Had the same PC on a McCormack DNA 1 Deluxe. I thought the Prelude did more harm to the sound than good. Similar findings to yours (improved low freq extension but less controlled and softer highs) though I would add a recessed midrange that got to be annoying.
I eventually ended up replacing the Prelude PC with a Cardas PC, their entry level cord just forgot the model, with much better results. The connectors on the Cardas cord fit much better at the wall and IEC by the way.
Good luck. |
Audphile 1
How long did you let the cord burn in? Sometimes these things take awhile. I have no experience with the PS Audio prelude but I do have their statement extremes on my cd player and power amp as well as my UPC200 with good results. However, it didn't do anything for my pre-amp. Good Luck
Chuck |
This cord is too weird. At first, right out of the box, no break in, it sounded very detailed in the highs as well as midrange with nice low end extension. I let it play for about 30 hours, periodically listenning to music. And now, I think the break in period is over, according to PS Audio, 20-40 hours, I am beginning to notice rolled off highs. Detail in the modrange and trebble almost non-existent. Bass remains deep and tight however. Example, I was listenning to Brubeck's Take Five, where during the drum solo bass strings vibrate against the fret. I remember the sound of strings vibrating being much more defined and detailed, but now I have to lesten for it to notice it. Hmmm. i liked what it did for the bass, but it did so at the expense of the rest of the spectrum. I don't think I am ready to cope with that. I would appreciate the advice on a good power cord for the amplifier where it would make the bass deeper, tighter and more defined, but leave the rest of the frequency spectrum untouched. Thank for your replies. |
One thing you may want to try is to plug your stock power cable back in to see if the highs return. I have a couple of PS Audio Plus's and a couple of Statements that I just received, but have not installed yet as they are not quite "bendy" enough for my setup. I also have a Shunyata Snakebite which is that run of spare Diamondback cable they had with the cheaper connectors. (If I remember correctly) I have that on my phono preamp with great results. I may try it on my VK 31SE as well. I'll have to update later on this.
Cheers,
Paul |
Thanks Paul. I did try to plug back the stock cord. The highs did return to some degree, but the improvement in the bass that was brought in by Prelude cord was lost.
I may return it and swap it for Shunyata...either Diamondback or Copperhead. I want my system to sound open and I know it can with the gear I have. I would appreciate if you can let me know your findings on the PS Audio PCs. Thanks again. |
Hmm...If you bought it new and recently I would check back in with the dealer. He should let you exchange it for something else. If you go with the Shunyata line, I would recommend skipping the diamondback for something higher, like the copperhead. The diamonback doesn't do much for me, but hey, your experience could be different. Just don't let the dealer convince you that the PS Audio is now revealing how bad the rest of your system is and that you need to upgrade everything!
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I called the place I purchased the cable from, Music Direct. They are going to exchange it for me to any cable I want. I will loose money on S&H only. PS Audio claims their line of XStream power cords function as mini power conditioner themselves, so I was thinking to try it on the CD player before I send it back, but suspecting it will have similar effect on it as it did on the amp. Will see, but most likely I will send it back and get the Copperhead cord instead. |
Audphile1
The biggest impact I achieved with (reasonably priced)power cords was by upgrading the power cord on my CD player(Sony SCD-1). Much blacker background (lowered noise floor) and better instrumental definition in the music across all audio spectrums. As I mentioned above I use PS Audio Statement Extremes but I have not done any extensive experimentation with power cords. Others have commented that the JPS Digital AC is a good cord for CD players. Good Luck
Chuck |
I pluged the Prelude cord into my CD player and there was an improvement in noise reduction and detail. I think, due to the large amount of shielding the PS Audio Prelude cord has, that it is more suitable for a digital component. I will try to get the power cord for the amp and then see how it goes before I return it. It's a well made cable. I got to give it that. |
I used PS Audio Plus for my power amps and they work well. Kinda of stiff, though |
I recently purchased a 2m PS Audio Prelude power cord and am using it on my Classe' Ten amp.The cord fit poorly on the IEC socket on everything I had.Eventually we got it to fit by adding a few turns of electrical tape to the cords molded female end.
Once I was happy the cord was secure we plugged it in and it works.It does exactly what they say it will do. I'm sure you can do better but it'll be expensive. The Prelude in my system is an improvement over the stock cord and its fairly priced.
I am somewhat bothered by its IEC end. We couldn't get it to work at all on somethings(Arcam units to name one) and had to resort to a minor modifcation to get it to sit secure on my Classe amp and pre-amp. |
it's pretty scary how tight that iec plug is on the Prelude, isn't it. This cord made my amp sound darker than I like it to. I ended up sending this cord back and got an Audience cord here on a-gon. I'm very happy with it. Made a pretty big difference on the McCormack DNA-125 amp. I will buy another one for my ARC LS15 preamp. |
OK, I'm months late to this thread but just ran across it. I too am using a Prelude ACPC on my McCormack DNA05 Dlx, and noted that it gave the amp a slightly darker, tilted-down, frequency balance. However in my case, that was just what I was looking for. I haven't endlessly compared a variety of ACPCs, it was just loads better than the generic cord, was relatively cheap, and made things sound a bit more to my liking. I'm now wishing I had sent this PC to SMC Audio as part of the total package hand-tuning during my last amp upgrade however... |
If you like the way this cord made your amplifier sound, that's good. That's why it's best to buy from a place where they offer home audition. Also, I don't think SMC would use this cord when tuning your amp. They explicitly say they don't want you sending PCs with amps. They have their own reference cords and that's what they use with your amp when they do revisions. Think about it, you get the amp tuned with this cord, then 2 months later you upgrade this cord to say Shunyata Taipan, which will probably make this amplifier sound totally different. And in this case you won't be happy, because all of a sudden your amp sounds wrong. I think that's the reason SMC don't want you sending them power cords. But may be I'm wrong.... |
Audphile1, your comments above are as one would expect, but SMC's byline "hand-tuned performance" is literally true. I was unsatisfied with the sound of my amp when he modded it from revC to revA, and had several conversations and emails as to what wasn't working for me. I sent it back and it was returned sonically transformed into the Perfect Amp. A big part of it is SMC uses Vandersteen 3As as his reference speaker, and I'm using Thiels, nearly the opposite speakers in most respects. He fine-tuned everything - for free! - based on further descriptions of my partnering equipment/cables and what I was hearing.
Steve admits that does make my amp (and others that he modifies for specific customer requests) sound different from a 'standard' revA, but that's also the beauty of having the amp's designer work with you as an equal to achieve mutual satisfaction.
Sending him the Prelude with the amp would allow him further input as to what I'm hearing and in tuning my amp. Sure, tha balance will shift if I use a Taipan, but not as much as when I change from Thiels to say B&Ws.
Steve sez the amp is still within the range of his 'house sound', but that he could tweak it again to better match future changes in my system. Now that's customer service. But you're right, if I were to sell my amp as is, it would sound a bit different than another revA... |
Steve's a great guy. I am sure he know what a lot of different speakers sound like. I heard DNA-125 modded by Steve and it is a great sounding amp. I am thinking to send my DNA-125 for revision + transformer at some point. |
