It’s nice that people want to make you believe that what you hear isn’t right because you can’t measure it. I don’t measure, the manufacturer can do that. It’s just really easy, if you don’t hear it, don’t buy it. If you think it’s an improvement and you’re willing to pay for it, buy it. We should not be too difficult about that and try to convince everyone. I worked in the hi-fi shop for 20 years and gave many customers equipment and cables to test. And immediately told them, if you don’t hear it, just don’t buy it, it couldn’t be simpler, could it? My starting point is that I want to get the impression that the musicians are in my living room. And they have to wipe the shoes first before coming in. There are a lot of listeners who listen with headphones, not my thing either, but if they are happy with that, that’s fine. One thing is for sure, if I replace all my unfortunately expensive cables with simple standard cables, there is nothing left of the beautiful sound that I have now. I am very satisfied and I hope many with me. We have to, we all have dCS at home…
p.s.
What I forgot to tell/warn The Shunyata Alpha NR v2 has huge AC connectors. I had to put my rack at least 10cm forward… Maybe that’s why it sounds so good now, and it’s not because of the cables, ha, ha.
I saw Black Cat cables referenced in a recent thread above, and wanted to report that Chris Sommovigo (of Black Cat Cables and Graceline) passed very suddenly this past Monday. It is always sad to lose someone well before their time and especially someone so dedicated to providing quality goods and services to our hobby. Many on this forum have commended the sonic virtues of the Black Cat mini-TRON as their preferred connection between DAC and clock.
My condolences to his family, friends and passionate customers.
I just heard the news about Chris as well very sad to hear. Re power cords I have been experimenting with them for years and hear how various cords can affect the overall sound of my system which runs on a dedicated power line direct to a Furutech wall outlet to a Shunyata TritonV3. After settling down with interconnects I began listening to power cords and it was interesting to hear how some cords sounded best with certain gear but not with others and not just head units vs. HC amp cords.
Most recently running Shunyata Sigma & Alpha NR v2’s (big improvement over the v1 models) to the Rossini DAC, Clock & K-50 server with good results. A few months ago I demoed the new SR SX Euphoria power cords and was impressed with their very low noise floor and liquidity and replaced the Rossini DAC PC. I figured I would try another SX cord on my server but did not think it would make a meaningful incremental improvement unfortunately I was wrong…so purchased another SX for my server. For the Rossini clock however nothing I tried could beat the Shunyata Alpha v2 (in my system). For my Linear Power supplies the preferred cord (for my particular system) was the Tellurium Q Silver Diamond PC. These cords are very dynamic and very quiet and also sounded good on the DAC but were not quite as transparent or liquid as the SX cords. Of course these results are only for my system but wanted to share my findings.
Basically I have used power cords to further ‘tune’ my system to be most pleasing to my ears. To get the most from the cords I have always ended up using a combination of various cords and never end up with all the same cords. This power cord experimentation has definitely brought my system to a higher level IMHO.
I have recently replaced all of my Transparent Audio Super Interconnects and speaker cables with Transparent Audio Reference (pre loved). I was very pleased with the result and anticipated going full loom with power cords as well. I borrowed two C19 Transparent Audio Reference power cords and noticed that they had “middle of the road” Furutech UK plugs attached (the same plugs as I had used for my own home made cables many years ago). This was a huge disapointment and I’m sure affected my listening experience detrimentally. This experience is in full support of the post of @Zapp and comments of perception. Consequently I took the loan offer of two C19 Shunyata Alpha NR cables (also extensive reading on how the connectors are cold welded to the cables). They were amazing …
I am now, one by one, replacing my PS Audio power cords to Shunyata Alpha NR. So far Rossini, Clock and Preamp done. - monoblocs still to go.
I’m a great fan of Shunyata’s cables and was impressed by the QR-s tested with my previous Bartok - albeit the price of this particular cable likely makes this option overkill for the Bartok, but it’s a candidate for my Rossini once my master clock has arrived (I started out using their Delta, followed by Alpha cables).
That said, my feeling is cables (and other upgrades) are usually the icing on the cake, not the core substance of it. Great for incremental gains, rather than necessarily the first upgrade you should do.
Most decent cable manufacturers will make them available on a trial basis and I would take advantage of this before committing
I actually wanted to try a niagara 3000 or 5000, but as my local dealer didn’t have a Niagara for home trial, I borrowed a AQ dragon (new old stock of the previous model with the twisted cables). I already have one on my Rossini clock, so I plugged it into my Rossini player.
Actually I did try this combination before when I loaned the Rossini clock from them; powerlines on 552ps and 250DR, dragons on Rossini player and clock but didn’t think the 2nd dragon was worth the expense then. I thought it made the sound a little bright.
But for some reason, this time round, the 2nd dragon on the Player is really good. The sound opened up 3 dimensionally (left right, front back) and lifted the soundstage. The mid has more meat but not overly warm, highs are detailed but not bright and the bass has such a nice texture to it.
I rate this improvement amongst my top 3 together with 252dr to 555dr and cirkus to karousell.
But it really doesn’t make logical sense.
My only worry now is that when the 2nd dragon runs in, the sound will change… (First world problems).
I run a Nordost Tyr2 to the Bartok… but recently added a PS-15 conditioner - which made a huge difference.
unsure now how expensive cables are of benefit when all the work is done by the PS Audio PS-15.
must try an el-cheepo Power chord and report back
I recently purchased Shunyata Alpha NR v2 cables for both my Rossini Apex and clock.
To my ears, they make an easily discernable uplift in SQ.
I’m now contemplating whether to buy more Alpha NR’s for the rest of my system, including the PSA P15 (which is currently fed by a AQ Monsoon), or go with Gryphon’s latest p/c, the Rosso, for my Essence pre and amp (which needs the 20A version).
Yesterday I had a home demo of the Rosso on my amp, which I liked.
I need to decide if system synergy would be better achieved with an all Alpha set up, or go with a hybrid approach of Rosso on the Gryphon gear and Alpha’s for everything else.
Decisions, decisions…
There’s no local stock at the moment, so I’ll have to wait, apparently for a month or so…
Curious to your finding here. I use Nordost Odin Gold PC in my Rossini and noticed a huge uplift in sound quality. When I added the power conditioner, I didn’t notice much of a difference. Curious to see if you find no difference when removing the TYR, which is a great cable…
Planning to move up to Vivaldi at some point though. PC’s / cables last forever though, so I figured I didn’t want to keep going down that rabbit hole. Just buy once / cry once.
Vivaldi is not really just a DAC it’s a system. To replicate the facilities of your Rossini you will need the DAC and Upsampler. ( Vivaldi DAC doesn’t even have a USB input). Most owners also find that the wordclock has a benefit, So you will need a minimum of 2-3 power cords. The interconnects and wordclock cables also require attention so that they are at least the equivalent of the power cords.
Vivaldi is rather hungry when it comes the wires. So expect < 3 power cords, 4 wordclock cables, 2 AES/EBU and 2 analogue AES or single ended cables. No doubt all NordostOdin Gold. A mere bagatelle .
This is why there are so many cable manufacturers.
Probably 90% gross margin on that product!
Unrelated industry, related lesson. Business model for high-end women’s skin care is:
Price: $1,000 per ounce
Cost of goods: $5
Gross profit: $995
Advertising to convince women that the $5 product they bought is actually worth $1,000: $500
Operating profit: $495 = 50% operating margin
.