Need advice for power cord on PS Audio UPC 200

Johnnyp You're welcome. given the $200 tag, if a PS Audio Statement can be had for that amount, get it. Regardless, the UPC 200 will do you far better than 'no' UPC200, whichever cord supplies it. the one that comes with it will work very well. I used it just that way for several months and was well pleased with the quieting, and warmth it gained my rig (s). see this review for moore details...

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?raccs&1156794951&openmine&zzBlindjim&4&5#Blindjim

Thanks for all the advice. Kind of suprised nobody mentioned any PS Audio powercords, not even the statement. If your wondering what I have look at my system. I'm quite happy right now but thought maybe the UPC-200 could give me an improvement.. What ya think... Thanks again JohnnyP.

johnnyp

have a look at the JPS digital aC, or perhaps look at the Voodoo black dragon... if you can find one used it shouldn't be much more than aobut $300 or so for the BD, and less for the JPS. The VooDoo BD is either a nine or ten gauge set of conductors, (it's probably near two inches in diameter), is full bandwidth, provides great bass, fine extension, drives my 250 wpc dual monoblock amp with no sweat, has a warm hand, is quite musical, and large SS. I didn't care too much for the JPS, musically speaking, but it was black... but then, you may like it. RWV.

Also, if you got the UPC 200 new, or have it in the Dual setting, try setting it to High curent. IN HC you'll get more blackness. Unless you have a very noisey componet plugged in, you'll be fine. Just use a different pair of outlets than the pre or amp are on. Lastly, the UPC 200 takes some time to get to optimum performance levels. Leave it on. With limited or heavy use it'll take a few days to be at it's peak. less in Dual mode, but still a couple days. All by itself, with the OEM supplied cord, mine does a fine job on the background just that way. Aftermarket supply cords will help improve more than just by darkening the background. Though I would concentrate on their harmonic and presentation aspects a bit more so, as both the characteristics of the UPC & it's supply wire will be introduced into the coupled componnets. Blackness is only one aspect. Other cables, like IC's, and speaker wires and isolation will aid you in that effort as you try other types, and/or replace them along the way. Provide yourself a good base now, and you won't have to go back and redo the whole mixture.

Dead silent for $200 is I think a tall order however. I'm trying an x2 active Synergistic Master AC right now, along with a Elrod Sig II. I replaced the VooDoo Black D, with them both, the Elrod is darker by some, though not much. It is indeed far more the musically intriguing one. The Master aC is nearly as black. Both cost more than the Black Dragon. Of course the story doesn't end there. Other attributes come into play as well with those two cords. Every cord for that matter has some fingerprint it will put on the system.

just by changing the placement of the UPC will change sonic characteristics. Play with what it rests upon. Put it on something other than the carpet for sure. A 12 inch piece of black ceramic floor tile is something I got initially for mine. then I got some sink stoppers. Cut off the little rings on top, and set them underneath the UPC. See what works for you in that regard. Everything makes a diff. You decide the good of it. If any, or just some.

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.

Audience or AZ's Tsunami plus.
Then you will only know what upc-200 really can do.

I feed my Upc-200 with a Virtual Dynamics Power Three new version. It retails just around Usd 200 and sounds great.
Hope this helps.
Vito

To rehash this thread once again, I just purchased a UPC-200 also and was wondering what cord would give me a dead silent backround with real no change in characteristics in sound for around $200. Like my system on the warmer side if needed... Thanks and sorry for rehashing this thread... JohnnyP.

thanks for the help folks. I found an Elrod EPS 3 signature, that will drive the vk500 w/BP + Hydra 2.... for the time being.

Thanks, Audphile1

yeah, the Taipan helix is a quicker cord than the previous Taipan. Sweeter too. I thought the previous Taipan to be a tad dull. Smooth and evenly balanced, but no sparkle. Not terribly dynamic. the Helix ver in my system still has the smoothness but with some better bass response and impact, yet not anything dramatic. A nice PC. Well mannered. Detailed and sweet. that last bit is what gets my money. that attribute alone, is quite the thing, introducing more color to the tones. Natrually and subtlely, not exaggerated or unduely.

