“Dual mono” is about the internal build, not power cords or the external AC.
Aftermarket power cable on Sutherland 20/20 MkII
I’ve been enjoying a Sutherland 20/20 MkII with LPS (Linear Power Supply) for a couple of months now. For those not familiar with an LPS option it basically replaces two wall wart power supplies (one for each channel as 20/20 is a dual mono design) with a linear power supply that is powered by a single power cable with two pretty thin power leads out of the LPS that power the 20/20 left and right channels. I was using a semi-stock power cord (14awg stock cable with Sonarquest Rhodium plated plugs) on the LPS until now. An amplifier power cord upgrade from AQ Tornado to AQ Hurricane freed up my Furutech FPS-032N with FI-28 R connectors that I used on the line stage when I moved the Tornado to the DAC and the DAC power cable (Furutech FPS-55N with FI-50 R NCF connectors) to the linestage.
The FPS-032N was laying around when I thought to try it on the Sutherland LPS. Knowing that everything matters in this hobby but not expecting much with those “cheap” thin power leads coming out of the LPS, I baselined it with a “Where do you think you’re going” from Dire Straits “Communique” album. Made few notes and swapped the power cable.
When the stylus hit the groove from literally the first guitar chord I realized that I just found a new home for that Furutech cable!
Song after song, I confirmed the improvements. The sound is fuller, more dynamic, more clarity in vocals, bass gained more presence and texture, soundstage became deeper.
These improvements aren’t night and day but are obvious enough to notice.
It just never gets old when you make a change that takes the sound of your system to the next level. Even with the cheap power leads out of the LPS there’s still more to squeeze out of this phono stage!
Anyways, just wanted to share this discovery with the owners of the 20/20 LPS. As always, YMMV, and what I heard in my room with my system is what I’m describing. But, IMO, it’s worth a shot! Give a decent aftermarket power cable a try on your 20/20 LPS.
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@lewm the 20/20 phono amp is dual mono internally. It is powered by a single LPS as opposed to two wall warts in a non LPS version. |
Thanks, aud1. I have seen the photos on the Sutherland website or in the Music Direct catalog that show the unit with cover removed, revealing that there is an empty space in the chassis physically separating the two channels by several inches. I surmise that each of the channels receives its own wall wart output. I assume also that each wall wart provides filtered DC, if you can replace them both with a single outboard LPS. (There are wall warts that simply contain a transformer that alters AC voltage delivered to the downstream equipment wherein it is then rectified; that’s what I thought was going on with Sutherland.) I am surprised that the unit sounds so good, based on reports, if it originally uses wall wart PSs. So, if you are replacing two full function PSs (wall warts) with a single LPS, yes, you no longer have dual mono. My bad. Next step: add a second outboard LPS to preserve dual mono topology. |
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