Best power cord for amp??

Hi Kuro..; I recently auditioned 5 power cords from The Sanctuary of Sound in Seattle, WA, including a prototype of Shunyata's new "Sidewinder". (Note: right now my system is tilted to the bright side of neutral because of recent installation of dedicated AC system). The Sidewinder is very smooth, detailed, has wide soundstage, and is subjectively fast with good bass, ie pace and rhythm are well served. I think the Sidewinder is tonally neutral, but my system is presently a bit bright so I did not purchase it. Rather, I opted for the Syn. Res. Master coupler which is slightly on the dark, mellow side of neutral-- to help tame my system brightness. The Sidewinder I had was the 20 amp IEC plug version to fit my big McCormack amp. The SR-MC was the more standard 15 amp version, that I put on my pre-amp. I feel sure that if I had not put in the dedicated AC system, I certainly would have purchased the Shunyata Sidewinder, and I predict that at $375. (list) Shunyata is going to sell a LOT of them. But for MY system, I returned the Sidewinder, and ordered a 2nd SR-MC (in 20 amp IEC) for my amp. The SR-MC + Sidewinder was almost an excellent combo. Note: I also have Syn. Res. ICs and speaker cables, so there may have been some synergy with their PCs in my system. The other cords: Electraglide-- little difference from stock OEM; Orchard Bay-- same; Essense ESP-- too much of everything with a forward, aggressive midrange that some may like, but I didn't. I would never buy a power cord without auditioning it-- unless you buy it cheap and can resell it if you don't like it. As Michael Bush (1st post) recommended, I would not overlook the Synergistic Research Master Couplers or maybe their more expensive Reference model.

Tjreed's post of 04/08/00 is RIGHT ON-- audition and choose what works best for you. That said, I WANNA try more Power Snakes.

After reading Carl's post of 5/2/00 essentially "trashing" the Synergistic Research Master Coupler (SR-MC), I decided to critically listen last night for the negative characteristics he noted. I have the SR-MC on my Line 2 pre-amp. 1) too filtered (I took this to mean "veiled" as STPH and TAS use the term)-- not at all, in fact music quality/character was transparent, natural and inviting. 2) Too dark: slightly on the rich, mellow side of neutral (which I prefer, and my system presently needs) but certainly not too dark. 3) very tubby bass-- this was the most difficult criticism to assess. In certain rock, pop, and jazz songs where electric bass and kick drum reinforce each other, SOME songs on some CDs had bass that might be described as somewhat "tubby". But please note that both the electric bass and typical kick drum have "tubbiness" as an inherent musical characteristic-- IMHO, and I've had personal experience playing alongside both of these. But to really assess the bass of this power cord, I had to get into CDs with serious mid and upper bass. Both Enigma #1, and #4 CDS feature the mid-bass to upper bass with a variety of drums and other percussion instruments, and on both of these, bass was taut, articulate, and musical. I enjoyed both CDs a lot. The same with L. McKennitt's "Book of Secrets" which features a variety of percussive instruments on several of the tracks-- overall, very musical without a hint of "tubbiness". Conclusion: in my system, the SR-MC is an excellent performer, and I'm looking forward to getting the same cord for my amp-- it's on order. In the course of doing this testing, I periodically switched to the stock cord for comparison, and in the bass the two cords are similar. It's in the mid-range and above where the SR-MC is clearly superior. I rather did enjoy this challenge; it made me dig deeper, listen more carefully, and assess more rigorously. Thanks, Craig

Hi Redkiwi, and thanks for the input. In my professional career there was a saying a close friend used to use a lot that I think applies here; "I wish I understood all that I know about this". That said, what does TPC AC feeder mean? Are you referring to switching the power cable from the main supply panel to the sub-main end for end or side to side? To tell the truth, I was expecting nothing but good things with this dedicated power supply-- and it has dramatically lowered the noise floor, but as noted, the mid-range on up is overly bright, and I suspect it also has had an affect on the lower frequencies; it's just not as noticeable because I'm focused on the brightness. Would you mind if I email you privately-- through Audiogon to discuss this a bit more? As I don't suppose most are very interested in such a mundane topic. Thanks. Craig.

Hi Carl, I too enjoy the musings of Sam Tellig. As noted, I did sort of enjoy "re-visiting" my decision to go with the Syn. Res. BTW, I got the 2nd one today and am looking forward to getting it broken in. And I know, that you know, that power cords are really system dependent-- so much so that it could drive you crazy auditioning them. Craig.

Hi Rfj; Try some and you'll be amazed. Awhile ago I didn't believe it either, then I auditioned six. They all sounded different from each other-- some good, some bad, some little difference. Dealers will often let you audition broken in demos for free. Go hunting, and good luck. Craig