to be improved. I never stated or even suggested that the sound has changed.
I finally received the Hurricanes that I ordered to replace the Tornadoes. Now all of my components have Hurricane power cords and I hope I'm done(I'm still playing around with the thought of changing my speakers). The newer Hurricanes outer jacket/sleeve has changed and the grip on both ends appears to be improved.
Great share Charger. Very cool stuff and I totally agree. I nearly pulled the trigger on the nice Basis arm when I owned my Basis, but couldn't find one used that fit, lol. I am in shock over how good these cords are.
Bob, When Garth Powell attended our audiophile society meeting last month he used the Thunder and Dragon-Source cables on a CD player only as part of his demo. The Dragon was compared to a 17K power cord and was easily judged superior. He did the same thing with the Thunder, but I don't remember what cable it was compared to for the demo. What I do know is that The Dragon and the Thunder, which are far apart in price, shared some basic characteristics. The soundstage was big and images were in stark relief. Dynamics were really powerful and yet realistic within the soundstage. There are differences between the cables in the Storm Series, but they still share the same fundamental qualities that make them special. That is what I took away from Garth's demo. I had always thought that the addition of the Basis Super Arm 9 was the biggest single improvement in my system that I had ever experienced. Now, I can add to that the AQ Hurricanes. When some of my society friends came over to hear my system with the Hurricanes, they were amazed at the improvement. They said that everything sounded so right to them. One said it was the best he had ever heard the Model 7s sound in a normal home environment. I must give the Hurricanes much of the credit.
Bob, I disliked their former power cords. I also don't like MOST cords on the market. These and Enkleins are the one ones I've heard that I love. I was told that the Elrod's are also special, but even with any discounts they are very expensive.
@ctsooner , @ricred1 , Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will give the Thunder a try. I am currently using a bunch of Zu Audio power cables. I find them very neutral, but I know AQ really makes a great product and want to give them a try. Bob
After my home audition of the Audioquest Thunder, I decided to purchase a couple Hurricanes and Tornadoes. I had Wireworld Platinum and Silver Eclipse power cords, had a home audition of Shunyata Sigma and Alpha power cords. Although I didn't directly compared the Thunder to Tornado and Hurricane, I can say I preferred the Thunder to Wireworld and Shunyata power cords. I say try the Thunder in your system. The results may surprise you.
Bob, those are incredible and for the price, it's a no brainer. I have heard all of them on a $250k plus system and then a system that costs less than mine does. It didn't matter as the cables made very audible differences. Bob, call Johnny and talk to him about them. The Thunder is probably the best cord for the dollar out there. I don't like most cords to be honest. Most companies just use their speaker wires to make a cord. It doesn't work that way.
I can honestly say that Garth's new cords are a true component upgrade and not a tuning device. I personally hate using any cable or cord as a tuning device. That's NOT what they are supposed to do. I was blessed to be able to get the WEL balanced interconnect for my DAC to amp and will now sell my Niagara and Water cables, as that step up was also another major upgrade.
I find teh AQ products the most neutral, but there are some small companies who are playing in another price range that are also great. I hope to get my Hurricane's to my friends house once they are burned in and once he gets his just ordered Enkleins burned in. I want to see how they stack up. I have a feeling that they may be more neutral and tonally dead on as most AQ stuff is.
ctsooner's reaction to his new Hurricanes was exactly the same as mine when I started the burn-in process of these power cords. But you should hang on ctsooner because you have a bunch of those magic moments ahead of you. I just had a major improvement in over all sound quality at roughly 280 or so hours (I'm serious) and I suspect that is not the end of it. stsooner has 80 hours on his Hurricanes and is only just getting started. Expect more posts from him.
I'm in shock guys. I only have about 80 hours on the three cables and it's a HOLY CRAP moment. It's sounding better and better the more I listen. I have a totally different system right now. Don't even recognize it. I never expected this. Not in the least. These Quatro's are sounding better than I've EVER heard a pair sound. That's saying a ton as I have heard these in some awesome systems in stores and houses of friends. I can't wait to get my Memory Player/DAC into the system. They are using a new dual DAC in it and I know Mark will tune the heck out of it and make it sound world class like all his products are. The Memory Player right now is the best digital source I've ever heard and I've heard most of the top ones on the market. I should have a chance to put these Hurrican's up against the 12k Enkleins soonish. I have a feeling they will at least compete. Those Enkleins are CRAZY good when I've heard them.
Previous owner of NRG-4, NRG-10, NRG-1000 and NRG WEL Signature. The Hurricane is definitely one special cable. A lot of energy, bass and slam, very dynamic even thunderous... My BAT VK-600SE is well fed!
Maybe that's it. The "source" powercord will be blue to differentiate it from the HC one. Now that i think about it, I'm surprised there wasn't a different color for each of the storm series PC's. Why was the Hurricane the only non-black one? Audioquest loves their products being colored (Vodka, Coffee, Fire, ect.)...
I talked to Audioquest, per their technical support there aren't any changes to the current Hurricane. They are looking into the possibility of a Hurricane source power cord in the distant future, if it materializes at all.
