Need advice on Cary 303-200: best power cord, etc.


I have a Cary 303-200 that is about a month old, using a Nordost Blue Heaven I.C. & the stock power cord. What I am noticing is that it sounds really good on the 2 HDCD's that I have. But with regular CD's: One problem is that bass is really not that great--you don't really hear the definition or tonal quality of acoustic bass on jazz albums (is much better on HDCD). And the whole sound quality in general is a bit "diffuse"; instruments may sound pleasing but are not as well defined as on the 2 Calif. Audio CDP's I've owned. (I generally have the 96/24 switch "on", but switch back & forth quite a bit to experiment).

Is this just the way this player sounds? Should I try an upgraded power cord? Or? Does it need more break in? Or need to be left on constantly?

Rest of my system: ARC VT100MK2, VTL pre-amp, Merlin TSM-M's, Rega P25 w/Benz Glider. Thanks for any advice!
steveaudio

Showing 1 response by marakanetz

First, I believe that the quality power cord will more act on mids and highs due to a better shielding and isolation.
To bring bass you would certainly have to deal with much more variables than power cord.

Turning on 24/96 upsampler for red book CDs isn't always beneficial(remember extra path for a signal always colours)

Maybe you will benefit much more to get NOS tubes instead of stock which I believe more-likely to happen rather than investing onto the power cord.

How is your CD-player isolated? I've had a great results modifying platforms on my existing rack and using Walker Valid points that indeed can change performance and offerable by almost any dealer for you to try with money back guarrantee.

If surfing through these variables woun't give you a desirable output, you should either change it or try to use it as a transport with DAC of your choice.