PC for Rowland 312 and others?

Thank you Paul and Garebear! paul, what other PCs have you tried on JRDG 501s and COncerto pre? Does Golden Ref perform equally well on 501s and Concerto pre? Garebear, the Shunyata VX variants contain some filtering material that may end up deadening low level information. For the price of a single Shunyata Anaconda VX Helix you might be able to get 2 PC1 units for the 501s. . . these are expected to bring the 501 mons very close to the performance of the 312 without any filtering of low level information. Then perhaps think about some non VX variants at a later time.

Dtanclim, you are perfectly correct about the funky output connector on PC1. . . Not at all a standard connector. . . as a result upgrading the minimalistic PC1-to-amp DC chord shipped with it will be a royal pain. . . In one of my next chats with JRDG I will recommend that in some future he switches to something a little more common.

Thank you guys, yes I have unscientifically swapped in one case 2 PCs at a time (on PC1 and X-01) as you will read below. . .

I have now tried 3 different PCs on the PC1+Capri combo: Cardas Golden Ref, Purist Anniversary, and Shunyata Helix Anaconda Alpha. As said yesterday, I am slightly surprised about my own findings. . . I far prefer the Anaconda over the other 2 PCs for this application.
1. Golden Ref simply not very interesting. . . insufficient harmonic devel opment in my opinion. . . paradoxically not at all warmish as I would have expecte d; had Anaconda on X-01 Limited.
2. Purist Anniversary: much better staging and harmonic development, but with some traces of hard transients on piano; had Anaconda on X-01.
3. With Anaconda I am getting the greatest imaging density, harmonic development and balanced transients. It is fair to say though, that this last config involved a 2 PC change rather than a single PC change, so I need to make more experiments before determining exactly who is doing what to whom:
Original config: Anaconda on X-01, Purist Anniversary on PC1.
New config: Purist Anniv on X-01, Anaconda on PC1.

As I have one spare Cardas Golden ref, I still need to do the following:
a. baseline X-01 on Cardas Golden Ref (largely irrelevant how it will sound).
b. Change Purist Anniv and Anaconda back and forth on PC1 so to change only 1 PC at a time.

Note also that wire between PC1 and Capri still remains the non denominational pip-squeak supplied by JRDG. PC on 312 remained Cardas Golden Ref for this series of swaps.

Some more info on Cardas Golden Ref vs Purist Anniversary test on 312:

I baselined this test by keeping Anaconda on X-01 and a Cardas Golden Ref on PC1+Capri.

I then played with my 2nd Cardas Golden Ref and Purist Anniv on 312. purist has 20Amp IEC so it connects directly; Golden Ref has 15Amp IEC so I used a Voodoo adapter. Purist Anniv was in this position for several days and I couldn't get to like its effect on 312, for all the problems discussed above. But as I said, I really like it on X-01 Limited instead.

JFZ, I am not at all surprised you like the Elrod. . . what other PCs have you tried on your JRDG? What were the sonic differences?

Hi Garebear, I'd be very interested in hearing about your findings on KS power chords if you have the opportunity of applying them to JRDG 501s. I suspect though, that the 501s may also benefit greatly from a pair of PC1 devices. In the case of 501s, I would likely give priority to twin PC1 devices before experimenting with power chords.

Hi Garebear, there is no problem with the PC1 output connection. . . the connector makes actually excellent connection and is likely more reliable than most. . . it's just that upgrading the ombelical/pigtail may require some custom work from the PC manufacturer. The power inlet of PC1 is a standard 15A IEC. I will ask JRDG the exact name/type of the output connector on PC1. . . I know it can be found from some parts suppliers.

If anyone were interested in some of my latest a/b comparison between JRDG Capri and ARC Ref 3, see:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1200110667&openmine&zzGuidocorona&4&5#Guidocorona

Guido

Have not posted to this thread for quite a while, so here is a quick update. I have recently applied the Shunyata King Cobra CX to my Rowland 312 with excellent results. King Cobra CX appears to share the general character of graceful neutrality of the older Anaconda Helix Alpha, but is not affected by the Helix series slight propension to dampening micro and macro transients. On the contrary, KC has added authority to the system, while making micro transients more filigreed and delicious. King Cobra PC in my system appears to be very extended from top to bottom with superior harmonic exposure throughout the frequency range, and extremely high ability to retrieve ambient cues. . . which means that it is very synergistic with 312's creation of a large and very transparent tri-dimensional stage with well defined instrument images. It is perhaps the PCs I have tried this far with the most balanced ability of yielding treble information that is highly extended, structurally pertinent, and musically involving. The bass is rather deep and tuneful, but also quick and nimble. What is even more interesting is that while King Cobra has a large gage that in theory should make it ideal for high current applications only, such as a power amplifier, the wire appears to be a complete generalist: I have applied it successfully to my X-01 limited, to the GamuT CD3, and to the Furutech ETP-309 power distributor with consistently desirable results. Only the JRDG criterion preamplifier appears to be somewhat immune to any PC changes, including KC. The eventual insertion of a total of 4 King Cobras into the system has had a result that has been incrementally positive. My analysis is ongoing, but this far I have not found a single position in the system or a musical genre that is at odds with Shunyata King Cobra CX.

Please note however, that if you were looking for a wire that added treble 'sparkle' to a system, or that yield a euphonic midrange, or a slightly turgid bass. or which creates that over-emphatic fizzy PRAT. . you should look elsewhere.

KC is not even faintly etched and dry. Rather, it certainly is a powerful sounding wire, its extreme grace falls solidly on the neutral side of romantic, and I have not observed KC reinforcing any particular frequency range in my system.

At this point, the King Cobra CX appears to be extremely consistent with my own sonic and musical preferences.

One last observation, like with most power cords, KC requires a good amount of break-in to give its best. . . it seems to stabilize in approximately 300 hours of music making.

Claude, yes all my components are plugged into the Furutech ETP-309. I have found no adverse effect plugging the Rowland Model 312 into this particular device. . . no reduction of micro/macro dynamics. Having said that, I will not generalize, and do not imply that you will necessarily experience the same results plugging your PC1s into the PS Audio Power Plant. ETP-309 and the PS Audio PowerPlant are completely different devices and may not necessarily behave the same way.