Power Cord for Spectral DMC-30 Pre Amp

MIT's latest pc is the ZIII, also called the Oracle 3. It is $695 and so not cheap (see Joe Abrams at equusaudio@aol.com for best pricing). I recommend these very highly with Spectral, especially preamps and amps. They have a neutrality, chromatic nuance, and naturalness that goes beyond any other pc I've tried with Spectral/MIT. They are a low capacitance design and unshielded, and don't combine well with all other a/c products, but they do very well with Spectral and MIT's older isolation transformers and stabilizers. Also, no network boxes, and they are reasonably flexible.

Nope. Don't agree at all with jazzcat. Borrow power cables from dealers who will allow you to try them at home in your own system before buying. Most will do that. If power cables are new, give them ~10-15 hours of play to break in.

You are testing electrical and musical synergy with your components, and it can't be done at the dealership on their equipment.

Barrelchief,
Email Joe Abrams on the Z3. He also has a borrow/return policy if it doesn't work out.

Overtureaudio, I'm happy that you've raised this issue in a public forum so that it can be discussed openly.

Over many years of experience with Spectral, I will state that in my system (dmc30sl, 360's, 2000/3000), the ZII on the preamp and digital sounds closed in, dark, and dulled. It may be fine in other applications, but not with Spectral's best components. The Oracle 3 is not a great choice for the preamp either, contrary to my year-old discussion above. However, since you are recommending the Oracle AC1, I believe that MIT themselves state that the Oracle 3 ( Oracle 3 = Z III), when used with the old Z-stabilizer box is very close to or the same as the Oracle AC1or AC2 cords. Therefore, I interpret your statement to mean that you think the ZIII should not be used alone, but instead with a line conditioner (?)

Since you say you don't recommend the ZIII for use with Spectral at all, can you give technical reasons (inductance, capacitance, shielding, dielectric) why not? I use ZIII's with the dma360's w/o conditioning and with the 2000 into a line conditioner, and find that they work well there, so I'm surprised at your conclusions.

I'm also interested in hearing from Spectral owners on what a/c products work well with the dmc30sl and digital. Power cords that do justice to fast sold state and retain the detail and dynamics, along with transparency and a lack of coloration are not easy to find among the plethora of a/c cords on the market.