Moved Audio Quest cable to my DAC. WOW

I was highly skeptical of power cords, until about two weeks ago. My son took the plunge and got a Shunyata Aconda powercord. This power cord is now on his Devialet Expert Pro 220. The degree to which the sound improved is so surprising. We both sat there in total surprise at the result. The sound just cleaned up so much. Everything more incisive clear and resolved. Timing improved. Not inexpensive, but once heard it becomes hard to deny the value of a specialized power cord.

@jjss49 A very good point to make, and one that I missed. You have to be very careful and honest with yourself when critical listening. You must remain neutral in your mind and not swayed by emotion or mood. Choosing the right time for you to listen is essential, and more than one session, not to reinforce what you think you heard earlier, but to listen again with that same open mind. Also, all types of music.

@steakster nice analogy, that program looks interesting too, thanks.

Being around the industry for 40+ years and attending many events featuring "industry gurus" as guest speakers, I’ve observed that the smartest of the smart are able to explain technology in simple, relatable terms. Many in this forum have that "gift."

The term "intelligent ignorance" also comes to mind. "Knowing what we don’t know" is often helpful. Intellectual humility?

I've frequently stated that my daily search for intelligent life on this planet often starts with this forum.  Today was a good startt to my day.

@vanson1

Congrats on an improvement that was clearly beneficial to you.

It sounds like you own AQ’s NGR "X" series cable. IF you purchased this from a dealer (hopefully close by?) you might want to see if you can borrow the upgrade "Y" and/or "Z" series cables for a home audition. If you got a "Wow" from the X cable, you may be encorporating the use of explicit language to describe what you’ll be hearing from the upgrades. Your system is definitely NOT a budget system, so it appears (to me) that you have plenty of headroom for "reasonable" investments in SQ improvements. Worth a try?

@waytoomuchstuff Love the term “intellectual humility.”  I wish more people here would practice that over their intellectual arrogance.  You’re right — we simply don’t know what we don’t know.  This is exactly why most of us simply use and trust our ears.  Not that we’re infallible, but I’ll take our ears over scientific instruments any day and feel sorry for those in this hobby who can’t do that.