I have the lowest level Kimber PC's. I have all tuve equipment as stated above. Canary Grand Reference 300 B tube amp with 16 300B tubes and the POre-amp is also tube.
Power Cord Order of importance
Currently, I have Kimber Power Cords for the Amps and Pre-amp. They are ok. I have an Inakustic 2404 Power cord for my DAC. I am buying a music server soon. I am thinking about upgrading Power cords in two components. Which components should get the reference level PC's? I am probably going to spend around $3k for two new PC's.
Mono Amps
Pre- Amp
DAC
Server
I am looking for the biggest impact on sound quality from a component perspective.
Mono Amps
Pre- Amp
DAC
Server
I am looking for the biggest impact on sound quality from a component perspective.
24 responses Add your response
You do not mention which kimber cords you have but i can tell tell you that i have not heard a better cord on an amp than the kimber but you do not mention tube or transistor either. I can say that my other favorite cords are from shunyata and audio magic shunyata for amps and audio magic for source components. Kimber works best on transistor gear if you have tube gear try some audio magic or cardas cords. |
djones51"I would start with the coffee pot" I know that you think you are being funny, clever, or "amusing" but someday there is a chance or possibility that you may actually experiment with a premium power cord and then you will see just how funny you really are! |
I agree with Inna - that it all depends ... useful eh? The answers are not usually what you might expect either! I have found that servers and streamers and dacs and clocks are best with a "light" touch. So do not just bung one in because it is supposed to be good on anything. I have found that for those items . that KLE and Crystal are favoured by me |
I finally splurged into upgrading power cords. Amp, preamp, CD player and dual subs. Went with Patrick Cullen cables, Gold series. Patrick is a super nice guy, he got them made in 3 weeks. They look great. My system already sounded so good, improvements are subtle but getting more pronounced as hours add on. Couldn't tell you which one was the biggest improvement since I switched them all at the same time. Only reason I finally went there is Michael Fremer's take on them, he feels bad for ones who think PCs don't make any difference. He is right and so far his advice on various components have been dead on for me, such as the PS Audio stellar phono preamp. That was a significant step up. Now waiting for an AVA vision SLR preamp, final upgrade for a while... It's taken already 6 weeks for the custom build, with hopefully only two more weeks to go, here is to hoping my patience will be rewarded. |
Audio Envy cables have been getting a lot of interest lately. Relatively inexpensive but supposed to be exceptional! Do a search there is a decent amount of info out there. https://audioenvy.com/store/ |
@erik_squires 1+. It is so easy to make your own using shielded cable and medical grade plugs. The most important benefit is you can make them exactly to size keeping the cables as short as you can. It make for a much neater situation. Erik, I prefer 3 X 12 gauge for amplifiers. The 14 gauge is more than enough for everything else. If you need the cables to look sharp you can get sleeves! I hide all my cables so I don't care what they look like. |
You should consider building a pair of PC's out of DH labs shielded power cords. Throw them into your mix and see. I suspect you'll find the shielding works really well in the pre and amp. https://www.partsconnexion.com/DHLABS-75520.html |
I have just ordered the Lampizator Pacific DAC and will be ordering the Lucas Audio Server. I forgot to mention that I have a Inakustic 3500P Power condtioner which has the same Power cord to go with it. My amps are Canary Audio Grand Reference 300 B Mono amps and C1800 Pre-amp if that makes a difference to anyone's thoughts. |
In my full analogue set-up the biggest difference was when I put reference level power cord - Purist Dominus ferox- on the power amp, followed by the Dominus on PS Audio regenerator. After that phono stage and preamp - about equal. Digital is different, so I would not be sure. Might be DAC plus server or DAC plus preamp, and it still might be on monoblocks. But different components may need different power cords and as such you may have to decide in advance. Some cords work almost equally well anywhere while others don't. Matching power cords and components is not so easy and straightforward if we are talking reference or near reference level. |
In general, a good quality shielded cord is a good pick for digital source components. For power amps, it’s current delivery capability that might make a difference. Otherwise, it’s much harder to predict results with any particular cord. May be little or no difference. Analog Preamps? Turntables? Most any good quality cord that makes a tight connection is cut out for that job...it’s not that hard. Shielded cables are still a good idea especially if a low level phono stage is involved. Price is never a reliable indicator for many reasons. |
Honestly don't think it matters which one, if it is a good power cord it will make the same improvement whether on a DAC, pre-amp, amp, etc. Don't take my word for it, move them around, see what I mean. What does make a difference is if you upgrade your worst PC vs your best. Obviously if you have one that isn't very good it will be a lot easier (cheaper) to hear a big improvement than if you try and improve your best. This will be true regardless of what component it's being used with. Put that pre-amp on some Townshend Pods, you will be surprised! |
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