Used to be real easy, I would summarily dismiss all DIY. Now though I will have to be a little more careful. You will have to send yours to me for comparison before I can say for certain it is cra- er I mean how good it is. ;)
EXTRA! EXTRA!! Millercarbon Proven Wrong!!! Read all about it! EXTRA! EXTRA!!
Been a long time now saying no one will ever DIY anywhere near as good as what you can buy already made. Never in a million years. Well, I have been proven wrong.
Not like I shouldn’t have known better. I Met both Caelin Gabriel and Ted Denney around 1992, back when they were not that far from being DIY’ers themselves. So it is not so much that it can’t be done, as it is just astronomically unlikely.
Okay, well so anyway that’s what I was saying, good luck you will never do it. Someone decided to call me on it, and took the unusual step of sending me a power cord to hear for myself.
This first one I got, we will call him Mr Black. I was actually quite surprised how good it was. Real solid imaging, spread across a sound stage nice and deep and wide, with plenty of dynamics and gobs of detail and extension. Only problem, no bass, the sound overall was thin and the top end extension a little too much. I let it burn in playing CD hoping it would warm up and round out but it never did get there. Captivating as the sound stage was the lack of bass and body eventually got too much and I moved it aside. Figured oh well not bad for DIY went back to my old Shunyata and sort of forgot about it.
Until he checks back, we get to talking, and he drops the bomb, “Yeah I was going for real good imaging with that one. I have much better now, way better.” Really??!?! “Would you be interested in evaluating?” Would I?!?!
So I get these two power cords, we will call them Mr White and Mr Silver. Mr White looks exactly like the first one, except white not black. Mr Silver is thinner and stiffer, almost too thin to be your typical audiophile type power cord. With nothing else to go by I decide to start with Mr White.
Right away, and I mean immediately, this thing is impressive as can be. All the great 3D imaging, incredible speed and resolution of Mr Black, only Mr White is superbly balanced top to bottom. This has me pretty gaga, not least because this is straight out of the box. It was late, I was pressed for time, just thought what the hell might as well get this over with. But now I am sitting here trying to understand how any power cord - let alone one some guy made at home - can be doing this to my system.
Couple days later I am calling and being told yeah, friend had a Nordost Odin 2 to compare and this is at least as good. ? I have never heard Nordost Odin, 1 or 2, but by now I am finding it hard to argue.
What am I hearing, with 10 maybe 20 hours on it? The Holy Grail of audio, at least as far as I’m concerned, is infinite speed with zero edge. Nothing really does this. Everything super fast always winds up being etched, or hard, or thin, or hyped, or anything other than what I want which is full and round and balanced AND light speed fast. My ears are sensitive to glare and so forced to choose I will take full and round and balanced over fast. It is just a more enjoyable listening experience. All the best components in my view capture both of these sort of conflicting goals. Tekton does, with electrostat speed combined with big box fullness. Townshend does, improving perceived speed by lowering the noise floor while eliminating ringing. Herron, Koetsu- pretty much everything in my system is oriented along these lines.
Mr White is pushing on the edge of this envelope. It is even smoother and fuller now, but without losing any of the initial speed.
I actually had these before the F1 came but held off writing about them partly out of respect for Max Townshend, who is actually running a business, and also partly because it is just kind of hard to believe the darn thing really is this good. Thought maybe with the F1, which are even cleaner and more revealing than Synergistic CTS, maybe it might reveal some problems with Mr White. He is after all home-brew. Cannot possibly have the thorough vetting of a “professional” product.
But no, both these truly exceptional lengths of wire are fine together. So fine I was reluctant to try Mr Silver. Unable to comprehend how he could be better, unwilling to listen to anything less. I get spoiled fast! 😍 But I put him in there and at first thought he might be even better. But it was just the impressively palpable presence and solid stage. After a while it was clear Mr Silver is not as superbly effortlessly detailed and fast as Mr White. Not quite as good bass either. Bear in mind the bass we are talking about being "not quite as good as" is really, really exceptionally good! The main difference between the two is a bit of glare.