Someone on another forum stated that an Audioquest Rep. told his Audioquest dealer that there is a V.2 Hurricane coming out and it will be "blue" in color. That was all the information that was related.
I went ahead and got three Hurricane's. They are burning in, but right from teh get go, I realized that something special was going on in my system. I'm floored so far, adn it's getting better by the day.
I had the Audioquest 1000 and Torus RM15 at the same time. All systems are different, but I suggest you try to get a hold of the RM15 and try it in your system. I did sell my RM15 and now have the Torus RM20.
Now that you've experienced what just a Tornado can do, you owe it to yourself to get an Audioquest Niagara, any of them (1000, 5000, 7000) to really get the full benefit for all your gear. They made a believer out of me.
I just installed the Tornado PC I bought from ricred1. I have only listened to 4 album sides so you can take this with a grain of salt but all I can say is awesome. It allowed my amp (Aesthetix Atlas Signature) to just open up. It sounded more powerful (not louder I actually turned volume down a little) The soundstage was wider, deeper more there, I think some of the secondary activity in the music became more prominent which made the whole presentation more believable. Anyway I was a sceptic and now I am a believer. I made no other change to my system other than to connect my amp using the Tornado.
As much as these Audioquest Storm Series power cables are improving systems, I can't help but wonder how good was my system after hearing the Hurricanes improving it ( I'm now up to four).
I thought I had a pretty killer system (over 50K) until I heard what is possible with these things. I'm plugging them into 2 Niagara 1000's and using 1 Audioquest NRG outlet and 1 Furutech GTX-D NCF outlet.
The Niagara 1000 by itself was a big difference. One Hurricane running it was an even more incredible improvement. Not only can I hear sounds in the audience during live recordings, I can hear them getting out of their cars in the parking lot...
Regarding stiffness, yes they are but not unacceptably so and they do hold their shape.
I have the Dragon HC so as stiff as they come. You need a 3' or so turning circle to get them to go into anything. So in my case with power amps alongside power conditioner I can get them to work with 3' for them to make the arc. You also need to dress them so the orientation of the outlets align. The SR Black outlets in my conditioner are not the grippiest so I must take care not to disturb once they are in but as the cables are uniformly stiff they hold their shape well and do not sag causing the plug to pull itself out (as my long SR Galileo power cords do)
Overall provided you have room you should have no issues.
They are horribly stiff and I submit their stiffness will prevent more than a few sales. I should have called Audioquest first. Their customers service said, "they may come out with a source version", but nothing anytime soon.
It's my understanding that they're coming out with a new Hurricane. I don't know what they've changed, but it's supposed to be different from the original release.
Thanks Charger. Garth is a great guy. I can't wait for his 'next' set of products that I'm sure he's working on. He just gets it so no matter what he's working on, I'm sure it will be awesome.
Last month I purchased four Audioquest Hurricane power cords for my system. I put two Hurricanes on my Aesthetix Io Eclipse phono pre-amp which has two power supplies and is a stand alone phono preamp and two more Hurricanes on my Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse monobloc amps. The rest of my system consists of Vandersteen Model 7 speakers, Basis Debut Signature TT with the Super Arm 9 and Lyra Atlas cart. Other cables are AQ Everest bi-wired speaker cables and AQ Wild Blue Yonder interconnects. I was told by an AQ representative that break-in would probably be anywhere from 250 to 350 (or more) hours. Right now I'm at 260 hrs. I cannot fully describe the impact that these cables have had on my system. Every aspect of sound that one can think of has improved dramatically. I'll just use the old descriptive phase and say that a large curtain has been lifted from the soundstage to reveal sense of reality that I have never experienced. In some ways it is shocking. I recently was looking at some old TAS magazines from the early 90s. There were 10 reviews of equipment with a list of components for each system used in one of the magazines. Out of the ten reviewers, only one made any mention of power cords. The other nine only mentioned interconnects and speaker cables. The year was 1992. Garth Powell has taken us to a new level reproductive sound that most have not really experienced. I have attended one of his presentations and would suggest that, if possible, all of you do the same.
I almost went for the Dragon to be honest. I probably should have for my short source to preamp/integrated connection, but I decided to go all Hurricane in the end as I only have the Vandersteen Quatro CT's and will probable get the new Vandersteen under 20k mono blocks once they come out and then I can get two high current Dragon's for them and not have to sell the Hurricanes for a loss etc...
I wish I could bring my Hurricanes (once they arrive and burn in for 400 hours) to that Rockport fronted system to hear the differences, lol. That won't happen though. ;)
I concur with your comments. I've tried several different power cords in my system with good results, but I prefer the Hurricane to all of them. My friend had the Hurricane and Dragon. He said, "it isn't a night and day difference, but if you have the money get the Dragon." I decided to go with all Hurricanes.
