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Impressed by Pangea Audio AC-9SE

I have been using Lamm monoblocks with Kimber PK10 Palladian for years. The PK10 Palladian are great sounding power cable and can stand the test of time.

Lately I ran across some threads about the Pangea Audio AC-9 and AC-9SE power cables. Lots of folks raved about these cables here in Audiogon. The SE sells for $200/2m each at Audio Advisor with 30-day trial. I thought I got nothing to loose and want to find out what all the hypes about these cables. I ordered the SE version.

I was totally surprised that the AC-9SE sounded very close to the Kimber. The main difference is that the AC-9SE sounded a bit thicker and a tiny bit more punch in the bass than the KImber. The PK-10 Palladian was just a tad more air on top. The $200 AC-9SE competes toe-to-toe witht the $1000 Kimber. Amazing. In fact, the thicker sounding AC-9SE matches a bit better than the Kimber in my upgraded system. Talking about synergy here.

I recommend folks who have modest or even megabuck system should try out the AC-9SE. Don't let the low price fool you. You may be surprised.

Happy listening.
audiolui
robert53
418 posts
 
Upgrading power cords is a big difference in sound quality. A friend of mine bought a Pangea pc, after I explained the difference a good pc will make, and he is thrilled with it, especially for the price. 
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wilderness
16 posts
 

I have had a positive experience with Pangea's power cables and power strip in getting control over excessive sibilance (Sssss sounds) and plosives (such as the letter "T").

I swapped out the power cords on my DAC and amplifier with Pangea 14SE Mk II and 9SE Mk II cables. And I swapped out my Panamax surge protector for a Pangea Quattro Premier XL power strip for my DAC and reclocker. I also added a Pangea 9SE Mk II power cord to the Pangea power strip.

These Pangea products significantly increased clarity right out of the box. Then, after around 120 hours, I noticed that sibilance and plosives sounded shelved down a little while at the same time a lot more natural on the tracks that had suffered from that problem. Examples: Gillian Welch's Boots No. 2 albums and Simon & Garfunkel's Wednesday 3 a.m. album.

I played the 20 or so tracks in my playlist that had excessive sibilance or plosives, and only one still had a bit too much. The others are all fine now.

It is such a joy to be able to listen to these tracks without annoying sibilance and plosives. Also, with the increased clarity I am noticing more details and vocals are easier to understand.

Pangea power cords and power strip are some of the best bang for the buck audiophile products I have tried.

I had been using Audience Forte 3 power cords on my DAC and amp, and while there they added a beautiful, dark character with more lower midrange and upper bass emphasis, they did not reduce sibilance and plosives as much as the Pangea products did. The Audience cables found a good home, though, replacing the stock power cords on my GoldenEar Triton 3+ speakers and my subwoofers.

I am assuming that power cords matter more in some systems than with other ones.  The difference is night and day obvious with my system.


wilderness
16 posts
 
I noticed some sibilance and plosives again today. It happened for the first 60 to 65 minutes of playing music from a cold start.

Then, I replayed the same music and noticed the excessive sibilance and plosives had abated to the point that they were no longer offensive.

So, I think that the tubes in my integrated tubes pre/ solid state amp need warm up for about 70 minutes. Cables can also need a warm up, and so they may be part of the issue.

My solution from now on will be to play mellow music that does not have any sibilance or plosives for 70 minutes after a cold start. Then I can play whatever I want.

I still maintain that the Pangea power cables significantly increased clarity. But now I am not so sure that they reduced sibilance and plosives.
jkaiser3
1 posts
 

You people talking about all this sibilance issues in your systems ought to try and replace and sandcast resistors, put some nice caps in your tweeter circuits. Thats what really helps with that. You may find it's not the cord but a deficiency in your speakers.

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