Power cord for ARC CD2

If you are willing to do the work, try building your own. Chris Van Haus has a web site- http://www.geocities.com/venhaus1/diymains.html
that offers a starting place. I just completed 5 power cords based on Chris' design in two days: 2 10 ft flavor #1 and 3 of flavor #2; 2-42" and one 7'. I have less than $50 invested in each of the longest cords. I already had aftermarket power cords in place in my system. The least expensive were some Transparent that retail for about $130. The cords I made, I feel, offer far better performance than what they replaced.
What is better performance? There was no haze, hash, veiled character, or noise covering low level detail, and much tighter bass. In my system, there was also a change of perspective in that the front of the sound stage semed to move forward, while the rear was unchanged. IMO the presentation of the sound is more musical and involving. I have found myself listening to music much more in the last three days - one thing leads to another, and another....
Anyway, DIY is a reasonable option.

If my memory serves me correctly, Stereophile Mag. did a review using the ESP Essence p/c with the Audio Research cd2 and had very good things to say about the ESP cord. Thorman

Depends how much you wish to spend. I've heard that Synergistic Research Designer Reference Square is great on front end players. Also, the Shunyata Viper or Cobra are very good cords. For value, the Custom Power Cord Model 11 or Top Gun are very good too (the Model 11 retails for roughly $250 and the Top Gun is around $500).

I have a CD-1 and the Custom Power Cord Co. "High Value" cord sounds great with it. The effect was not subtle! This cord is only $130 new from Music Direct.The bass has more solidity, texture, and punch, the sound stage is more realistic, with more space around everything, and the high end has greater clarity. This is truly a "high value" cable that no one seems to talk about.

I'm using a Synergistic Research MC on mine; the CD2 is way to the "warmer side of neutral" in my experience, not sure if it's due to the power cord (it's been there a while now ;-). Have to admit i noticed the most difference from aftermarket power cords when i first plugged one into my power amp. After that, any perceptible (by me) effect from additional power cords has been *very* subtle. (especially per dollar)

I owned a CD2 and used a Synergistic Research AC Master Coupler and then switched to an NBS Monitor IV power cord. Both definately helped lower the floor and darken the background.