Lost in the Powercord Jungle

There are a number of very good power cords on the market that are getting very good press, Elrod, Virtual Dynamics, Foundation Research, HMS, NBS, Purist and AZ, but they each do something different in a system. You need to read the reviews from AUdio mags and on-line reviews and narrow down the list. And then get some cords in and listen to them yourself. Fatwyre.com (the cable comapny) lets you try them out as well as most dealers here at Agon. If you are going to sepnd that kind of ching, hear them for yourself. Do you have dedicated AC lines? That is the first step prior to all of this. IMHO, there is no magic cable, or component.

Bigkidz makes a good suggestion - go for a dedicated line (or two) first. After that, absolutely demo any power cables in your system before you buy. Some good choices are listed above - I would point out that Electraglide and Shunyata have also gotten good reviews/press.

However, I would caution you in jumping in wholeheartedly into multi-thousands of dollars worth of power cords. Power cords do make a difference, but make sure you figure out whether the differences you are hearing are positive ones! For example, oftentimes, that "authoritative bass" you hear in a new PC really is really a recessed trable and exaggerated midbass, which are calling your attention to that range of the spectrum. Unfortunately, I spent too much money learning this lesson the hard way.

Peersonally, this might sound like very strange advice, but I would start by trying out some inexpensive ($100-$300 used) aftermarket cords. Get a couple used here at Audiogon for 50% retail or so. See what you think of these cords. If you hear some differences that will be good; however, it will not prepare you for what you will hear as you move up the quality scale of power cords. After you have a grasp of what these cords do, it is time to move up to a cord that is a little higher quality.

I would progress to maybe an Audience or Acoustic Zen AC cable or maybe a Cardas. Make sure you get it used at a good price, so if you do not like it, you can always sell it. Or you can do the Cable Company route.

I do not recommend that you go straight to the cream of the crop of power cords. Why? This is hobby that is about learning. And if you start with something that may sound awesome, you might just stop there. However... you might have been able to get close or even better sound from a power cord that was a lot less $$$. Knowlege is power. And, if you try a number of inexpensive power cords, you will very much appreciate (or hate) very pricey power cords. Think of the decision this way... When you started out in audio, did you start with ML amps? This hobby is a journey, enjoy the ride.

I will say this about power cords in conclusion... There seems to be a point at which the men are separated from the boys. Basically, there seems to be an extreme gap in performance between what I would call entry level/mid level cords and the really high quality ones. This is a big gap, and if you pay full retail, you could pay A LOT for this extra performance. An example would be the BMI Whale Elite mk2 and the Shark. The Whale is not a bad power cord. It is a little better than most power cords that run about $300 or so retail (the Whale retailed for something like $1k or so...). The perfonmance/sonic difference between the Whale and the Shark is a HUGE margin. Of coarse retail on the Shark is something like $3500 (only a fool would pay this much) for 6'. At Audiogon one can be had for $800 or so. If you stick a Whale on on your source, you may thing the sound was a ltered a little. If you stick a Shark on your source, you may need to confirm you are using the same source (it could easily sould like you just got a $2000+ upgrade to your source).

KF

I agree with Tok. Jump in carefully. The original Synergistic Research AC Master Coupler is the powercord that kicked off the aftermarket power cord industry, and can be had for $125 on Audiogon. This is what I use in my system, and have felt no need to move to more costly PCs. The Master coupler has good resale value (getting from Audiogon what you paid to own from Audiogon), because it is a well recognized product.

One view of aftermarket power cords at this level: you are working to obtain matched quality end to end in your system, to eliminate potential weak links. Before you do the big bucks thing, you need to be certain that your system is sensitive enough to respond.

I tend to agree with the Cable co.Due to the fact that you can afford to spend as mentioned,it leaves the door open wider than for most.I would definately not gamble on other likes and dislikes,becuase what some one else likes you may not. Going the Cable company route in my mind makes the most sense.Good Luck