Cardas or Virtual Dynamics power cords? Opinions?

I have have two VD Revelation Power Cables, 6 Transparent PowerLink MM PCs (top of Transparent Line). I cannot hear an appreciable difference between them, but both are better than Purist Opis (and they cost a lot more). I have not heard the Purist Dominus.

I also have VD Revelation, Transparent Musicwave Ultra and Purist Aqueous Anniversary speaker cables. Again, the Transparents and the VDs are similar with the Transparents having more base slam, the VDs better soundstage and imaging with base closer to the Transparent than to the Purist and the Purists the best highs and arguably the best tonal balance top to bottom.

I have 2 sets of VD Masters series balanced XLR ICs, 2 sets of Transparent Reference MM balanced ICs, and 1 pair of Purist Venustas balanced ICs. Here the VDs and the Transparents are fairly close but the VDs still throw a better soundstage and imaging and not quite as powerful base slam as the Transparents, while the Venustas are not nearly as good as either in base, soundstage or imaging.

My Purist Aqueous Anniversary phono cable lets my system sing and demonstrate the powerful superiority of vinyl over digital. My Cardas Golden Cross phono cable is not in the same league.

On balance, VD gets the nod from me, especially with signal cables.

Jmcgrogan2, good to see you're staying active on the 'Gon. I am very happy with the VD Revelation power cables and would like to get two more, even though it is difficult to hear much difference between them and the Transparent PowerLink MM.

Ed

Hi Ed,

I'm glad you are enjoying the VD Revelations, though to be honest I do have a bit of 'seller's remorse'. I sold them for funds to upgrade my preamp/amp, but I have not heard a power cord that betters them yet. The used prices now seem to have jumped 20-25%, which is prohibiting me from re-aquiring them. Though I do have some Masters on order.

Maybe I should give Transparent another listen. I listened to several Transparent i/c's, s/c's, and p/c's over the years, and even owned some i/c's for a while. I never felt they were a good value though. They sounded good, but I felt I heard many better sounding cables that cost less. However, I haven't heard any Transparent stuff in around 5 years.

I have the PAD Dominus, and it is a very good cord, but not on par with the VD Revelation, IMHO.

Cheers,
John

I received the rest of the full complement of VD master cables and cords. There is the sense of balance and symbiosis in my system that I never heard before. The focus is on the music instead of the components and the weak link. The sound is better throughout the whole spectrum with great dynamics and soundstage.

Hi John,

I'm sorry about your remorse. What preamp/amp did you get?

Personally and in my system, the Revelations and the PowerLink MM PCs are very close. Maybe if I had a few more Revelation PCs, the difference would be more noticeable. But in ICs and SCs, except for base, both the Masters and the Revelations are better than the Transparent Reference (current MM technology).

I was outbid this past week on a Revelation Signature PC. I would have liked to have heard what it could do in my system.

Best,

Ed

Perhaps a bit off topic, but a thread on AA appeared recently where another cable manufacturer had this to say about VD power cords:

"Some may be aware of this, but Virtual Dynamics uses magnets soldered in series with the conductors on their products, calling this "Speed of Light" technology.

Not wanting to look like some jerk manufacturer bashing his competitor, I've not brought it up before- but from the urging of one of the chatters here, I figured I'd bring it up.

This seems to me to be an dangerous practice when used with power cords.... "

Further down in the thread this was posted:

"My concerns stem from a couple issues:

The magnets will be subject to EM forces which may damage their insulation or the solder joints through the motion of the magnets.

The solder joint to the magnet is a dubious proposition- I'd be inclined to worry about those joints as a failure point.

There's a pretty high potential for these to heat up, making displacement of typical insulators somewhat easier.

The irritation and potential damages (imagine if one got too close to your phono cart) of the cable being drawn towards racks, chassis, etc, is a less major issue.

Just some of the issues, no doubt there are others. And I agree, many other cords are unsafe as well- I just find these to be particularly disconcerting."

The thread can be found here: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/127112.html

I would like to know what VD users think about this. Let me add that I own 2 VD power cords (Nite II and Master) and am very pleased with them. No issues in my system. The reason I am posting this is to get a better understanding of this comment and the use of the magents from a technical perspective. I have no intention of replacing the VD cables. I just want to try and understand this better.

Thanks in advance.