I have the RAL umbilical chord. I was curious if it would make my Supratek sound better. I inquired on this thread before I bought it as there were a couple favorable comments. I figured for $250 its not a big deal, but in the end I preferred Micks umbilical.
Not to say the RAL was all bad. In my second system (Bryston ) which is hyper detailed and tends on the bright side the RAL actually tamed things and made it sound more natural. However in my main system where I have a very natural and airy sound already, MickÂs was more in line with the sonics and only enhanced the experience/quality. But I suppose it could have gone either way. IÂm sure the auxilleries you have will play a vital role as to whether anyone will enjoy this chord better then MickÂs. That said I agree with the cautionary note. I would think a DIY project would not be in order. The RAL stuff is pretty decent build and I now have no doubt it works, but the customer service leaves something to be desired.
In a email with Mick he made it clear to me that he prefers folks use his umbilical chord as it is an integral part of the design, Certainly not just an after thought. So in the end I would recommend folks not mess around with this unless it comes as an upgrade from Mick or you are just incredibly curious (like I was), (even then be careful)
On the note of power chords I have tried about a dozen now on my Supratek while in a search for the best chord for my power amp and I have come to the conclusion, more then ever, that MickÂs preamp design is hard core solid and these after market chords make very little difference. I have tried chords costing more then the Supratek itself with very little decernable difference (ie cost of chord to improvement gained). One chord that I felt gave it a bit more air and naturalness is the Gutwire G and C clef Squared. The G-clef squared in around $300 bucks new, but its very decent and someone experimenting with chords might want to audition this chord in their quest. It IMO is a real improvement over the Stock that comes with the unit. Nice to see that you don't need high priced chords to make stuff sound good.
Like always YMMV.
Cheers and good listening
Not to say the RAL was all bad. In my second system (Bryston ) which is hyper detailed and tends on the bright side the RAL actually tamed things and made it sound more natural. However in my main system where I have a very natural and airy sound already, MickÂs was more in line with the sonics and only enhanced the experience/quality. But I suppose it could have gone either way. IÂm sure the auxilleries you have will play a vital role as to whether anyone will enjoy this chord better then MickÂs. That said I agree with the cautionary note. I would think a DIY project would not be in order. The RAL stuff is pretty decent build and I now have no doubt it works, but the customer service leaves something to be desired.
In a email with Mick he made it clear to me that he prefers folks use his umbilical chord as it is an integral part of the design, Certainly not just an after thought. So in the end I would recommend folks not mess around with this unless it comes as an upgrade from Mick or you are just incredibly curious (like I was), (even then be careful)
On the note of power chords I have tried about a dozen now on my Supratek while in a search for the best chord for my power amp and I have come to the conclusion, more then ever, that MickÂs preamp design is hard core solid and these after market chords make very little difference. I have tried chords costing more then the Supratek itself with very little decernable difference (ie cost of chord to improvement gained). One chord that I felt gave it a bit more air and naturalness is the Gutwire G and C clef Squared. The G-clef squared in around $300 bucks new, but its very decent and someone experimenting with chords might want to audition this chord in their quest. It IMO is a real improvement over the Stock that comes with the unit. Nice to see that you don't need high priced chords to make stuff sound good.
Like always YMMV.
Cheers and good listening
