Mike, at Verastarr, is a great gentleman to deal with. As I understand it, Scott Hall(of Electraglide fame) had a hand in the development of the new Grand Illusion and SOTU power cords, both being made of ribbon/foil conductors. I'm curious how these two compare to each other sonically. The SOTU also has cotton used in the make-up, which makes me concerned as cotton is hydrophilic( absorbs moisture). Unless the cord is air-tight, I would worry about moisture eventually coming into contact with the conductors. If anyone has had a chance to compare these two cords, I would appreciate an opinion. Also, has anyone had a chance to compare the Grand Illusion to any of the Fusion cords which are also ribbon/foil-type cords. I currently have Fusion cords in my system and am curious about their sonic differences as their pricing is comparable.
Review: Verastarr Grand Illusion Series Power cord
Category: Cables
My musical tastes are varied, but I listen to mostly (in order of frequency): acoustic jazz, progressive jazz, folk/rock, small ensemble classical, and symphonic. The disks used for this review include:
o Michael Wolf / Intoxicate
o Maria Bethehia / Ambar
o Erik Truffaz / The Mask; and
o Sidsel Endresen / Undertow
Emotional involvement is my #1 goal in integrating a system. I can tolerate some crimes of omission, such as lack of bottom-octave punch are imaging "air." However, "crimes of commission" - AKA distortions - drive me nuts.
Now on to the review...
My first encounter with the Verastarr PC's came at a local Head-Fi Meet. While there, I visited a demo set up by John Beavers, an audio reviewer who specializes in cables. "Mighty big ribbon IC's you have there," I said. "No, these are PC's," he deadpanned in response. He then added, "They are the best I've ever heard."
Do tell. He went on to describe the introductory special that Verastarr is running - $600 each for the first 10 copies. I listened to his system, chatted with him some more, and order four the next day - two for my digital sources and two for my monoblocs.
The cables arrived about a week later. Initial impressions were quite favorable - they had been well-packed, looked well made, and felt both sturdy and manageably flexible. While by no means lightweight, I knew that I (thankfully) would not have to add ballast to keep the components stably on the shelf.
So I queued the hard drive to Intoxicate (track 3) and hit go. Whoa - where'd that bass definition come from? As in most of my encounters with quality power delivery enhancements, the bass improvement was the easiest change to notice. Second was treble, with just a touch more definition in the cymbals.
In my experience, midrange tightening often follows a better bass foundation. Same thing here - images were just a bit more locked in.
These improvements were so easy to discern, that several days after my first listen, I ordered a 5th cable - this to go between the wall and my power conditioner.
I believe that the most natural competitors for the Verastarr's are the LessLoss (less expensive) and the Nordost Valhalla (more expensive).
In summary, the Verastarr cables gave me an easily-noticeable refinement in sonic quality. They were definitely on a par with IC's in terms of enhancement value. I very highly recommend them, especially at their $600 intro price. That's still lots of coin, but these cables sing.
Like many of you, my reference system has taken years to put together. It is revealing, unveiled, and dynamic. Distortion is low, transparency is high. The largest remaining weakness is relative lack of bottom-end slam and extension.
Note: I will be doing a head-to-head comparison with 4 LessLoss PC's from a friend soon. (I'll update this review when complete.)
Associated gear
SlimDevices Transporter
Custom Oritek 24/176 DAC/Preamp
Manley EL34 "Signature" Monoblocs
Oritek "X-2" IC's and SC's
Electric Bamboo Power Conditioner
Usher Dancers CP-8571 w/custom xover and silver/teflon wire
Similar products
Nordost Valhalla
Bybee (Model Unknown)
Less Loss PC
Shunyata PC
More...
My musical tastes are varied, but I listen to mostly (in order of frequency): acoustic jazz, progressive jazz, folk/rock, small ensemble classical, and symphonic. The disks used for this review include:
o Michael Wolf / Intoxicate
o Maria Bethehia / Ambar
o Erik Truffaz / The Mask; and
o Sidsel Endresen / Undertow
Emotional involvement is my #1 goal in integrating a system. I can tolerate some crimes of omission, such as lack of bottom-octave punch are imaging "air." However, "crimes of commission" - AKA distortions - drive me nuts.
Now on to the review...
My first encounter with the Verastarr PC's came at a local Head-Fi Meet. While there, I visited a demo set up by John Beavers, an audio reviewer who specializes in cables. "Mighty big ribbon IC's you have there," I said. "No, these are PC's," he deadpanned in response. He then added, "They are the best I've ever heard."
Do tell. He went on to describe the introductory special that Verastarr is running - $600 each for the first 10 copies. I listened to his system, chatted with him some more, and order four the next day - two for my digital sources and two for my monoblocs.
The cables arrived about a week later. Initial impressions were quite favorable - they had been well-packed, looked well made, and felt both sturdy and manageably flexible. While by no means lightweight, I knew that I (thankfully) would not have to add ballast to keep the components stably on the shelf.
So I queued the hard drive to Intoxicate (track 3) and hit go. Whoa - where'd that bass definition come from? As in most of my encounters with quality power delivery enhancements, the bass improvement was the easiest change to notice. Second was treble, with just a touch more definition in the cymbals.
In my experience, midrange tightening often follows a better bass foundation. Same thing here - images were just a bit more locked in.
These improvements were so easy to discern, that several days after my first listen, I ordered a 5th cable - this to go between the wall and my power conditioner.
I believe that the most natural competitors for the Verastarr's are the LessLoss (less expensive) and the Nordost Valhalla (more expensive).
In summary, the Verastarr cables gave me an easily-noticeable refinement in sonic quality. They were definitely on a par with IC's in terms of enhancement value. I very highly recommend them, especially at their $600 intro price. That's still lots of coin, but these cables sing.
Like many of you, my reference system has taken years to put together. It is revealing, unveiled, and dynamic. Distortion is low, transparency is high. The largest remaining weakness is relative lack of bottom-end slam and extension.
Note: I will be doing a head-to-head comparison with 4 LessLoss PC's from a friend soon. (I'll update this review when complete.)
Associated gear
SlimDevices Transporter
Custom Oritek 24/176 DAC/Preamp
Manley EL34 "Signature" Monoblocs
Oritek "X-2" IC's and SC's
Electric Bamboo Power Conditioner
Usher Dancers CP-8571 w/custom xover and silver/teflon wire
Similar products
Nordost Valhalla
Bybee (Model Unknown)
Less Loss PC
Shunyata PC
More...
- ...
- 25 posts total
- 25 posts total