Warm sounding power cord for for CD player to suppress digital glare on vocals.

http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Heavy-Duty-IEC-320-C13-P007-006/dp/B0027JRMD0/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&a...


Above should do the trick :-)  

Good Listening

Peter

Purist Audio Design Dominus with Fluid always worked well with digital in my experiences. Kubala Sosna Emotion is another suggestion.

What is your budget?

I would look elsewhere in your system for a solution. 

Power cords are not tone controls.  And whatever effects they may have on tonality will be dependent on a complex and essentially unpredictable set of interactions between the technical characteristics of the particular cord, the design and technical characteristics of the specific component that is being powered, the characteristics of the incoming AC, whatever ground loop conditions may exist between the component it is powering and the other component(s) it is connected to, how that cord is physically routed in relation to the physical routing of other cables and cords in the system, the sensitivity of other components in the system to the specific characteristics of whatever digital noise may be coupled into the AC wiring from that specific component, etc. etc.

I suspect that Peter was thinking along the same lines when he made his joking suggestion :-)

IMO, FWIW.  Regards,
-- Al
 

The best way IMO is with the use of warm sounding interconnect cables from CD player to pre-amp.

almarg is right about power cords.

The warmest low priced interconnect I know of is Cardas Cross.

Try that for a start.

Why three identical posts?

I agree with Al, and some system details would help. Perhaps time to upgrade your digital rig? Or another part of your system? Cables should be the icing and not the cake.

Warm cables will just make the glare (and everthing else) warmer. 

Al is correct, and I never doubt Peter

Need more info about your setup. Is it a dedicated CDP or a CD  transport to a DAC? Preamp/amp, tubes or solid state, any digital cables?

Yup, get more neutral with less glare right at the source and fewer band-aids is the route to success in the long run. Cheers,
Spencer

I had a similar problem with a pair of custom speakers using Eton metal dome mids and tweeters.  The detail was fantastic but too many cd's had that upper midrange glare you're referring to.  I would probably have just sold the speakers but they were way too big to ship so I tried several amps, tubes to hybrids to solid state, numerous interconnects and even more power cords.  It was always a balancing act that eventually frustrated me.  I began to experiment with various wire and AC plugs and found a power cord that tames that upper midrange glare but is a higer rez and not soft sounding cord.  I purchased a 10 M run of the Mundorf 1mm solid core silver/gold wire (found on Ebay out of Taiwan), some teflon tubing, and a pair of the Iego 8095 rhodium over silver AC plugs (see acoustic-fun.com to acquire these).  I cut the wire into 8 1M runs, ran 4 wires per pole and just used some cheapo radio shack lamp cord as the ground and WOW!  The detail and air was still there, the soundstage was expansive with good image outlines, but the glare was gone, really gone.  Using 2 of these cords made things even smoother but I felt that the image outlines weren't as sharp as I like but YMMV.  Anyway, you're looking at about a $400 investment for a single cord but it most likely will cure your glare problem and not compromise your system.  Good luck!

Rarely do I disagree with Al, but I believe that power cords, like cables, ARE tone controls, whether folks like to admit it or not.

I think in the long run many of us like a somewhat similar sound. However, many approach this similar result via different paths. Yes, some like extreme detail, and some overly lush, but for the most part we are looking for a balance of warmth and detail. How we approach this balance can be done many different ways.

I have seen many use warmer cables with more revealing components and vice versa. There is no such thing as a power cord, cable, capacitor, tube, etc., with no sonic signature of it's own. Whether one wishes to pair warmer tubes with revealing cables, or warmer cables with revealing speakers, it really a personal choice.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. IMHO. YMMV.

Cheers,
John

I have found PCs such as Audience and Cardas provide a warm sonic signature, but I don't think changing a PC to prevent glare is the way to proceed. I don't know if a PC will even remove glare from a digital device.

Digital "glare" or harshness (if that's what you mean), comes from poor jitter control in the digital chain. Changing IC's may tame the offending frequencies, so can an EQ, but in the end, it's the source that needs to be addressed.

John (Jmcgrogan2), yes, as you indicated we rarely disagree, and I always view your experience and your posts with great respect. And my perception has been that what you’ve said in your post above represents a belief that is shared by many and perhaps the majority of audiophiles.

Nevertheless, as I see it an expectation that a given power cord design will result in effects on the sound that are consistent and predictable when used to power a variety of components that may be completely different designs in just about every conceivably relevant respect, that are being powered by AC having unpredictable and widely varying voltage and noise characteristics, that are being used in conjunction with other components that can be assumed to have widely differing sensitivities to digital (or other) noise that may be coupled into them, that are being used in conjunction with other components and interconnect configurations that can be assumed to have widely differing susceptibility to ground loop-related issues, that may draw vastly differing amounts of current and have vastly different fluctuations in that draw, and that may even be performing completely different functions, is fundamentally irreconcilable with an understanding of how this stuff works. And IMO is therefore a misconception, probably resulting in most cases from extrapolating too broadly from personal experience, and reinforced by marketing hyperbole and popular mythology.

FWIW, though, aside from the reference to power cords being tone controls, I would agree with **everything** in your post if the word “signature” were changed to the word “effect.” Especially when it comes to power cords.

Best regards,
--Al

Ahhhh, okay Al, you talked me into it. I'll change the word "signature" to "effect". LOL!

