Which Power Cords: I Need Some Informed Guidance


Working on a system upgrade. I recently purchased:

Krell s300-i Integrated
Cambridge Azur 840c CDP/DAC
Streaming Apple Lossless wirelessly from a G4 Powerbook (other side of the room) into an Airport Express, then optical out of the airport, into a Musical Fidelity V-dac, then RCA into the Krell.
Ps Audio Quintet Power Conditioner
I'll swap out outlets as well...sometime soon.

Looking for Power cords. Something under $350 or so.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
neutron
neutron

Showing 9 responses by nasaman

In general, all cables sounds diff from each others from a degrease of levels to diff brands. They are like ingredents to your stake, so let us know how do you like yours?
Neutron,
A very helpful info is the types of music that you are listeing to? warm, sweet, and romantic? Neutral, grainy, or fast and details?
W/O this, you'll see people throw in left and right what they have, what they like which could possibly set you off track.
Learning from your sources, I can't really guess to narrow down to the type of what you are listening to. Krell and Cambridge, hummm, let's see what do they have in common?
Neutron,
Wow! Deja Vu. Are you me? We almost have identical electronics (minus the Cambridge and MIT) and the types of music. Scary!
I was going to post couple P/C that I didn't like, but, to my experience, what I didn't like yesterday, didn't mean I don't like them today. Since I spend a lot of time playing (mix /match) with my system and friends', it's good to keep them all. Some of them sound flat in my system but they sound very detail and punchy in my buddy's or with diff combination of ICs.
Sorry, I didn't mean to give you a run around, but that's my .02. Just feel confident to buy what you can afford and the most popular ones. (You can always resell them here at the A'gon for any reason.) I have not seen any of P/C that is awfully bad except for my DIY from HomeDepot ones.
Don't forget to keep us posted. I'll be watching your posts closely since I have the SF GP Home series (front port) too. If color is matter, mine is in Cheery wood, lol.
As Tom92602 says, P/Cs make HUGE diff. and I hope others may shy you a brighter light.
Good lcuk,
"...where do you get plans for assembly"
- It's not that complicated. It could be anywhere.

"what raw materials and tools are needed"
- As Knownothing stated, it could be just a simple screwdriver and a wire stripper /cutter. Ohm meter is highly recommended to verify continuity. However, I order my heat shrinks and snake /flex skin from PartsExpress.com; the Wattgate plugs from Ebay.

"and how do you decide on materials"
- It's trial and error process. I just continue to build one after another and compare them with the name brand ones that I have. But even diff wires from Home Depot give diff sound from each others.

Neutron, if you like, PM me with your mailing address and your desired length, I will send you 1 of my DIY. It's yours to keep.
Nice, very nice to see great result with the Sonus Faber. I was looking at the cheaper Shunyata Diamondback but your excitement got me pumped up a little. The comparasion with the Audience would be grateful.
. Knownothing, did you have a chance to comapare both of the Shunyata's with your DIY P/C, any inside thoughts?
. Digsmith, wow! I din't know the Helix lines weren't shielded. I gotta look'em up again.
"i now need interconnects, and would like to run some possibilities by you,"
- Neutron, first, I'm sorry I'm totally unfamiliar with the 3 name brands that youare listing above, but since I have great experience with the interconnect RCA LC-1 from BlueJeanCable.com. It's very affordable ($30/pair), give it a try. If some cables sound bright, others sound neutral or light, warm, or yet grainny, the LC-1 sounds very rich and punchy. I like it to go with my SF GP Home Series when listen to guitar, viloin, or percursion. However, it's doing just everage in vocals, classicals, and live music concert. It's very slightly lacking of the fineness and classy sound as the Transparent Reference's. I used to swap cables back and forth but I always ended up with the LC-1 in my electronics. Ince your case, I'm not sure how it'll intereact with your Krell, but it would probably matched nicely with your Cambridge CDP. Give it a try.
"Wondering if you have tried any of their speaker cables?"
- No I haven't and I can't. Because of the room design, I must stay with flat speaker cables can design. Otherwise, with the rounded body ones, they would have to be long to go thru the front wall, pass the wall templates then another set of connectors and conductors to go to the speakers; too much possiblities when testing. With my flat ones like Nordost, they can just be simply slided thru the little gaps of the front entertainment.
- I currently have the BlueJeanCable's Hdmi 1M long in my system; the Belden Series-1.It's great for its price catergory, but it's no comparasion when tested side by side with the Nordost SilverScree 2M long. The Nordost SilverScreen's body is very thick, very hard to "sneak it" around behind my system. After I tested them both intensively, both tips of the Nordost finally came loose on me.
tip of the Nordost