But when I say glare, this has to be taken in context. I never, ever thought of my Moabs as having any glare. Until they were on Podiums, at which point they were- comparatively. The glare wasn’t the Moabs, it was the ringing, now eliminated by the Podiums. Synergistic CTS never seemed to have any glare or grain- until compared with Townshend F1. Same kind of thing, a ringing that presented as a hard edge or glare is gone now, and for the better. Mr Silver is indeed a fine power cord in its own right. Just not up to the exalted level of Mr White. I suspect few, if any, are.
Not like I shouldn’t have known better. I Met both Caelin Gabriel and Ted Denney around 1992, back when they were not that far from being DIY’ers themselves. So it is not so much that it can’t be done, as it is just astronomically unlikely.
Okay, well so anyway that’s what I was saying, good luck you will never do it. Someone decided to call me on it, and took the unusual step of sending me a power cord to hear for myself.
This first one I got, we will call him Mr Black. I was actually quite surprised how good it was. Real solid imaging, spread across a sound stage nice and deep and wide, with plenty of dynamics and gobs of detail and extension. Only problem, no bass, the sound overall was thin and the top end extension a little too much. I let it burn in playing CD hoping it would warm up and round out but it never did get there. Captivating as the sound stage was the lack of bass and body eventually got too much and I moved it aside. Figured oh well not bad for DIY went back to my old Shunyata and sort of forgot about it.
Until he checks back, we get to talking, and he drops the bomb, “Yeah I was going for real good imaging with that one. I have much better now, way better.” Really??!?! “Would you be interested in evaluating?” Would I?!?!
So I get these two power cords, we will call them Mr White and Mr Silver. Mr White looks exactly like the first one, except white not black. Mr Silver is thinner and stiffer, almost too thin to be your typical audiophile type power cord. With nothing else to go by I decide to start with Mr White.
Right away, and I mean immediately, this thing is impressive as can be. All the great 3D imaging, incredible speed and resolution of Mr Black, only Mr White is superbly balanced top to bottom. This has me pretty gaga, not least because this is straight out of the box. It was late, I was pressed for time, just thought what the hell might as well get this over with. But now I am sitting here trying to understand how any power cord - let alone one some guy made at home - can be doing this to my system.
Couple days later I am calling and being told yeah, friend had a Nordost Odin 2 to compare and this is at least as good. ? I have never heard Nordost Odin, 1 or 2, but by now I am finding it hard to argue.
What am I hearing, with 10 maybe 20 hours on it? The Holy Grail of audio, at least as far as I’m concerned, is infinite speed with zero edge. Nothing really does this. Everything super fast always winds up being etched, or hard, or thin, or hyped, or anything other than what I want which is full and round and balanced AND light speed fast. My ears are sensitive to glare and so forced to choose I will take full and round and balanced over fast. It is just a more enjoyable listening experience. All the best components in my view capture both of these sort of conflicting goals. Tekton does, with electrostat speed combined with big box fullness. Townshend does, improving perceived speed by lowering the noise floor while eliminating ringing. Herron, Koetsu- pretty much everything in my system is oriented along these lines.
Mr White is pushing on the edge of this envelope. It is even smoother and fuller now, but without losing any of the initial speed.
I actually had these before the F1 came but held off writing about them partly out of respect for Max Townshend, who is actually running a business, and also partly because it is just kind of hard to believe the darn thing really is this good. Thought maybe with the F1, which are even cleaner and more revealing than Synergistic CTS, maybe it might reveal some problems with Mr White. He is after all home-brew. Cannot possibly have the thorough vetting of a “professional” product.