I always enjoy your input, I find it very educational, at least what I can understand. :^)

Cheers,
John

Has the OP mentioned his budget yet? Or else any suggestions are just a crap shoot.

I'm the OP here. Budget would be around $1500 hopefully, new or used.
(But if something is really special, I could save up for a while or sell something to do it.)

About 10 years ago, after trying a number of cords, I found the old Shunyata Anaconda VX to be best and have stayed with it. Each time I tried others over the years. (Purist, Telwire, Stealth Digital, Kimber PK-10, TG audio, and some others), the VX won out. A close second is the Shunyata Anaconda Alpha.

I have an EMM XDS1/V2 (upgraded from the V1).
I find the power cord has a very large impact on digital sound, especially EMM gear I have had over the past decade, which is very revealing, for better or worse.

I have not tried much recently so I just thought some people would have experience with newer power cords for digital sources.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and comments.

Well now that I know you have such a fine CD player, the glare you speak of is coming from the mastering of the CDs, and not player related. 
I can understand your search for a PC now, since I have noticed how they can have an effect on certain frequencies when used in a digital chain. It’s a lot of trial and error as you know.

Thanks lowrider. (Of course, I was trying here to learn from someone else's trial and error who was kind enough to let me know what they discovered.) Again, thanks to all the commenters.

Listening to the White Album now...good luck trying to tame bad recordings like that. Some Mullard tube saturation in the preamp was the only thing that made things like that more tolerable for me. 

The Beatles seemed to have wanted their recordings to sound like that. Imagine hearing hearing that stuff on the Altec monitors at EMI....

" I listen to older CDs (and the Bealtes) and there is definitely some glare in vocals on many of these recordings "

...:Powercord??
Is that too much of a whole bunch to ask just from powercord? 
How powercord even $$$$ can fix THAT?
I've just imagined anyone casual reading that LOL.

For older CDs all you need is tube buffer such as Musical Fidelity that will cost substantially lower than so mentioned powercord.

Any pc from Cardas.

Get the  Furman AC-215.

BTW: try bass boost according to the JBL curve. It will make everything sound fuller and better.

Thanks Rgs. With that budget, I would recommend a 1.5 mtr Jorma Unity pc. Unity is on the warm side & like other Jorma cables, sounds natural and harmonically rich which is a good match with a cd player like Emm Labs. The Cable Co list the cable at $2225.00. Here is a link to further info:

http://www.jormadesign.com/products/unitypower.htm
http://www.thecableco.com/Product/Unity-Power

I feel your pain.  Sadly my solution is I've stopped listening to poorly mastered CDs and have found enough well recorded music that I can live with it.  Anything I did to make inferior recordings sound better had negative consequences on better recordings that I couldn't accept.  If I listened to a lot of older red book CDs I'd seriously consider switching to vinyl.  Best of luck. 

Harry Pierson had an interesting observation years ago. He said that if you really wanted to enjoy digital, stop listening to your records. 

Here's a  move that will bring your CD playback up to a point where it's  really worthwhile ... replace all of the fuses in your electronics (and speakers (if applicable) with the SR Red fuses. I'm in awe over the major improvement in my CD playback with these little critters. 

Oregon, whether exotic fuses influence the sound really depends on the circuit design. In some circuits, it can make a substantial difference (eg: Ayon), in others; none (eg: Vitus), so you need to do your homework & talk to the manufacturer before laying down your hard earned quan.

Forget the power cable,put a Tube Buffer between components.You will never hear digital the same again & you will love it!

Wouldn't it be easier to just buy another CD player?

A Sablon Audio Robusto PC will definitely do the trick. It's an older cord that you can pick up for little money.
 It's not as detailed and open as newer cords but the tone is beautiful.

As some have said that adjusting in one area sacrifices SQ in other areas, I agree.  The only solution I came up with was to have a second CDP tuned a little warmer.  

The only-only solution is to purchase better quality disk. Other than that you can take half-pint of whiskey and listen again and figure it isn't that bad after all.

The original Audience power chords are great for this purpose

Listen Please, first and most importantly if you have a Dac I can 
for sure solve your problem . I have listened in my system to the best from Wireworld,Plat-7,as well as AQ Diamond the New Kid on the block Curious from Australia. Finally Analog sound ,
from HD sane cable applies the glare is Gone!! Also USB regen ,
if CD based the $200 Silnote cable is very good OFC Copper .
also you guys should mention what your system is made up of.cables,electronics.
i have worked in audio for 40 years and system synergy comes way before cost . Best of luck. 

Get a Purist cord and a much better CD player.

Harry Pierson had an interesting observation years ago. He said that if you really wanted to enjoy digital, stop listening to your records.

YEARS ago ... 1970's?   LOL!!!    

melbguy11,201 posts12-08-2015 11:57pm

  Oregon, whether exotic fuses influence the sound really depends on the circuit design. In some circuits, it can make a substantial difference (eg: Ayon), in others; none (eg: Vitus), so you need to do your homework & talk to the manufacturer before laying down your hard earned quan.

According to member "Wig", exotic fuses influence his Vitus RI-100 Integrated amp.   I believe he finally settled on AH fuses.  Somebody is skipping classes again??

Its not a good thing to use cables as correction tools....just get a better CD player.