Krell 700cx, and Tara cobalt A/C power cord.


I have used many times in the past after market power cords with a Krell amp and result with a sound that was worse than the stock cord from Krell!, I am getting ready to send A Krell 700cx back to Krell to be renewed for me to last!, The amp is only 8 years old!, It came hard wired with a snake of a stock power cord!, My question is will a retail $5,000.00 Taralabs cobalt A/C power cord sound awsome with this amp?, My friend Jmcgrogan2 is telling me to get Krell to put an IEC input on the amp so I can use an after market power cord, I have extensive experience with Taralabs cables and know them very well!, However,I have never used a cobalt on a Krell 700 cx!, Will this work?, who has done this?, what was the sound out come?, Thankyou!
128x128audiolabyrinth
Mrvordo, that is cool, over the top that you built your own cross overs!, sad news here, I do not have a pre-amp period!, I use digital source direct to amp, just started building this system in april, 2012,,,, I may or may not go to a pre-amp, since 1997 I have been running the high-end this way!, source to amp, very spooky clear, I love analog, to get the matching i/cs and a pre-amp, and phono pre, and a phono cable, mmmm that would be $60,000.00 for real for me, can not afford that now, my interconnect retailed for $15,000.00 a meter, can you imagine buying two more pairs of them and everything else that I listed, I would need a $10,000.00 pre-amp or more to better the source direct to amp, in due time I may go this route, buying a piece at a time,LOL!, not today, I just sent the Krell 700cx to krell to be totally renewed in and out, it was only 8 years old,It was already in mint condition when I bought it used, april, 2012, thats costing us $3,157.00 to do this, I have been spending my lifes money totally on this system as it is, every 3 to 4 months, something else, I just bought the Taralabs cobalt power cord with oyaide plugs june the 28th, 2013,, it retails for $5,450.00 for 6 foot, I will put that on the source, I wanted to use it on the Krell, the krell has a captive carrol 3/1 30 amp power cord on it, from the factory, they made the cx line like that, I asked krell about changing that out to iec, they did not recommend that at all!,, how do you like the phantom 3?, I have conterplated going to a krell pre-amp!, I like tube sound alot to, thats my sources I always use, currently I have a Ayon 2s player, I may keep this, if I do I will use it on a second system, it has the best transport I have owned, I have started looking to go even Higher end than the player I have now, This player was $6,350.00, I want to see what alot more money can do or not do, this search will take a while, I have got four brands on my list so far, Ayon, Esoteric, Aesthetix,vincent.., some of these players have analog pre-amps built in the cd player!, this also keeps cable cost down, you know what I mean?, I am very interested in a few pre-amps to, Krell is defiantly one of them, How much was the phantom 3 ?, cheers.
Mrvordo, Are you there, you must be listening to some music, when you get a chance, get back to me, Happy listening.
The Phantom III is only $5500, but it does not have CAST, and I got it without the digital section. Since my FPB600 doesn't have a CAST input, I figured I could go that route without losing a lot. For your system the Phantom I or II, would be what I would look at, or a 202, maybe. The III can be had with a Digital section which I did not get. I listen mostly to vinyl and the digital section can be added at any time. So I decided to wait on that to keep costs down.

From what I understand, the Esoteric can't be beat, but I think it may be the most expensive out there too. If it were me, I would be spending that money on a Phono/Pre/Cables instead of a big player, but I understand that everyone's tastes are different. I just almost always prefer vinyl.

Sounds like you are building a truly magnificent system. Hope it all works out for you.

Good listening,
Mike
@ Mrvordo, Hi, I have a ways to go on building my system, you already have a magnificent system and room, congrats!, you have helped me here with this power set-up, thankyou very much, cheers to you.
Hi Audiolabryinth ,

I thought I'd share with you my experience using an aftermarket power cord with my Krell FPB300cx. As you know, the Krell CX line comes with a captive power cord set-up. Purely out of inquisitiveness, I cut the wall plug off the 300cx's captive cord and rewired a male C15 IEC adaptor to the end of the 300cx's captive cord (still keeping the same length of the captive cord - in case I needed to re-install the wall plug back). I then plugged in my Shunyata Research King Cobra CX (which is terminated with a C15 male IEC adaptor) into the Krell's captive cord.

To me, the improvements were so "significant" that I have been running this set-up for the last three years. In my experience, the improvements were across the frequency spectrum - even more low end slam (yes, even for a Krell!), smoother mid-range and highs. However, I would say the most significant improvement was a subjective "opening up" of this fine amplifier to become (finally) unrestrained! The translated effect of this was a more "holographic" soundstage (in my listening room). With the Shunyata King Cobra CX, the 300cx now "breathes" more freely and has a feeling of unreserved power - I feel just as a Krell should be!

I should also mention that I did some extended trialling of several other after market power cords on the 300cx (all of which I also own) including a Wireworld Aurora, PS Audio Statement (the original version) and a Shunyata Anaconda CX.

Of all these, the most synergistic match (for my system) was the Shunyata King Cobra CX on the Krell. Each of the fore mentioned power cords made a noticeable difference to the sound of the 300cx (and in all cases were an improvement over plugging in the 300CX's captive cord directly into the wall socket).

Given your 700CX's power draw, if you ever decide to experiment by wiring a male IEC adaptor into your captive cord, (the usual disclaimers/caveats apply - that it's at your own risk and that you understand wiring for correct polarity, etc.) I would strongly suggest a C19 IEC adaptor (which is a 30A high current version) and an equivalent high-current terminated aftermarket power cord of your choice.

I would be interested to hear your (or any other A’gon member’s experiences) if you ever decide to take this route on a Krell FPB series amp (with a captive power cord)!

All the best!