[raymondlin]

Having Upgrade everything I can afford and physically able to get (being in the UK, the choices of amp is very limted, EMP and Headmaster being the only other readily available ones).

I have got the best headphones I can afford - HD600, a very good CD player Marantz CD6000 KI sig and the X-Canv2/X-PSU with Mullard NOS tubes. The interconnectors are VDH "The First Ultimate" so the only thing left is the clou cable, power distribution board and the power cable for the X-PSU.

I don't want to get the clou mainly because it's $90 + shipping, and because I live in the Uk, it makes the total too expensive for the improvement it might bring. The Power distribution block I am still investigating on which one to get, I don't want to spent hundreds of $ on the board to get little improvement so I am still waiting.

So the only thing left is the Power cable, I have the chance the get a Russ Andrews "Yello cable" for $20 or make my own DIY version. I already got some a socket Plug but still looking for some "kettle" plugs, am thinking of Kimber.

So, my main concern is - Does a simple Power cable make a noticeable improvement? (and has the members here that have a X-PSU tried improve the power cable?) and where did those people get those hospital grade cables?

 

[kelly]

I can answer this question from the opposite perspective. My apartment has unimaginably bad power. I have lost 4 computer power supplies, 2 modems, 2 video cards and various other electronics. If I had any sense about me, I'd start keeping track of the receipts for those "$100,000 waranty!" power strips I keep buying.

So my point is, yes, the power certainly effects the sound quality adversely in my case. The same piece of electronics sounds noticably better somewhere else.

AFAIK, the two factors are the regulation of the power itself (elimination of slight variances and spikes in the voltage) and the amount of RF noise. In addition to my apartment's shotty electricity, I surround myself with enough RF emitting devices to warrant an FCC investigation--games consoles, PC equipment, old monitors, etc.

I've considered buying one of those "clean power" filters/regulators but don't know enough about it to go throwing money around yet. I also don't really understand how regulated power supplies (like the Base Station 1) work. If anyone would care to explain this, I'd really appreciate it.

Kelly

 

[bootman]

The power cable IMO will make a subtle improvement but not as much as the Clou cable would. Of course I haven't tried a $1000 power cord but I'm not 100% convinced that it will make a much bigger difference than the "yello" cord you mentioned.
Now a good power filtering or even better yet a power balancing setup will make a much bigger difference in sound than just replacing the power cable.
Now I'm not 100% sure if power balancing will work in the UK since I'm not sure how your mains are distributed.
Here in the states in a 3 wire system, we have 120 volts on the hot, 0 volts on the neutral plus a ground.
A balance setup will place 60 volts on the hot and neutral for a total of 120.
This has the effect of canceling out all the junk that is present on the mains. This will have a profound affect on the sound coming out of your equipment.
Just do a search on balanced power and you will find Jude's rave reviews.

(It is a simple description of balancing but you get the idea.)

 

[ai0tron]

If you are considering power cables for possible benefits, or cables of anykind for possible benefits, you should get the clou cable. They are #1 solidly built, #2 cool looking, and #3 they definately improve the sound. The downside is decreased managability, although I found the HD600's original cord getting tied around my legs and everything else all the time because it was basically a ten foot piece of string. So perhaps in some ways it offers increased managability. The point is, if you aren't skeptical that cables can bring an improvement you should get the clou because it does bring an improvement.

 

[mr_slacker]

Well a powercord (or any cable for that matter) acts (to some extent) like an antenna. So a shielded powercord might be a good idea in areas with high RF interference.

 

[dknightd]

I don't get how a new "better" power cable will help much. Course I've never tried one... so take this as theory. The plug in the wall you use is probably wired with ordinary solid copper cable, worse, it is probably shared with many other devices. I guess a bad power cord could cause problems, and maybe an unshielded cord near your stuff might cause problems. But, if I felt my power supply was inadequate my first improvement would be a dedicated circut to feed the music gear wall outlet, then a power conditioner of somekind, then last maybe a special power cord for the music gear. I could be all wrong, but as long as your equipment has a decent filtering power supply I'd go for better interconnects (in this case interconnects between amp and phones). If the equipment power supply is marginal then I'd upgrade the power supply before I bothered with new AC cables.
My $.02, David

 

[robert_cyrus]

raymond, u could just get the blue clou. posts i've read here suggest the only difference is the colour (red has an extra level of sheilding, but doesn't seem to sound any different).
btw, who's the avatar ?

 

[raymondlin]

Robert, I don't like the idea of spending £100 on that clou blue/red. My VDH "Ultimate" only cost me £65, I rather get a power distribution block if I had to use the money.

The avator is just a girl from the US series Popular.

 

[Tuberoller]

I think power cords are the very last improvement that should be made to an already optimized system.In Chicago we have ComED and the power here is very dirty and inconsistant.I was able to remedy most of the problems I had with a good conditioner.I would say that cables and power-supply/conditioners should be considered a component in your system.Power cords are no more than a tweak and some of them border on voodoo.This was the wide ranging consensus amonst the smart audio guys at CES.Not that I'm smart or anything.

