Need advice for power cord on PS Audio UPC 200



Hey everybody! I would appreciate some experience here as I am getting a PS Audio UPC 200.. and would like very much to gain some insights as to other's experiences with passive conds. and the power cords they have found make the best fit.

I don't think I want to get into a ton of dough here... maybe $300 or $400 tops, new or used.... and likely less. VooDoo and Flavor are on the list currently, in that order.

I do plan to use it on strickly the BAT VK500, but am not sure it will be 'dedicated' to that end. 90%, though. (Depends on performance gain... and may wind up on digital components, but the goal now is the amp).

Any notions, ideas, and certainly experience (s) with passive conditioners and of course this UPC 200 (brand new), would be more than appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
blindjim

Showing 3 responses by audphile1

With my Shunyata Hydra conditioner I tried:
Shunyata Diamondback, VH Audio Flavor-4, Audience, Sunyata Taipan Alpha and now have Shunyata Taipan Helix Alpha.

Considering your budget, I would recommend Shunyata Taipan Alpha. I tried VH Flavor-4 with Furutech gold connectors on my Hydra conditioner and gave it a full break in of 400 hours. I thought it was a pretty cord and an improvement over the Shunyata Diamnondback I was using there prior to Flavor-4, but Taipan Alpha is better. Also, I didn't like how stiff the Flavor-4 cord is. It's very tough to maneuver if it isn't a straight shot from the conditioner to the wall. In my system the Taipan cords were the best.
If I'm going to go off on a cord there right now, it needs be one that has an enveloping sound stage that encroaches into the listening position a tad, has great bottom end tunefullness and sweet highs... and all the other junk that should be there at those price points. Dynamics, weight, imagery, etc.

then the Flavor-4 may not fit your needs. When I had it running from Hydra2 to the wall I had the Audience powerChord from amp to Hydra. I found the Flavor to be a little forward on highs and thin in bass. It was extremely detailed. I'd say a bit too much so. Soundstage was pretty well layered but still, with images that were a bit thinner than I like. Of course in your system it may be different, since you know how it is with PCs, they don't sound the same in all systems. But just to make sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing with the Flavor cord, I swapped the cords on the amp from Audience to Shunyata D-back to Acoustic Zen Tsunami Plus and the character of the Flavor cord was pretty much the same throughout. I don't know how important the cord is from the wall to the UPC, but with Hydra it seems to be the first cord to worry about, as I prooved with Taipan.
I think the new Taipan Helix is excellent. Very neutral, very dynamic. Shows the truth. I think it is an improvement from the previous Taipan as that one did seem to be a bit bloated in comparison to Helix. I find the Taipan Helix cord not to sound as fat as the older Taipan Alpha. FWIW.
Good Luck!!!
Yuepengju, Audience and Tsunami Plus in my experience are totally different sounding cords. Audience is very fast and dynamic with great bass slam. Tsunami Plus is a more gentle, more laid back sounding cord, not as dynamic as the powerChord, but certainly nice.
Also, I would probably not put Audience cord between the conditioner and a wall if a conditioner to be used to power 2 components with one of them being a power amp, if that's the intention. I would get at least a 10awg cord for that.
Audience did not produce good results on my Hydra2(between the hydra and the wall) that powered McCormack DNA-125 and Audio Research LS-15. Despite the fact that audience is awesome on components and it is one of my favorite power cords.