A Better Bluesound AC Cable?

I have had a bunch of C7/Figure 8 power cables.

I cannot remember the earlier ones, but I currently have the Audioquest NRG 1.5 and Nordost Purple Flare. Both are better than stock and worth getting at such a low price. The Nordost was the best in my current PC sound system.

I too tried the WireWorld C7 power cord, and it really shouldn't make a difference, but it seems to to me; it seems that the overall sound is more dynamic and better imaging, but since it takes about 2 minutes to change over between the cords and power up the Node 2 again, there's no way to do a direct A-to-B comparison.  I picked this one because I'm not an AudioQuest fan and they want $90-$120 for theirs depending on where you shop.  Pangea might have one for $50, I thought.  I check my cords with a voltage tester to see if it detects voltage, and with this cord it does - my Pangea cords, it does not.  The WW one is easier to work with flexibility-wise, and the connector seems more secure in the Node's IEC connector, where my thick Pangeas do not.  It comes down to - if you makes you happy and you can afford it, fine, but I wouldn't expect any magical properties and if you're not happy with any of your equipment, I'd spend the money there first.

FWIW, a Synergistic Research UEF blue consistently sounds smoother to me than other power cords I’ve tried (including a $15 Tripp-Lite Heavy Gauge Power Cord) when used on both a Denafrips Ares II DAC & a Pathos integrated amplifiers. My guess is that the Synergistic power cord may be better at channeling or rejecting analog interference such as EMI which can come across as harshness and lack of transparency.

BTW, the $15 Tripp-Lite Heavy Gauge Power Cord sounded pretty decent and was clearly smoother in sound than an $200 Audience forte f3 powerChord. I also tried out a Shunyata Venom that was pretty decent. I haven’t compared the Shunyata enough versus the $15 Tripp-Lite to know which is better because the Synergistic Research cord is just clearly more enjoyable (smoother, more detailed) than all of the other cords. I think the Shunyata and Tripp-Lite aren’t so far apart in sound quality. At least, not to a degree that is clearly evident to me.

I was lucky enough to have the Synergistic, Shunyata, Audience power cords loaned to me by a friend to see IF power cords made a difference that I could hear. Unfortunately, some do & it looks like I will be now several hundred dollars poorer. Haha.

@williewonka

Also - what type of improvements were you listening for...
- better defined bass
- faster Dynamics
- improved clarity
- larger, more well defined image and performer focus

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100%, that’s exactly what I hear from a "better" cable as well as other improvements to reduce analog noise. The "faster" improvements are something surprising to hear for sure. My guess is that better definition to the leading and trailing edge of notes helps produce clearer rhythms in music reproduction.

I also hear tonal color of instruments and voices more clearly with improvements to clean up power.

@calvinandhobbes  I forgot to add DETAILS - micro details to be precise - those little reflections, echo's and reverberations off venue walls.and ceiling - what I call "Venue Acoustics".

Those add a more realistic element to the music and with it brings out more layers in the recordings.

Since my last posts I have upgraded to the Node 2i and it was worth every penny. They reconfigured the PCB, which is supposed to improve performance - AND IT DID !!!

The analogue stage is amazing - and I've kept pace with more cable upgrades, so it sounds even more amazing.
- even bigger image, due to improved clarity
- deeper bass with even more texture and speed
- faster dynamics across the board

Regards - Steve