 

[Ross]

I think the Clou cable is a compulsory purchase. Compared to what you've spent on everything else, that extra $100 is not much and will bring a big improvement in sound.

As for power cables, well, better quality power cables are also a big improvement, but you don't need to spend a lot of money on them. I have heard some $1000 power cables (Nirvana, Hovland) and preferred my DIY cables which cost 5 bucks apiece. I make them from 1mm solid core electrical wire (the sort of stuff they wire your house with) which you can buy from the hardware store for a few dollars a metre, and this sounds better than anything else I've tried.

So my advice is to make the DIY cables and spend some money on the Clou cables.

Ross

 

[Audio-Me]

ray - unless you have dirty power like in San Francisco or something, it won't make any difference. Don't buy into that bull. 99% of consumer electronics arn't "super duty bust your balls current sensitive" beyond realworld situations. The only thing I advise is a good surge protector.
Regulated power, big whoop, this nonsense disgusts me.

 

[robert_cyrus]

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/headroom/clocab212blu.html
blue clou is $89 (unless you're really sold on the red) which is £62 plus whatever for postage, can't be more than £70. hmmm, as much as i paid for the 580's.
shldn't compare the deal u had for the vdh's - that was 2nd hand after all.
if u wanna get a mains dist block, try the olson 8 way for £80 ish. that way u can upgrade the whole of your hifi. tho' note the mains in this country is pretty good compared to others, where mains conditioners etc. are 'de rigeur'
later

btw, have u tried some kind of isolation ? 4 vibrapods under your cd player may be the next to try - certainly worked 4 me.

 

[raymondlin]

Robert, I have 4 squash balls under my CD player and it works, the sound is better with it under. I guess I'll get a Oson block, where did you get it and how much? I only need a 6 way one. I am not that bother by RFI actually, I have 9 ferrite clamps spread over the CD, amp, distribution block. The electricity have to go throw 7 clamps before it get to the CD player.

 

[tangent]

Quote:

I also don't really understand how regulated power supplies (like the Base Station 1) work. If anyone would care to explain this, I'd really appreciate it.

Okay, let's start with an unregulated power supply -- your basic garden-variety "wall wart". All they are is a transformer to bring the voltage down from 120 VAC (or 220/240 outside of North America) to something the device can use, typically 3-30 volts. It's still AC, though, and most modern electronics wants DC, so then there is a full-wave bridge rectifier and a smoothing capacitor. Together they turn AC into a relatively smooth DC voltage.

The problem with an unregulated supply is that even the smoothing capacitor can only do so much, and when the line voltage changes, so does the wall wart's output power. That means that every fluctuation, spike and hash that's present at the wall outlet will be sent into your device, somewhat reduced and filtered by the AC-DC conversion, but still there. This is bad for sound.

Now for the next step up: a switch-mode power supply (a.k.a. "switcher" or just "SMPS"). This puts a high-speed electronic switch after the unregulated DC section which turns the power on and off very rapidly so that what comes out is at a certain level -- if the input is too high, the switcher stays off longer to cut the output voltage some. This is a crude way of dumping excess voltage. Obviously there's no way to increase the voltage again, so the DC section outputs more voltage than necessary -- like 24V, with the switcher cutting that to 18V output. The AC input voltage can sag as low as 90V and yet the switcher can still maintain 18V output.

The problem with switchers is that that the high-speed switch adds EMI noise of its own. If you look at it on an oscilloscope, you see frequent spikes and other hash on top of the DC waveform. And, there's still some ripple left over from the AC-DC conversion -- the output waveform isn't a perfectly-flat ideal DC source.

Now for linear regulators: they work similarly to switchers in that they require more input voltage than they put out. But instead of using a high-speed switch to dump the excess, a linear regulator turns excess voltage into heat. This is why linear power supplies are big, vented, and can get hot. It's also why they're expensive: a good linear power supply needs lots of heat sinking, and since they're only needed for high-end apps, not as many are sold, and so the ones that are sold often have very heavy-duty circuit designs. They usually have no "noise" to speak of, and their ripple is usually lower by a factor of 5-10x than a good switcher.

Now, will you actually hear the difference? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how dirty your wall power is, how good your equipment is, and how sensitive your ears are. And it also depends a bit on the current phase of the moon.

 

[MooGoesTheCow]

I strongly feel aftermarket power cords can make a significant difference in the sound of your rig. And they don't have to cost a lot either! (Well, they can, but there are some pretty good cords out there for not a lot of dough.)

Visit Bolder Cables. Their Type 1 and Type 2 Power Cords are both excellent buys. I have a short review of the Type 1 somewhere floating around Head-Fi.

The biggest difference I would say is a removal of the harshness from the sound (even if you didn't notice it there to begin with, when you add a power cord, you will). Then, depending on the cable, you will get several more subtle changes to the sound, but that seems more dependant on the system you have and the cable used. It's a synergy thing, which is why you really have to try several things out in your system, because a cable might sound totally different in another person's system.

moo!