PC recommendations for Shanling T-100 CDP

Tobias, thank you.

Keep the Tsunami and sell the Shanling.

I personally have no experience with the Shanling or the Ensemble Powerflux. I have, however, owned a Blue Circle BC 62 in the past, and although it is a good entry level cord, you can do considerably better for around $125 U.S. My suggestion would be to order 4-5 feet of the cryoed JPS in-wall cable, cryoed Marinco 8215 male and cryoed Marinco 320 IEC from takefiveaudio.com and assemble your own cord. I have three of these in use (line conditioner, amplifier and CD/DVD player) and they replaced much more expensive cords including the BC 62 and two Cardas Golden power cords which I sold. A serious bang for the buck cord with no soldering involved; strip the wires, insert them into the Marinco connectors and screw them down.

This cord will never properly break in on your CD player, or even your amp for that matter, so my suggestion is to buy an appropriate adapter from a computer store for about $3, stick the cord on your refrigerator for about 3 weeks when you get it and then switch it over to your component. This cord is "miles" ahead of the BC 62 so I would expect it to be even that much better than the BC 61.

Another alternative would be to look at the "Cryoclear" cords (do a web search), which are also very good. I tested out one (I believe it was a Silver 1) and thought it to be very good also. It was smoother and a little more refined than my DIY JPS but had a slightly leaner tonal balance. Everything's a sacrifice or a trade-off at these kinds of price points, but I frankly could live with either of these cables which is something I couldn't really say about the BC 62 (retail $225 U.S.) or the Cardas Goldens (retail $370 U.S.) which I sold.

Yes, Joeylawn36111, that power cord you describe sounds like the stock one. It is certainly better, lots better, than the three-dollar computer-grade molded cord you get "free" with most equipment. However you can do better still, if the rest of your system will let you hear the difference.

As with any upgrade, the question is, "Where can I put my money so it will do the most good?" For most of us, a major component upgrade will have more effect on the music, and the $200 or so which can buy a used mid-level premium cord should go into a savings account instead. The component that cash helps to buy will let you understand, later, why it is worth considering a better cord than the Shanling stock.

Upgrades... there's no end to 'em...

Question - Is the 'stock' power cord for the CD-T100 you are discussing look as follows:
Cord is about 1/2" thick with black nylon braiding?
Male end is Hospital Grade surrounded by shrink wrap?
Female end is also shrink wrapped with "Shanling"?

The reason for asking is this looks like it is a Much nicer cord than the usual 5/16" vinyl power cord you get standard usually. Thanks.

Let us know how things go...

I've been wondering why you noticed no difference with a Tsunami, which is not supposed to be a bad cord.I thought of the usual question about downstream resolving power, but then I reread your first post and noticed (duh) that your T100 is a modified unit.

If some of those mods were to the PS, I would hazard a guess that a power cord upgrade might make less difference than it would to a stock player (which mine was). I have noticed pretty big differences between power cords too, though, so I will be following your story with interest.

Thanks, Tobias...
Right now, it looks like I'm looking at either an Ensemble Powerflux or a Blue Circle BC61... I've put wanteds out for both at the moment, as each seems to be an improvement over the original Shanling cord from what I can tell, so far...
keeping my eye out for other contenders, but right now, it looks like it's coming down to these two...

I used an Ensemble Powerflux FSF, which might just come in under your limit, if you can find one. It made a big difference in my system at the time. Here are my notes :

-better detail across the spectrum
-bottom end detail, definition, body and control. A big difference here.
-smoother highs and a reduction in high frequency digital artifacts
-harmonies are better defined and more agreeable
-voices are more natural, throat and breath sounds more recognizable
-the soundstage is fuller and more dimensional
-digital sources have noticeably more detail. Digital becomes more interesting and satisfying at lower levels.

Happy hunting!