meridian power cord upgrade

I have a friend that owns a local wire plant. As a result I can get just about any cable configuration made up for me (as long as I don't do it too often). But I enlisted him in an experiment to find an ideal power cable. We tried a lot of things and found that if we changed anything about the design or materials, we could hear the effect. I must admit the quest was very confusing and perhaps a better knowledge of the scientific issues may have helped us. It took a long time before we understood how to make a good power cable. At the end of it I had a lot more respect for audio cable companies, and a lot less tolerance for those that complain about the difference between the retail price of an audio cable and the apparent worth of the ingredients. The costs must be significant in design and experimentation, not to mention marketing in a very crowded market. But I guess my real point is I could hear the difference between cords that had only subtle differences in their design, so I find it very difficult to understand how others cannot. On the other hand I put a lot of time into helping others set up their systems and I have got to say some audiophiles live with some terrible sounding systems through lack of knowing about setup and room treatment - in such systems I can imagine why cables do not sound different.

Brutus, I have tried a few inexpensive power cords ($100-$260) and the difference can be insignificant and/or hard to distinguish. When I tried others (which happened to be more expensive) I noticed significant differences. If you don't,(as Redkiwi asked) what does your system consist of and what music do you use for reference? This could prove to be beneficial information to many of us!

Brutus, could you please describe your system, setup and reference music?

No I have not.I have a friend that ownes an audio salon I will "borrow" both and give it a try for a week and let you know if I hear an improvement.

Hi Brutus, have you tried any of the top of the line Shunyata snakes or a FIM PC? It was not until I heard these PCs that I became a believer.

If you hear a difference with an aftermarket high-buck power cord on your gear than god bless you. I have tried a few different power cords on mine and the only difference I heard was the sound of dollar bills flying out of my pocket

Redkiwi- I agree 100%. Sometimes I wonder if poeple say such things to see others fly off the handle. I greatly improved the sound of my system by doing many things over the period of several years. Power cords were added last, but what a difference they make. Have a happy Turkey Day everyone!

Lak - I too hear important differences with power cords, but accept that others might not - I am open to the possibility that Brutus may be speaking from experience, in which case I would be further interested in his or her system context. But you are right that there are many with opinions like the one expressed by Brutus which are simply the product of having a tiny brain.

Brutus, We have read about this spiral viewpoint before. All I can tell you is on my reference system I have tested four different power cords and can hear a difference with each different power cord I have demoed.

Brutus - do you have that opinion because you have tried it and didn't hear any difference?

save your money. an absolutely useless tweak. any "real" benefits are purely psycological

I use a FatBoy on the 508,Fatboy on the 502 Pre-amp and a FatMan on the 557 power amp.GREAT RESULTS

Nothing works better than the Powersnakes Viper v2 or Black Mamba. I prefer the Viper v2 on my Meridian 566.24 DAC, but the Black Mamba is good too (I use that on my preamp), and only about 70% of the cost of the Viper. Recommended!

I'm using SR master couplers and Transport and DAC, very happy with results - I have the 200 and 566.