Now I need a PC that will bring it altogether. I suspect which ever one that is will be a bit more costly than the average PC prices. Given the level of performance I seek. Hope not but it probably will. IN the interim, I'll keep a tryin'' some out and see what fits.

Acoustic Zen's upper end of PC interests me. Although I can't find much about the Krakatoa.

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!!!

Audphile1
thanks as always.

Yes the taipan Helix is a good one. I've had them throughout my system. at one time on each item in there. All at once. A really sweet sounding cord. though on the amp a better fit tonally was the Python helix... though it bloated the sound stage out of proportion, and likely due to the other Python helix VX on the CDP.

So I'm looking around in that general arena of the Python and up cords for the task of driving the amp. Don't want to get too pricey. I may well just go with a stop gap measure for the time being unless another BAT owner says differently. though I'm considering the Elrod Sig. II & III, and some ideas of my own... like I've never heard AZ wires at all. Like the Krakatoa, and Gargantua... or the Tesla II from Bruce at VooDoo. (I've three other Dragons already).

Then there is the Purist line of Dominus cords, but I get the impression they may be too soft a fit for me at that spot.

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.

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.

just to give this a kick.. and being back in the hunt for another power cord for the same application... I figured to revitalize this thread vs. posting another... Same Q... slightly different now...

"What cord works well with the BAT VK500 & a passive conditioner?" upc200 or Hydra 2... personally, there's but a tiny diff from one to the other, but they differ fur sure.

I'm thinking maybe aZ Krakatoa, Gargantua, Elrod, Syn Master AC x2, and or VooDoo Tesla ... Any thoughts aobut these or another worth having?

Thanks very much

1marker: Thanks!

just to make clear one point... all four of my dedicated 20 amp ckts. are on one phase/bus of the power panel. the top four breakers on one side of the breaker box. Also all the power hungry appliances are on the other phase/bus, limiting their effect on the gear... if there is an effect, it's negligible, and inaudible.

Having determined the additional influence that the Shunyata VX has upon those ckts immediately adjacent to it... some swapping of the dedicated breakers seems in order...

1mark, sorry, I've got a late model BAT VK500 w/BAT pk. not McCormack. Though as much as folks seem to think the DCCA cord a good fit... I'll see what I can do to find out for myself. It'll be a while, though. Either the PK10 OR speaker wires is next on the list... and the Kimber I've heard and IS a good fit for me... Thanks.

Fplanner,

Here is DCCA's website, although it's a work in progress:

DCCA Website.

Their Extreme Reference works very well with the McCormack DNA-500, which is what I think you own, and one I've owned for many months this year.

Don offers a trial period, so it's a no risk proposition.

Just for the record in terms of my particular circumstances, I think passing this along makes for interesting reading... and it's way true!

I recently bought a Python VX from the Cable Co. Placed it onto the Sony xa 777 es I use for serious listenning sessions. Real nice I should say. .. and the best fit given my somewhat limited experience (s). Receiving the PS audio UPC 200 the other day, after some interminable delays IMO... (SIX WEEKS OR BETTER ACTUALLY & ALSO FROM THE CABLE Co.), I figured to move things about to see how items act with it. I've got four dedicated ckts. One runs the PC & it's stuff. the other three are for the amp, preamp adn CD/Processor, in that order.

