Hear sibilance on Krall, Famous Blue, D. Fagen?

Music Hall cd25.2 CD player; power cord

Folks,

As the owner of a Music Hall cd25.2 CD player, I read with interest Sam Tellig's review in the April, 2006 issue of Stereophile and Sallie Reynolds's review in the August, 2006 issue of The Absolute Sound.

In Ms. Reynold's review, the following sentence appears: "Then, on a tip from Roy Hall at Music Hall, I changed the power cord in the CD player to the Acoustic Zen Tsunami, and it instantly rewarded me with a wall of sound very like its name." In the Manufacturer Comments section of the same issue of The Absolute Sound, there is a note from Roy Hall in which he comments on both the Music Hall a25.2 integrated ampfilier and the cd 25.2 CD player as follows: "The power cords supplied with the units are not good enough. This will change in the future. If you really want to improve both of these units in all respects buy a good, heavy-guage power cord (preferably shielded). I don't think you need to buy an expensive one. Remember the golden rule of wire--'The more it costs, the worse it sounds.'"

Assuming that I, like Sallie, might hear an improvement with a new power cord for my cd25.2, and assuming that Roy Hall's advice about his own product is worthy of consideration (which I assume is the case), I'm wondering if you folks have a recommendation for a power cord that meets his criteria: (a) good, (b) heavy-guage, (c) shielded, (d) not expensive. It is hard for me to believe that given the mid-fi nature of my other equipment (Outlaw Audio RR2150 receiver, Monitor Audio Silver RS6 loudspeakers, etc.), I would want to spend more than, say, $100 on such a cord. (By the way, Ms. Reynolds notes that the Acoustic Zen Tsunami power cords sells for $350, which is sure to cause DUP to refill the cartridge in his poison pen.)

So...recommendations?

Listening

Early on I threw Jesse Cook’s Gravity [Narada 63037] at the CD25.2, listening closely to his solo run at the climax of "Mario Takes a Walk." I was struck by a clinical vibe coming off Cook’s acoustic guitar. He sounded a little thin, even cold. At the highest registers I thought I’d caught hints of sibilance. Was this coming from the recording itself or CD player?