MY Sidewinder AC cord progress:

Tonight I got bogged down with just the Cardas speaker cable in the system, so I can't make an accurate observation on how the current combo (Black Mamba on CD player, Proteus on amp) actually compared with the Sidewinder-Proteus combo, but hope to do that tomorrow. The sound was the best in many ways that I've heard the Cardas (Neutral Reference), and that's why I listened longer than I should have (2.5 hours, too long for the volume level I chose; sometimes I have no will power)....and then I ran out of time, like I always do. My take is that there are three things inevitable in life: death, taxes, and running out of time (when everything is just starting to get good!).

And thank you for the clarification, Albert.

Black Mamba on CD player, Proteus on amp:................(from my notes).....More "simultaneous details" within the ambience of recordings. Much more liquidity than when the Sidewinder was on the CD player (and the same Proteus on amp). Instrumental images were more separate and distinct. "Jump factor" and pace are noticably reduced, however. Musical subtlety is conveyed in the manner that analog can convey it (mostly in the midrange and treble); a good thing indeed! This is the closest I've heard yet to the character that the Magnan Signature AC cord had (it exhibited this ONLY in the treble, however, and only when used on the amp; it was just VERY bright on the CD player). Comparing this combo to the Magnan (the MIT Z-cord 2 was on the CD player at that time), the dynamic contrast is actually not as resolved as the Magnan did it in the treble, but better in the upper mids, and on down thru the bass. The Magnan had the very fastest bass I've ever heard in my system (again, only when used on the power amp), and it would be nice to have most of that, and dynamics too; oh, well.................THE DOWNSIDE........Basically, the Black Mamba on the CD player seemed to exaggerate the Proteus's "speed/pace" weakness below 300 Hz. This is in contrast to what the Sidewinder did on the CD player, which was that it actually never failed to correct that weakness, somehow. IMAGES were less solid and yet more delineated, but "instrument edges/outlines" weren't necessarily hyped (like my Dragon speaker cable can do sometimes); so there's some good, with the bad. SOUNDSTAGE depth was normal for the front two-thirds, but got quite truncated beyond that (when compared with the Sidewinder on the CD player)...................Next, will be the Black Mamba on CD player, and Sidewinder on power amp.

Carl out of curiosity how many AC cords do you keep in your home collection. I have known the dilema you are describing with different trade-offs, and personally have 3 sets of interconnects, 2 sets of speaker cables etc.....this is expensive habit but it is hard to find a cable that works in all situations, especially as your system changes over time.......if only it were that simple

Yes, it is good to have more than one set for different aspects of performance. I only have one set of AC cords that I own right now, and just want to get the best that I can get, so I'm auditioning tons of different ones, and have been doing it for 6 months. It's sort of fun, because I do feel like I'm closing in on it.