I have been into audio since 1969 and have heard a good difference constantly when listening to components with a top upgraded cord, but I have held out until last week. I got to spend time with Garth, Richard Vandersteen and Alex (formerly with Ayre adn now AQ) at Audio Connections in NJ. Garth had the prototype of the Dragon, Hurricane and Thunder. He also had his brand new Niagara 7000. We were playing around after everyone left and I was floored at the positive difference those cords made. They were in clear jackets at the time and Garth made considerable changes after that, but I knew that I was going to audition them when they came to market. I have heard them on the top line MSB full system, Ayre, Audio Research, Rowland, DCS full stack and so many more. I'm blown away. I have heard a full high end system fronted by Rockport Lyra's that had the top Enklein cables at around 12k each I think. I wish I had Dragon's or Hurricane's wiht me. I really have LOVED what these cables do up and down the spectrum.
For those who claim that any cable is the same because they all allow the current to flow, you haven't heard these or you are wrong. Garth has measurements and you can easily try to down play what he's doing, but he's doing much more than just moving the current.
The second time I heard them was in a blind test sort of. My friend and I were listening in his top room where he had his best gear. He then told me that he wanted me to hear a different amp with the system, but all he did was change the power cords. I was shocked at what it did to the sound. I asked if the new amp was a better model of the one we had been listening to. He laughed and showed me the Thunder cord attached to teh same amp. I left teh room again and he put on the Dragon high current and again, I was blown away. Then he put on the Hurricane and it was DARN close to the Dragon (that's why I went with the Hurricane instead of the Dragon).
It all depends on how good your gear is and what they are capable of giving you.
One can’t help wondering how Pass amps respond to fancy fuses, uh, according to Pass... 🙄
Yea, really!
The only way to know is to try it in your own system.
I think that's what needs to happen. Listen for yourself. Very interesting Jeff Rowland makes the same claims. Good to hear your as impressed as I am with the Hurricanes.
I use top Furutech plugs with great success.
I agree. I have Furutech FI28 Rhodium connectors on an AudioArt cable and it was a big improvement over a stock powercord. Connectors are the first thing the power has to go through, so yes,they make a difference.
bultaco, I already have three Hurricane power cords...one 20 amp Hurricane on my Torus RM20 power conditioner, one 20 amp Hurricane on my Jeff Rowland 625 S2 amp, and one 15 amp Hurricane on my Jeff Rowland Corus preamp. I'm purchasing two more, because I want to have all Hurricane power cords on my components.
"Pass Amps don't respond real well to power cord upgrades. According to Pass... " Funny, I have Rowland and he says the same thing, but I hear a clear improvement across all frequencies. The only way to know is to try it in your own system.
ricred1, Thanks for the response! I think you have some idea already how good the AQ storm series are if you have Tornados. Let us know what you think of the Hurricanes when you get them. I just can't believe how good they are. I'm trying to think where else I might want to put some (amp,preamp, CD, ect..).
My plan was to add another one to my Pass Labs amp, instead of a High Fidelity cable, but Pass Amps don't respond real well to power cord upgrades. According to Pass...
It should be pointed out the big news, the headline really, for the new Storm series of Audioquest power cords is that the directionality of all wires in the cables is controlled during the manufacturing process. Yes, I know the power cord is AC. Please, no angry private messages.
bultaco, I had a Shunyata Venom on my DAC, but replaced it with Wireworld Platinum. I never tried Shunyata’s Digital power cords. Shunyata power cords don't work well in my current system. I currently have a Tornado power cord on my Chord Dave DAC and Antipodes DS GT music server. I will replace both of the Tornados with Hurricanes in a month or so.
Just found this thread...I would like to ask a question of ricred1 if I may divert a bit from the topic?
I have experimented a little with powercords with mostly positive results. I recently purchased 2 Audioquest Hurricanes and I am continuously stunned at how good they are. Did you try a Shunyata power cord on a CD/SACD player? I currently have a Shunyata Alpha Digital on mine.
Guess that makes me and about 15 others quite delusional :-)
The following amps I and others have tried good power cords on the following amps - they showed discenible improvements in sound quality... NAIM Ayre Gryphon Audio Research Cambridge Audio Marantz Bluesound Bel Canto
On the guitar side of the fence her are three I have tried Fender Marshall Ampeg
Or perhaps they are just poorly designed?
I guess this debate will go on at infinitum - just sayin :-)
+1 shadorne! A well-designed amp (most everything these days) needs NO fancy (and pricey) PC for optimum performance! People that claim otherwise are DELUSIONAL! Does anybody pump gas with a fancy hose hoping for improved mileage? Of course not! If I found ANY benefit to an aftermarket PC I would have been using them for the past 40 + years!
Garth Powell is on record (see below) that the braided design is not for sound quality, but only to make the cable flexible
Pehaps that is the case in his design - however ... - if you take a 12 gauge extension cable from home depot - remove the outer sleeve i.e. extract the conductors - braid the conductors togther and attach IEC/mains plugs
The braided cable will actually outperfrom Furutech 10 gauge bulk cables that have just had Connectors installed at each end - improved image, bass depth and dynamic performance
I have observed significant improvements on my system using braided PC's - but the HELIX design is by far the best.
A friend just went through the Home Depot braiding exercise on his guitar amp and reported significant improvements over his stock cables.
I also use a braided power cable on my bass amp - HUGE IMPROVEMENT! - deeper bass with much more control
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