I have just used (and still use) the HT Pro II PC, not the ESP. They HT sounds different depending on which component it is used on, so what gear are you planning to be using? On a CAL player it controlled and extended the bass lower (it was a little too boomy before in the mid bass, but rolled off faster). It also smoothed the highs, opened up the mids a little and added detail and dynamics (seems like opposite traits but it did improve these areas). At first I thought that it was bright sounding but have come to the conclusion that it just added detail which I mistook for brightness as the presentation is less fatiguing to listen to as well as being more musical. I am now using it on a Bel Canto DAC with pretty much the same improvements (both times though running from a Monster HTS-2000 power conditioner). The odd thing is that when I tried one with my Audion 300B tube amp, it made very little difference from the stock cord (just a tad more bass) whether going straight into the wall or through the conditioner. I have also tried the HT feeding the external power supply on a Musical Fidelity X-A1 amplifier and in this case it made the overall sound a little too soft for me. Nice and smooth but too smooth for my taste, my wife however enjoyed the sound. The difference on the MF amp was easy to hear but not at all dramatic, basically just a softening of the highs. I recently auditioned some other PC's, just looking for a change, but they did not work well with my system (although they also made very little difference in the sound of the Audion amp), go figure. Unfortunately I sold two of my HT's to pay for the new cables (which I have now returned), so am once again looking for PC's, probably in your price range. Feel free to email me if you would like to discuss what I have tried so far, though my comments will be mostly about how they effected my digital front end components as I am still stumped on the amplifier. I would also be interested in what you have tried in the price range as most of the threads are on much more expensive cords. I have a used Stealth cord enroute that should be here by next week, which I purchased mainly because it was cheap and I was curious.
2 responses Add your response