Power Cord for Spectral DMC-30 Pre Amp

MIT's latest pc is the ZIII, also called the Oracle 3. It is $695 and so not cheap (see Joe Abrams at equusaudio@aol.com for best pricing). I recommend these very highly with Spectral, especially preamps and amps. They have a neutrality, chromatic nuance, and naturalness that goes beyond any other pc I've tried with Spectral/MIT. They are a low capacitance design and unshielded, and don't combine well with all other a/c products, but they do very well with Spectral and MIT's older isolation transformers and stabilizers. Also, no network boxes, and they are reasonably flexible.

So you have fallen to the "cable and interconnect" group, have you? Take your power cable with you to your local cable and interconnect dealer and compare your cord to what they have. Only buy if you hear a difference equal or greater than the price.

Nope. Don't agree at all with jazzcat. Borrow power cables from dealers who will allow you to try them at home in your own system before buying. Most will do that. If power cables are new, give them ~10-15 hours of play to break in.

You are testing electrical and musical synergy with your components, and it can't be done at the dealership on their equipment.

Flex:

Any recommendations from Spectral experience with cables that are about 1/2 of the cost of the ZIII ?

Thanks!

Barrelchief,
Email Joe Abrams on the Z3. He also has a borrow/return policy if it doesn't work out.

The MIT Z Cord 2 works well and is recommended by the mfg. and Spectral dealers. A higher performance powercord is the Oracle AC 1. We do not recommend using the Z Cord III with Spectral. It is a fine product, but not for this application.

Terry Menacker

Overtureaudio, I'm happy that you've raised this issue in a public forum so that it can be discussed openly.

Over many years of experience with Spectral, I will state that in my system (dmc30sl, 360's, 2000/3000), the ZII on the preamp and digital sounds closed in, dark, and dulled. It may be fine in other applications, but not with Spectral's best components. The Oracle 3 is not a great choice for the preamp either, contrary to my year-old discussion above. However, since you are recommending the Oracle AC1, I believe that MIT themselves state that the Oracle 3 ( Oracle 3 = Z III), when used with the old Z-stabilizer box is very close to or the same as the Oracle AC1or AC2 cords. Therefore, I interpret your statement to mean that you think the ZIII should not be used alone, but instead with a line conditioner (?)

Since you say you don't recommend the ZIII for use with Spectral at all, can you give technical reasons (inductance, capacitance, shielding, dielectric) why not? I use ZIII's with the dma360's w/o conditioning and with the 2000 into a line conditioner, and find that they work well there, so I'm surprised at your conclusions.

I'm also interested in hearing from Spectral owners on what a/c products work well with the dmc30sl and digital. Power cords that do justice to fast sold state and retain the detail and dynamics, along with transparency and a lack of coloration are not easy to find among the plethora of a/c cords on the market.

I am very impressed with the effectiveness of the new PS Audio xStream Plus on my DMC-30S. This cable is an improvement over the PS Audio Lab II, which was double the price. The xStream definitely seems to clean up the incoming power. The sound is more transparent and the noise floor is lowered. I recommend it highly -- particularly given the price.

Ken

I use the JPS Preamp cord on my 30S. My system is running on the Exact Power SP15 power conditioner/regenerator. Works great!

I have detail in a wonderfully balanced way with great soundstage and natural decay. Oh yeah, the music sounds great!