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Power cords or power conditioner

I’m at a cross roads and I’m looking for some advice from those have have gone down this road. I recently added a 2 channel integrated amplifier to improve my 2 channel performance. I had been using my Datasat LS-10 for music and while it sounded really nice, it was missing the depth and clarity that I know my speakers are capable of. My speakers are KEF Reference 3s, rest of my 2 channel set is is as follows:

Luxman L 509x

Luxman D-03x

Roon Nucleus Plus

Lumin U2 Mini

Transparent Audio Super speaker cables

Nordorst Red Dawn XLR, Blue Heaven USB

Wire World Platinum USB

All power cables are DYI using Oyaide Tsunami V2 cable

So what I feel I am missing is that 3D holographic sound stage. It was there with the Luxman 509 when I demo’d it, but I am unable to get that experience at my house. I feel that majority of equipment is up to the task but I am curious if I should ad a top shelf power condtioner like a Shunyata Triton or Torus AVR20 into the system or replace my Intergrated’s power cord with a Shunyata Alpha NC? I’m getting tapped out, so for now it can only be one or the other.

Or should I skip the above and focus on room treatments?

wheelndeal1099
4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

 I won't enter an opinion for the idea of power cables/conditioners. Instead, as probably has been stated, do all that you can physically with the listening environment first. I should take the advice that i give here. When reading such books as Jim Smiths 'Get better sound' there are many ideas that can be tried out for free, and if they work as prescribed you are ahead of the game before spending extra money on other attempts to improve your systems performance at large.

 Tweaks are fine, if you so desire, after the physics that can be dealt with are dealt with first. 

juanmanuelfangioii
958 posts
 

Both? 

adasdad's avatar
adasdad
126 posts
 

@wheelndeal1099, if anything I’d get a half decent power conditioner with a good power cable simply to protect that $10,000 Luxman amplifier of yours. Some say you don’t need them. But what if the transmission lines or the pole pig outside your house gets struck by lightning? Chances are that’s not going to happen. But you never know. 
 

  I’m a disciple of the “everything in a systems matters” church of audiophilia. From the wall socket to your brain, every piece of gear, cables, and interconnects, can affect your music listening experience. If you don’t address the matter of having clean power and minimal RFI and EMI running through your system, then I guarantee you that you’ll always be wondering why your music playback setup doesn’t give you goosebumps with the songs that you enjoy the most. 
 

  This article gave me a good look at your Luxman CD/DAC. 

Luxman makes some really nice stuff! But before you go all crazy jumping down the power supply, conditioner, cable, rabbit hole, I suggest demoing a better DAC. To my ears I found the sound of Luxman DACs to be too polite. Very smooth and full bodied. Just not exciting. 

jorjlien's avatar
jorjlien
52 posts
 

@holmz 

I'm not technician to answer your about the power surge, can look at the pro who answering the surge from the YouTube video. hope it helps.

 https://youtu.be/iigXmQgFO2I

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

@holmz 

I'm not technician to answer your about the power surge, can look at the pro who answering the surge from the YouTube video. hope it helps.

 https://youtu.be/iigXmQgFO2I

It looks like a magic trick…

That loop of wire actually creates a coil, and the inductance will result is decreasing the voltage, and spreading the pulse out over time.

It is the same as a lightening spike on a roof, and then running it around the eaves to bolt it on to the slide of the building. Any lightening strike will see that bend in the wire as a huge impedance due to the inductance, and it’ll just arc in a straight line from the eaves towards the ground or to the somewhere on the cable in a straighter path.
 

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