But no, both these truly exceptional lengths of wire are fine together. So fine I was reluctant to try Mr Silver. Unable to comprehend how he could be better, unwilling to listen to anything less. I get spoiled fast! 😍 But I put him in there and at first thought he might be even better. But it was just the impressively palpable presence and solid stage. After a while it was clear Mr Silver is not as superbly effortlessly detailed and fast as Mr White. Not quite as good bass either. Bear in mind the bass we are talking about being "not quite as good as" is really, really exceptionally good! The main difference between the two is a bit of glare.
But when I say glare, this has to be taken in context. I never, ever thought of my Moabs as having any glare. Until they were on Podiums, at which point they were- comparatively. The glare wasn’t the Moabs, it was the ringing, now eliminated by the Podiums. Synergistic CTS never seemed to have any glare or grain- until compared with Townshend F1. Same kind of thing, a ringing that presented as a hard edge or glare is gone now, and for the better. Mr Silver is indeed a fine power cord in its own right. Just not up to the exalted level of Mr White. I suspect few, if any, are.
304 responses Add your response
When a serious lifelong audiophile tells me that a special DIY power cord makes a transformative difference in his system, I believe it. I don't assume that the reporter is just imagining things, especially when he says his listening trials have been replicated with the same result every time and it's a difference his wife can hear from another room. I find this very interesting information. Perhaps even gratifyingly useful information. I do not interpret such reports as "egomaniacal," nor do I understand why others would do so. If the report is lengthy relative to the average post, that's fine by me if it holds my interest. Okay, so some readers have short attention spans, or don't care about the subject, or are just emotionally invested in the preconception that power cords can't possibly make a difference -- well, fine, but then why bother announcing these personal idiosyncrasies to the world, and in a snarky fashion at that? It's replies of this sort that strike me as egomaniacal. Of course, MC's case in my eyes is perhaps augmented by the fact that his writing style is top-tier for an audio forum. It just seems to be the case that many gearheads, brilliant engineers no doubt, simply take little interest in the stylistic possibilities of the English language, nor even in the fact that that the clarity of one's expression is a direct proof of the clarity of his/her thought. Which is to say that, whether or not they seem relevant to my own circumstances, I'll invariably read MC's posts for their clarity, cogency, and and at times, genuine wit of a high order that seems to be lost on too many readers. |
hickamore >>> +1 |
Such a huge waste of time. If any of this was true these breakthroughs would be recognized by the scientific community. Then they would be recognized by the manufacturing community if they had any merit at all. I’ve I’ve only been on these forms for a couple years and I’ve seen this thread happen about every three months.It’s always the same players. |
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@bewgow, why would it take guts to try your Mr Silver cord? Probably because you will be discredited and put through h-ll by the shills if you don’t care for it publicly and tow the line being pitched. Been there/done that. I don’t get involved with free trials of esoteric products offered up here anymore for that reason unless I feel confident in the potential value (for myself and others in regards to what you get for the price) in my own terms up-front. Of course at that point I am already biased just like any other reviewer. It is what it is. I may like a product OK in a free trial, but would I be willing to pay the price others will? That’s the question. |
@bewgow, why would it take guts to try your Mr Silver cord? Probably because you will be discredited and put through h-ll by the shills if you don’t care for it publicly and tow the line being pitched.Yeah, and the funny thing is I don't think these home grown A'gon shills really even care about the latest product du jour they are hawking. Rather, its all for the attention and the hope that someone might think they have something going on worth listening to. |
mapman18,788 posts04-16-2021 9:53amThere always seems to be a single highly contested position reserved here for chief narcissist. Oh, millercarbon wins the contest - hands down and every time - for “most pathological persona” in this forum. I’m not much of a “contributor,” but I once came here far more often. It’s impossible to search for advice or information anymore without his incessant self-importance “sidling” up from behind like a used car salesman and making you realize EVERY TIME IT HAPPENS why you stopped coming around here in the first place. Mind you, I’m not judging his intelligence. Or knowledge/correctness on any specific issue (smart/correct people are often the most insufferable people). Just the ardor with which he believes he’s contributing to the saving of the world on every single thread he visits. The moderators might want to consider banning - or limiting - him. At least give him some tic-tacs so we know when he’s coming... Of course, I’ve just given him the very attention he craves. So, there’s that. |
