MY Sidewinder AC cord progress:

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.

BLACK MAMBA on CD player, SIDEWINDER on amp (from my notes):..............(These are just in the order I made note of them, you'll have to read the whole thing to decipher the positive from the negative aspects).........................Despite an upper bass hump, allowed me to hear into the deep bass range more clearly, even though it wasn't as loud. The deep bass was better focused, and I was somehow able to hear deeper, even though it was proportionately quieter and with less weight/slam. The TONAL ANOMALIES were still there (from the last combo I tried, where the Sidewinder was also on the amp, then). I.e., the upper midrange and treble were shelved up a little. Images seemed to float less freely of the speakers, and the background wasn't as black (when compared to the Black Mamba-CD/Proteus-amp combo). There was a grainy, hazy type of distortion thru pretty much the whole range (it had not been near as noticeable as, say, with the Sidewinder on the CD player, and the Proteus on the amp). The entire presentation was decidedly DIGITAL, not exactly a good thing (however the "jump" factor was the best it's been, so that was terrific, and by far THE BEST ASPECT of this combo). The treble was still forward, and attack transients were definitely hyped. The upper midrange could (again) turn hard at times. DESPITE ALL OF THIS NEGATIVITY, fatigue after long periods of listening wasn't as high as it has been with lesser AC cord combos, but as we all have been known to say, "it still wasn't exactly what I'm looking for", either..................And also to the credit of this combo, I did prefer it this way, as opposed to having the Black Mamba on amp, and Sidewinder on CD player. As I've already indicated, upper bass pitch specificity and dynamics (rhythm and "snap" factor) were OUTSTANDING, and do surpass all other combos (so far) in this regard.................Plucked acoustic guitar strings sounded "hi-fi", their attck transient over-hyped/delineated, and somewhat unnaturally related to the wooden body sound................Stage depth was quite good, but again with high frequency sounds coming slightly disconnected and forward several feet from where they really are in the recording's acoustic. The outlines of an instrument's edges were hyped, and the midrange/treble did possess an almost "cheap solid state", unrefined quality. The wonderful ANALOG QUALITY that was present in the mids and his of the Mamba-CD/Proteus-amp combo was COMPLETELY gone......................The extra distortion present in the mids and treblewas similar in character to that of a compression horn driver, but to a lesser degree. TO SUM UP: Putting the Sidewinder on the power amp (with Black Mamba on CD player) barely seemed to help, more than it hurt. This of course will vary depending on what one feels is important, besides the myriad system matching factors out there. THE TRADE OFF is tonal and image refinement, for dyanamics (from the upper bass, and upward) and imaging solidity. The Balck Mamba is SOOOO tonally refined (on the CD player, less so on the amp...also current limited a little bit on the amp) that IMHO it would be a shame to throw that refinement away in order to get the limited (albeit substatnial) benefits, from what the Sidwinder did right in this combo. I suppose if an otherwise similar system to mine, was EXTREMELY LAID BACK, but had subterranean bass extension, and otherwise had the creamiest/smoothest timbres and tones on earth (to a fault), then this combo would perhaps be well suited.

One more aspect of the above combo: I like rock music, and have been using a live concert CD often: Rush's "Different Stages Live". I must say that the drum solo (with the above AC cord combo) on disc 2 was really a singular experience in my life with the Maggie MMG's! I WAS FORCED TO SMILE WIDE AT HOW GOOD THIS DRUM SOLO SOUNDED. The start/stop factor was just amazingly good, combined with the dynamic and tonal detail of Neal Peart's drum kit. "I was there".....