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Importance of power cable for Turntable?

Just purchased a Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated with the optional phono stage and DAC module.  I purchased AudioQuest Hurricanes for both the amp and my digital source.  How important would it be to do the same for a high end turntable (which I don’t have just yet)?  Would an AudioQuest Hurricane Source be a good choice for a high end turntable as well? Or is it even needed?  I do notice subtle improvements with my amp and digital source.

Thanks
nyev
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@lewm Believing in differences in power cords, and being open to hearing them, presupposes that you value many more parameters in a cord design than current carrying capacity. Choice of materials (copper vs silver for example), geometry, resistance to vibration, damping, grounding and shielding solutions (such as active shields) - all of these influence and affect power cord performance and the effect can easily be appreciated on a table supply. And the cable doesn’t need to be expensive, choosing the right cable design is the key,

For instance the best cable for a table may not be the best cable for a pre amp say. For example I find Marigo power cords work really well on the table PSU but on my pre amp the same cord seems thin and forced. The ideal cable profile for a table is one that is lean and fast it seems.

and @bdp24 while the thoughts about my system are welcome (you must come round and hear it now, it’s a world away from what you heard last year) the same impact was clear on my friends system which is much much less expensive and complex
lewm
12,991 posts
 
I would agree that geometryseems to have an effect, and “grounding” of course.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

Thanks @folkfreak, I’ll take you up on that offer! I found your recent comments (in Audiogon's Virtual Systems) about the changes in the sound of your system to be both interesting and encouraging. I’m used to a different sort of speaker sound (planars), and found your now-gone Magico speakers (replaced by a different model of theirs) to be more "unrelenting" than the sound I'm accustomed to. Your comments about the sound of your new system leads me to believe that you may now feel similarly about your previous one vs. your new. True? Extremely resolving, transparent, and uncolored, but more "bracing" (a splash of ice cold water on one’s face ;-) than I’m comfortable with.

There are two schools of thought about loudspeaker frequency response characteristics in relation to high frequency balance: one school is of the opinion that a speaker’s response should remain flat all the way out past audibility; the other considers the above to result in a "tipped up" balance not found in live music, that a speaker should instead slowly roll off above a "certain" frequency, at say 2-3dB/octave starting at perhaps 5kHz. Your old Magico’s sounded as if they were designed as per the former, your new model Magico’s perhaps less so? Just a guess on my part.

folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@bdp24 well perhaps yes and no -- its even more ruthlessly revealing, but I think in a more natural and unforced way. In a recent demo I turned the Herzan on and off and the person I was demoing it with preferred the sound without the Herzan -- its more laid back, kind of soft and wooly but it's not real, and the detail is gone. Similarly I found with the M3s that I could hear the haze and coloration in the ARC pre-amp and so that had to go. So overall it's probably not moved in the direction your panels take you and is probably more yin then the yang you may prefer. But the tonal balance is better especially without the  super tweeter which over energized the top end.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

@folkfreak, "over energized the top end". Now THAT is a good way to put it. So it was the super tweeter than was responsible for that sound, not the old Magico? I had heard Magicos before (I don't remember which model---it was at Brooks Berdan Ltd. a number of years back), but in a bigger room (the shop's main listening space, built to Cardas specs, I believe) and at a greater listening distance (and of course without your super tweeter).

I prefer a more "relaxed" high end than a hyper-detailed one, especially since much of my favorite music isn't in the best recorded sound quality. Of course, I don't want a too "forgiving" sound either. That's the balancing act we all are faced with; a musical reproduction system transparent enough to let the best recordings reach their full potential, yet not so ruthlessly revealing as to make lower sound quality recordings be unlistenable! 

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