@brunomarcs - I don’t know if beo will respond to your question but here’s a link to a thread relative to a version of DYI interconnect & digital cables ,and power cords that, if you haven’t seen it, will provide you with some useful information. Likewise , you see the members that built them that you can pm directly with . You’ll also find a link to one of the member’s website giving full build details. I had one of the members build be these interconnects and digital cable and have found them to be very good sounding. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/duelund-conversion-to-diy-helix-geometry-cabling |
tomic601, it's certainly true than one can have good taste, even exquisite taste, and still be a narcissist or even a Nazi. As for which among the contributors may harbor pathologies, I can't tell and wouldn't announce my discoveries if I could. My reason for visiting the forum is to learn things, and I do learn, from many sources. Sometimes I'm even entertained. So thanks to all for sharing their knowledge. That's as far as I go or care to go. |
Even a few fragments of this are all anyone can bear to read. We have to wonder: what leads a person to a life of such fetishism, what inner void is crying out for fulfillment, what feelings of inadequacy are seeking compensation here? Is the writing meant to signal expertise to the peer group? Does it instead (inadvertently) reveal a desperate emptiness? Is this a cry for help? |
hickamore- When a serious lifelong audiophile tells me that a special DIY power cord makes a transformative difference in his system, I believe it. I don't assume that the reporter is just imagining things, especially when he says his listening trials have been replicated with the same result every time and it's a difference his wife can hear from another room. I find this very interesting information. Perhaps even gratifyingly useful information. Post of the year. |
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pmiller115- Millercarbon: Is there a way by which others, including myself, might also have the pleasure of spending some audio time with "Mr. White" Read the thread, they are made by bewgow. I don't give away proprietary information people put their good hard work into earning the hard way, but I will say Mr White is not cheap nor should it be. It is an intricate geometry construction and takes a good weeks worth of work just to assemble. It is comparable to Nordost Odin 2, a $24k power cord. You are welcome to contact bewgow and find out what he wants to make you one. Or you can take him up on his offer on Mr Silver. The only things I have ever heard that compare with Mr White are the Townshend F1 speaker cables, and the F1 interconnects I am currently in the process of reviewing. These three are in my experience unique in their ability to transmit music with incredible lifelike detail and dynamics yet without any trace of grain or glare. Remarkable stuff. Mr Silver is as I said very, very good. Anyone hearing Mr Silver and not comparing it to some uber wire like White, I would not be surprised if it is not the best they ever heard. If you already have better than Mr Silver you are in very rare company indeed. |
Oh, millercarbon wins the contest - hands down and every time - for “most pathological persona” in this forum. I’m not much of a “contributor,” but I once came here far more often. It’s impossible to search for advice or information anymore without his incessant self-importance “sidling” up from behind like a used car salesman and making you realize EVERY TIME IT HAPPENS why you stopped coming around here in the first place.Post of the year. |
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What I find interesting here ( as with many other threads as well ), are some folks showing their ignorance to the fact that power cables DO, in fact, sound different from one another, and require system matching to be at their best. The more " invisible " the system ( meaning, detailed ), the easier it is to hear. I laugh at those folks who comment negatively who have never tried an upgraded power cord. And to hear it, you do not need to spend 24K. BTW.....I would be eager and open to listen to an " all out assault " power cable for my modified Edge Audio M8 ( Tom Maker ) power amp ( 1.5 meter ). |
My ears are not nearly as tuned as MCarbon’s. I simply do not have the depth of experience whatsoever. But I received the power cords and dropped them in and wow did things get quiet in a hurry. I assume I was using Mr. Silver cause that’s what they look like 😊. The quietness allowed me to hear the subtleties that I didn’t know were even there before. |
