OK, I'm ready to believe that power cords and the like actually DO something...

How come I get the feeling that we'll be seeing posts from this young man beginning with, hello, my name is Eric and I'm a power cord believer. I've only been a believer for a little while, but I already got the bug and want some Nite stuff!!!!

Seriously, until you've heard some of VDs higher end stuff, you may be skeptical. Afterward you'll only be broke... and happy with the new sounds. Since Rick is so good at giving generous trade-ins for your other VD stuff, why not start with just a Power 3 for $75 and see what you think. MarkL and many others were quite impressed with it, and later you can upgrade once the money starts rolling in from all the equipment and amps you'll design.

I also swapped out my filtering IEC with a decent Acme Audio Lab silver coated, vryo treated IEC. It did open the highs up just a tad on my headamp!! Now I'm looking at adding one to both the new headamp and CDP. Too bad the CDP needs to have some solder work to make the change, but that's what friends are for!!

Got any info on those VanHuys DIY thingamabobs?? I have been hearing about them, but have yet to see any info on web sites or such!! Thanks!!

Excellent, another convert...

Sweet. Thanks for the info on those cables Eric. Many people have praised them quite highly, so I thought I would take a look!! Maybe I can compare them to the Nite ICs and see how they stand up!! If I can afford to get the Ven Haus that is!!

Okay, okay, I'll get a pair, just stop twisting my arm so hard Eric!!! I had no idea that they were so stinkin' cheap!!!! Now, how do I explain this to the wife after orderering the Nite .5m IC??????

Power cords and outlets

Pass & Semour outlets @ $9.00 each major upgrade.
DIY Crump power cables go into all my vintage gear. My wife and son both noticed this upgrade. CHris has a great list of DIY stuff his cable is like the Crump Beldon power cable. Well worth the time and money IMO.

When i bought my melos, it came with a venhaus style powerchord, and let me warn you that the cabling is a bitch to deal with. It's not only stiff, but seems to have a memory. I'll be picking up an IEC plug and a power 3 as soon as my wallet allows it, and i'll tell ya how it works out

Re: OK, I'm ready to believe that power cords and the like actually DO something...

I had the same experience when someone brought over a set of zillion dollar NBS power cables to 'prove to me' how good they were.

He tried to plug the cables into my power strip but they were so stiff and large that they would lift the strip right up off the floor. I didn't want all that weight hanging off the back of my components so we plugged the massive, stiff as steel powercord directly between the wall and my amp, another one to my source, and a less expensive unit into my preamp. (Krell, Calaudio,Krell). Turned the system on, 'let the cords adjust for 20 minutes' (this guy was driving me nuts) and then fired up the cd player and turned up the volume.

To say I was floored was an understatement. Soundstage was wider, deeper, more open. The music was more responsive and more engaging, quite captivating really. I was up all night listening to music and having a great time. Also feeling rather stupid for not having tried expensive cables prior to this.

He left the cables for me for a few days (apparently so I could figure out how to tell the bank that I need a 2nd mortgage for powercables) . On the last day I decided to put the stock cables back in place but the power strip that I had been using had already been used by the wife for the christmas lights so I had to plug the original cables directly into the wall again. I was floored a second time. This time because my original cables sounded every bit as good as the NBS cables. It then dawned on me that the simple filter in the power strip was causing some sort of low level noise that was somehow making it into my system but not in some obvious way (that made sense) and somehow this noise was gettting past all of the filtering in these relatively high quality stereo components.

At least you figured that out BEFORE buying the expensive stuff!!! Many have said that lots of high end cabling is falsehood and junk. Getting a good power conditioner that protects the equipment and doesn't negatively affect sound is not easy to do, but can be done. Many reco the Monster Power HTS1100, or the CyberPower series from 900VA and up. (These are battery back-up units with lots of voltage regulation, and sound awesome.) Dirty power coming in from cheap power strips, extension cords, etc. can wreak havoc on a system, but good, clean power can make for sonic bliss!!!!


If you ever want to try some really good cables that have blown almost everyone here away, try some Virtual Dynamics. Rick offers trials with no cost, and will only cost the shipping to try them out risk free for up to 60 days. Although these are also stiff, when the rather large copper in the cabling is bent into place it stays there, so with the right bends you can actually remove the stress and weight.

What I need is about a 12 foot extention, made like the good power cables.

Iso-Tek

On a similar note, I just replaced most of the power cables in my system.

I went for an Iso-Tek Cleanline which is a hifi component sized box of trick that employs extensive mains filtering and has six outlets. The cost in the UK is £300.

On plugging this thing in with stock IEC cables, it was immediately noticeable that the noise floor had dropped considerably and the bass tightened up, the trbele had much more air about it and the midrange was less congested (I hadn't previously noticed this).

That was my first real experience of how good decent mains systems can get. Although I realise this is only the first step on the slippery slope.



Additionally, I also added Iso-Tek Premium IEC cables to my system. These consist of 1.5m of a high quality double shielded cable fitted with (in the) MK Toughplug safaty plugs and Marinco 320 IEC connectors (basically a cheaper but just as effective version of the Wattgate 320).

I purchased six of these and plugged them into my Cleanline, Pre, 2 x Power Amps, and my Krell transport/dac.
The difference in my system now compared to before is amazing. The highs are much airier, mids clearer and less congested, bass deeper and tighter. The noise floor is now a great deal lower. Transients are much more pronounced and I'm hearing low level details that have been previously masked by the noise floor.

I attribute much the noise on the AC to my having a computer and 3 monitors in the same room along with having two large fridge freezers, and various strip lights in the house.



Heres a weird thing about changing the cables that I was puzzled by.

Since purchasing my Krell, i've had an ongoing issue with recording CDRs. When recording from the Krell to my Pioneer PDR4 CDR unit, the machine would not automatically go from record-pause into record mode when play was pressed on the Krell. The PDR4 is around 5 years old now and I'd never experienced this problem with it before and have used 3 other transports with it quite successfully.

Also the Krell has a Phillips CDM4 Pro transport unit in it that has always been a bit slow. It has a great deal of difficulty in player the later tracks on long CD's. I realise that this is due to them being located on the outer rim of the CD and have put up with it for the past 9 months or so and i'm gonna send it in for servicing in the new year.

Now here's the weird thing. The problem with cd record has righted itself and the Krell Transport is now working much better. All I did was change from the stock cables to filtered ones.



Sound As Ever