I originally run the VooDoo Black Dragon on the UPC 200. nICE FIT. Smooth, and even across the entire bandwidth. A slight drop overall in harmonics as the Black D is more capacitant a cord, though not pronouncededly so. Good fit there. Moving the Python onto the UPC in place of the Black D, changed things a bit more so towards the dimension of additional sheen. A somewhat darker background, though not drammatically. Richer, and more detailed. Slightly more rounded yet still as open as the Black with no loss in presentation. to be brief, darker, and more detailed... yet, again, incrementally, and then just slightly, and shineeyer.. for lack of a better word... but not 'wet'.

ok. LOVELY. SO WHAT? Well the unexpected is always intriguing, though not always positive. In this instance it was positive. With the Python VX at the helm of the UPC 200 and energized for some period of hours, an IMO, AMAZING THING BEGAN... the quieting, enrichening that was taking place with the UPC 200 and connected BAT VK 500, was also taking place with the adjacent ckt powering the PC and it's associated gear (all the PC stuff being connected via a minor level power strip, separtely)!

Letting the audio gear warm up, and having left the PC on inadvertently, and in standby most of the day, I was compiling a Cd, annd in the doing, previewing tracks along the way.

then I slowly became aware of the change. a very big diff! Though it took me a while to recognize it. I knew something was different. Different for the better. though I had done nothing to the PC lately. NADA! ZIP! tHEN IT CAME TO ME. It might be the VX/UPC COMBO ON THE IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT CKT. Curious and wanting to make sure... I swapped out the VX with another cord I had abouts... briefly, and yep. back to normal. Put the VX/upc COMBO IN PLACE ONCE MORE... BINGO.

as SEPARATE AS DEDICATED CKTS ARE, ALL the power supplied from a breaker box ultimately is connected. The neutral wires are tied together. The grounds are as well. I think the interaction came as the result of being in very close (directly beneath) proximity to the ckt providing power to the PC... AND both circuits being energized for some hours...played a part.

Perhaps this is not as noteworthy an event as I seem to think it to be... though ancilliary positive attributes are always welcome in my book, given the costs of some of this equipment and how astronomical they can become... I don't think "just plugging the VX into a dedicated circuit is enough to affect another circuit... it took time, and the energizing of BOTH circuits to realize the results... oh, and a passive conditioner as well, (which was being run in the 'power' mode, not 'isolation' mode), too.

Curious indeed. Though certainly a most positive and welcome experience. Call it what you may, tweak or whatever, it is real and should be made mention of I would think.... and points out dedicated ckts are not 'islands'. they can and are affected, given certain circumstances. .

Oh, by the way, the VX although having it's distinct impications or atennuations to the sound I don't see it remaining in place as the power cord to supply the UPC 200 & bat vk500 combo. Further upsteam a component would be better a fit. ...though for a bright or edgy amp...? perhaps.

DCCA website?

thanks, Dolfan. i had wanted to get with DCCA earlier but such was not the case... now i'm pretty set with the PC for the 500. got them from VooDoo. great stuff. I'll give that notion of calliling Don a good bit of thought. Chris at VAudio is also an option. Just want something with a very, very smooth bite... if you know what I mean. No edge at all. and not one of those 'articulate & clinical but oh, so dynamic' cords. Iron fist, velvet glove, and plays the harp... sort of deal. Euphonic. Full range. Open.

Blindjim,

I have your same setup and I'm using DCCA powerchords for the UPC 200 and going to the Bat 500. Why don't you try a powerwave first, under $200, and see how you like it. Don will give you a trial period so there is no risk. You will be surprised how good these are.

Skipaulamusic:

How much of an improvement did you experience when putting the UPC 200 in front of your P500. I use an Electraglide Ultra Khan II Rev/Rev feeding the P500 to great effect, but never thought to throw a passive conditioner in front of a regenerator. Might you be on to something?

i was useing vh audio power 2 diy cord ,but up graded to his power 4 diy and wont be changing for a while..i did try tara labs air pc but changed it,do a search for vh audio on here

try a vh audio flavor 4.

I USE MINE DEDICATED ON AMPS AND BEFORE MY P-500.IT SEEMS TO WORK WELL.I LIKE LARGE GUAGE SILVER CORDS THE BEST