I have several Triode wire labs. They are a hugh bang for buck and beat out far more expensive cords. My all time jaw dropping/must own cord is Sablon Audio's Gran Corona. |
I wonder what percentage of all power cords available the most experienced user has heard. Perhaps 5%. Many that are mentioned on the forums, I have never heard of. It is probably worse than speakers, where again there are thousands of brands. At least in the case of speakers, one can make a quick evaluation. At shows you can just walk into the room, hear a few notes, and exit. Power cords require a much more involving process. |
I imagine that many people will try power cables from local dealers where they can take them home and audition them, to really see what differences they experience.
I realise this is an International forum.
Here in the UK, we have some companies such as Russ Andrews - who sell their cables with a 60 day home trial and you can return them without question if you are not happy. They do their own brand and Kimber cables. I'm sure there are international equivalents of companies doing this.
I recently was in touch with The Cable Co. who have similar services with a large range of brands, it seems.
http://www.thecableco.com/content.aspx?iid=5777
But - much like any other piece of kit - it comes down to finding good dealers you can work with to allow you to try things, I imagine. |
Tbg,
I'm inexperienced user. Seen lots heard none. |
Go MOJO. The name may not inspire confidence... you may never have heard of them... it doesn't have the appeal of "Stealth", or "Nordost", or "Cardas"... but these cords are a revelation!
I've tried big ticket cords that did some things well, but most offered subtle improvements at best. So frankly, I had low expectations trying Mojo.
I run an XPC-7 cord with a Furutech FI-28 plug to my Running Springs Haley conditioner, the same cord to my Supratek Cabernet Dual pre-amp, and an Enigma 7 cord with a Furutech FI-15 plug to my Marantz SA7 SACD player.
These cords have great natural TONE TONE TONE. They're equivalent to a major equipment upgrade. I was shocked at the degree of improvement. Very transparent, detailed, yet musical. The designer must have a good ear indeed.
I must give kudos to Mrtennis for his rave. I'd assumed that this reviewer prefers an overly warm tubey sound... hence the low expectations prior to trying Mojo... yet the cords are anything but. Thank you Mrtennis for telling it like it is!
I have no affiliation with Mojo, just an extremely satisfied customer. Mojo has a trial period, but apparently no product has ever been returned. As always, YMMV. |
I also had a hard time finding the right power cord for my front end....owned many types over the years including the MIT AC2. The winner was Audioquest NRG-3(discontinued) and NRG-5(current wt dbs). Economical and world class. |
Another Mojo XPC power cord owner, 5 of them in my rig, including an 8awg Cross Helix from my dedicated line to a Hydra conditioner.
Immensely musical and quiet, they displaced some very expensive PC's, finished shopping for power cords. |
Hi.
Benjamin from Mojo Audio.
I want to thank all my loyal customers for their supportive postings. I don't want to "advertise" but I also couldn't let a flattering but false statement from one of my loyal customers stand without correction.
I want to set the record straight as to what F1a said about "no product has been returned." So far, in all of 2011, none of our current product line has been returned for refund.
We often get returns for upgrade (the demos you see listed on Audiogon and eBay) and we do get customers that ask to try a few of our products and keep their favorites and return the others.
We've been in business officially as Mojo Audio since '09. In our first year we had about 3% returns for refund (we made improvements). In our 2nd year we had about 1% returns for refund (we made more improvements). In all honesty it surprised us as much as anyone that as of yet none of our 2011 line has been returned for refund.
What's our secret?
Nothing special: we listen to music and we listen to our customers.
BTW, we recently extended our trial period from 30 to 45 days.
Thanks again for all the supportive comments.
Benjamin |
Great to see you taking pride [and honesty] in what you do - congrats for that.
It's good to see. |
I am a Shunyata fan boy,I came to them after hearing the improvement they made to an already (expensive)great sounding set of components.
I auditioned the whole line from entry to top, using headphones, and saddly, the Annaconda Helix were the best.
So I bought 4 of them.
I use them on all my components and powerconditioners which are of course Shunyata Hydras.
Not saying Shunyata is the only game in town, just that, aside from stock and DIY and a few old cheap PCs they are the best that I have tried.
I would suggest you listen and compare the high priced snakes before you make up your mind.
The differences are not just monetary. |
I'm using JPS Kaptovator for all my components. I love the box that the Kaptovator comes in, just oozes class. What more the product itself! |
Wegrzyn Copper Slam pc is very satisfying. Very musical and stays away from an unpleasantly hi fi-ish sound. Walter Wegrzyn offers excellent value, deals direct and is a true gentleman. |
Swapped around three main ones. Ended up with Shunyata Venom 1 on Earthquake sub, MAC HC on the other sub (AOS) in the HT. fo two channel, I found the P/C Cary suggests-xtreme power master works best on my Sophia Baby amp. |
Back to the MAC HC on the amp. There's just something special about the sound. More open and spacious. HF is more natural. Who knows, might change again tomorrow. |
Fusion Audio The Enchanter is an excellent power chord for digital players. |
I currently use Prana Wire on my DAC and Power-Amp and JPS Labs on my CDT PSU, Pre-Amp and Turntable. I have to say ab-fab!
Regards, |
I'd recommend a DIY solution with 16 gauge solid-core installation copper wires. They're extremely cheap, but most importantly I find they sound great as power cords. I've experimented with 14 gauge solid-core wires as well, but preferred the thinner variant; the gauge 14 wire to my ears surpressed the top end slightly while also having a somewhat ripe bottom end, whereas the gauge 16 wire felt to be the most evenly distributed "sonic provider." Indeed it feels just right with gauge 16, but some may differ depending on personal taste and setup.
I'd recommend, per my own use of them in my setup, that the individually insulated lead- and return-wire be twisted with about 3 twists for every 4 inches, and then twist the groundwire in the opposite direction. I find twisting the wires makes for a more coherent sound.
Moreover I use no power distributor, though I'm aware this may be a rather impractical solution. Instead I connect each of the leadwires, each of the returnwires, and each of the groundwires in their respective screw terminal with the corresponding wires from the wall outlet. This way the practical, but sonically not-serving plugs are erased from the audio chain(at least in the other end of the audio components) - to much avail, if you ask me. In this case (also), less is more.
If anything it's cheap and straight forward to try out. I'd be interested to learn of what others find of this DIY solution, but with regard to the named solid-core wires and the lack of a power distributor :) |
And please, as I see it: don't worry too much about shielding; on the contrary - be weary of it. Twisting the wires makes them less prone to be affected or affect their surroundings, and this way it's done within the use of the wires themselves. Heavily and externally shielded(apart from the wires themselves) power cords, or interconnects for that matter, to my ears very often seem dynamically muted, and reverberations are unnaturally killed off too. |
I'd put the $99 Shunyata Venom 3 up against many of the cables mentioned here. As for the big boys, the Shunyata CX or Zitron PC's are amazing. |
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