Running Springs Haley or Duke Power Conditioners

I'm currently using a Mark Levinson 390S direct to a pair of Sophia Electric 845 amps driven by 6SN7 tubes. I purchased a Haley a little over a year ago and connected it initially to the 390S only. It made an immediate improvement in detail retrieval, rendering of high frequencies, and overall quality of the music. Connecting the Sophias to the Haley in addition to the 390S improved the sound, but only marginally. The Sophias draw around 500 watts each at idle so the total combination didn’t exceed the 1800 watt maximum for the Haley, but it was pushing it.

I received a Duke for my birthday (I have a very understanding wife!) and was absolutely astounded at the improvement it made when connecting the Sophias to it. The sound stage opened up tremendously; there was an incredible increase in "air"; and the bass was much faster, cleaner and tighter.

As you may know, the Duke now comes with a Cardas Golden Reference 20 amp power cord that has been manufactured to Running Springs Audio specifications. The Haley still comes with a stock power cord. I ordered a pair of 15 amp RSA modified Golden Reference cords with the intention of using them with my Sophias but they never made it to that position. After connecting one from the wall to the Haley, and the other from the Haley to the 390S, it became clear that they belonged in that position. ALL of the high frequency distortion I had been experiencing was gone, there was a noticeable increase in very tuneful, articulate bass; and the imaging improved significantly.

As it turns out, the difference between the RSA modified cord and the standard Golden Reference cord is substantial. I have a standard GR cord that I’ve been rolling in and out, and in each position it rolls off the high frequencies (much like my experience with the GR interconnects). The standard cord may work well with certain solid state gear, but with tubes, I highly recommend the modified cord. It is more neutral than any cord I’ve tried, and there have been many!

If you plan to use only one power conditioner, I would recommend that you utilize it on the front-end equipment rather than your amplifiers. While I’m sure you will see a benefit by using it on your amps, it won’t improve the quality of the signal they receive. If you are lucky enough to have RSA conditioners for your front end and your amps, you will be a very happy camper!

Good luck!

Thanks for your very detailed response. I'll probably go with a dedicated Duke for each Amp, Musical Fidelity KW's.
I'm a little concerned that it will be a little bright since the KW's are very revealing. I'm still playing with everything from interconnects, currentlly Acoustic Zen Silver Ref 2 all around. Have a paid of Cardas GR's to try between the KWP and the Amps. Tried AZ Satori shotgun cables to the speakers recently and did not like the loss in sound stage from the Audience AU24s I'm currently running. The BPT 3.5 is great with the front end equipment but with everything connected it's a alot of gear for one unit.

Thanks again

After reading the reveiw of the KW's in Stereophile, it appears that they are very sensitive to the quality of the power supply including the power cords. I'm sure you will be very happy with the neutrality of the Duke/Cardas combination as well as their ability to deliver high currents.

As for the brightness issue, I initially had that same reaction only mine was due to Audience AU24 interconnects. They sounded like they were over emphasising the high frequencies and putting too much bite on them. I changed them for a pair of Golden Reference IC's and wasn't pleased with the way the GR's rolled off the highs and killed the spacial detail. After changing to Cardas Golden Cross IC's, all the detail was present without over emphasis and it was very smooth. The soundstage opened up even more than with the AU24's. The Golden Cross were definitely keepers. It sounds like they may be a good match with the KW's as well.