Power cords Essence -Synerg-Ensemble

Over the last two months I've auditioned about 9 different power cords. Most were put on the front-end. But I did try a few on my power amp (B&K AV6000II). I was unimpressed with the build quality of the Powerflux. The first one arrived from The Cable Company with bare wire exposed where the shielding separated from the IEC connector. A replacement arrived in the same condition. Their lending cables do see alot of use and that may explain the poor condition. But, in my mind, power cord should be able to stand up to some abuse. Needless to say, I didn't bother hooking it up. From my notes the Synergistic Research Master A/C Coupler was very good. Nice depth and imaging. I felt the dynamics were a little slow. Lots of life to the music. Bass was extended if a little loose. I haven't tried the Essence so I can't comment on it. In my system, the best cord so far is the Custom Power Cord Company Model 11. Bass is tight and extended. Entire range of sound is well integrated. It is well worth the $290 price of admission. My budget was no more than $500 for a single cord. This limited my selection. So, there may be better cords I haven't auditioned.

A Synergistic Reference has beaten everything for me, for either of my amps (KAV-250a, or Rogue 88). The Essence was only marginally better than the Pro Flo, so if you like the sound of the Essence, I'd save my money and get the Pro Flo. I haven't tried the King Cobra yet, but at this rate, it might be a while. I did like the SR much better than the Black Mamba and Sidewinder, and quite a few other cords. It's unbelievably better than the standard Master Coupler, to my mind. The standard one was slow and distorted, and the ref is just as dynamic, and seems to do everything else right too. I have no idea what amp you have, or what your system is like, etc.

ProFlo on my mono tube amps made a great difference, however it is still system dependent. Great value for the $.

Save your bucks til you can afford a used Cobra Powersnake(s). It is amazing! I'm comparing the Cobra to the King Cobra to the EG Fat Boy on my tube monoblocks. Though the King Cobra is very good and my system prefers the Fat Boys on the amps, the Cobra is the hands-down winner when it comes to performance versus cost. Some may actually prefer it to the King Cobra (original version), it is that good. Goodluck.

Almost forgot. The best cord under $500 is the Coincident powercord at about $275 new. It takes a good two to three weeks to sound it's best. As long as you don't listen to the Cobras, you'll love them. Goodluck.

Known name brands may or may not be fine, but overpriced you can pretty well count on. For some ideas on what MAKES a power cord good, why not look at the current STEALTH HAC power cord Audiogon auction? I have three of them in my system, replacing Classe and Cardas, and, especially after adding a dedicated ground, they improved my sound a lot. I would suggest the dedicated ground before ANY new power cord. Be sure to make it at least 10 gauge, though.

My Rowland 8T loves the ESP Essence.

I've got 2 SR masters on my front end and a BMI EEL from here at audiogon on my Classe 200, the BMI is far superior to the SR. The SR on the amp is definitely better than stock, especially on the bottom end, but a little slow. The BMI is excellent on the bottom end and very balanced, great clarity.

the new ensemble mega powerflux cord will outperform all the cords mentioned above by a large margin. the price is $680 for a 2m & $440 for a 1m. contact brian at Artistic Audio, (949)362-6080, or visit their website at: aaudio.com