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Review: VH Audio Flavor 4 Power cord

Category: Cables

My original goal was to try to purchase 2 cords for my Thor monos. My original choices to consider were Virtual Dynamics,Ridge Street Audio and Silent Source. After window shopping for a bit I realized I couldn't afford 2 cords of the companies mentioned so, my choice was to forget it or try something more affordable to me. My system sounded great but I seem to get this uncontrolable urge evey once in awhile to upgrade,so I decided to investigate more affordable options.
After reading many reviews I decided to try VH Audio.I asked Chris ( owner ) about which "Flavor" would be my best option and he mentioned the Flavor4.
My music listening amounts to mostly piano jazz,female jazz singers and some other various jazz stuff.
Right off the cords aounded very out of sinc and dark.
After aprox. 10 hours things changed big time. Much better detail and very nice mids but still a little dull. At about 30 hours the difference is amaizing.
Depth is incredible.Detail is a better but ,has an uncanny level definition.Every sound is crystal clear and sharply defined with still has great weight and pace.
The words and instuments seem to just float forever. I am currently at about 40 hours and improving all the time. I was told 200-300 hours and it may take me 6 months to get there but wanted to let every one no what a bargian the cords are. I will do a follow up at a latter date when I no for sure they are all broken in....

Associated gear
Kharma 1.0 spkrs- Thor Audio TPA Monos-T1000 linestage-Meridian 508-24 cd-
wires Ridge Street Poeima i/cs and sp.cables

Similar products
Discover cords - stock cords-
thorman
Post removed 
sean
6,231 posts
 
Listener: Never worked with the Walker stuff, so i have no idea as to whether it would improve the performance or not. From what i gathered, it is basically some type of conductive grease with silver particles imbedded in it. Given that one would already have metal to metal contact with the wires being "crushed" by the clamping action of the AC power jack and compression fitting of the IEC connectors, the only possible benefit that i could see would be the "conductive grease" filling in the gaps. How beneficial this would be would depend on just how conductive the "grease" was and how much current it could pass under load.

If the Walker stuff isn't "conductive grease" or something similar in concept, disregard the above speculation.

Tvad: I don't know if all of Bob's power cords are soldered OR if Chris solders his products either. Bob mentioned soldering the connections when he was originally "donating" the info to others on how to make the DIY "Asylum cord". Whether or not this idea carried over to his HSR or silver power cables, i can't recall. Wouldn't be too hard to figure out though : ) Sean
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chrisvh's avatar
chrisvh
22 posts
 
>>>Would either Thorman, or Chris, himself, be able to comment whether an "accelerated" break-in (professional device, or budget gadget hooked to home appliance) can speed the process of reaching full cord potential?<<<

I recommend hooking up to a home computer, which draws a fair amount of current, and may be run 24/7. The IEC/AC burn-in adapters will allow the use of any household appliances (like a fridge, box fan, dehumidifier). DEhumidifiers work great because they have a combination of heavy current surges and steady current draw. If used on a referigerator, you also need to cook on a steady current draw device for best performance. Even after all this, it is still going to take some time on component to finally reach peak. Keep in mind that any cable that is "cooked" and then shipped via air mail will lose alot of effects of the burn-in process...

As far as using contact enhancers on crimp connections, I've tried and could detect no significant sonic difference. I've found soldered connections to be inferior to a good crimp connection with my my wire. When using the Shurter plugs, I can see why soldering would be preferred as the contact area with the wire is significantly less than with a Marinco/WattGate/Furutech plugs... This is all IMHO, of course.
listener57
730 posts
 
Chrisvh, Thanks for responding, and sharing your considerable personal experience with the rest of us.
This sort of Audiogon interaction allows many to learn, especially when chances to meet in person are so rare.
sean
6,231 posts
 
That's a good point Chris. Bob likes to use the Schurter's, which may be why he wants to solder rather than crimp.

As to soldering vs crimping, i think that a lot of this has to do with how good of a connection that one can make with a crimp and the actual contact area of the crimp. The poorer the connection and the less contact area, the more that the connection will benefit from soldering. Even then, how good this works will be up to how well one can solder and the type and quantity of solder used. For ease of use and fantastic "flowability", Wonder Solder is my suggestion to those that want to try this. Those that are more experienced with soldering may want to try something like Cardas or WBT solder. Sean
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