The Collector 3
New Head-Fier
I had been using hospital grade power cords for some 10 plus years with no problems. The cords were 6 feet 14ga I used them for my Jolida 102b integrated amplifier restored by Jolida my Yaqin CD-3 and my XDuoo TA-26-s and my VPI Cliffwood. Also a Marantz CD-5004 with a Musical Fidelity V-DAC because the Marantz sounded muddy. I also use a Grado SR-325 and a Tripp Lite LC-1800 all my interconnects are I go back and forth depending what system I have hooked up, weather it be solid state or tubes my solid state are many if it's my restored Maramtz 1030 OR 1550 I use Audioquest Chicago RCA throughout. I had been using Blue Jeans cable their Lc1 RCA I believe the one that's their favorite. That cable is probably one of the greatest values in audio it works great with both tubes and solid state. When Audioquest Chicago RCA came out I decided to give it a try and wow I'm glad I did. I heard an immediate improvement in the soundstage sweet ! Don't get me wrong Blue Jeans Cable are very good and those RCA cables work very well in class D amplifiers and bright solid state that is their strong point. A friend of mine uses Blue Jeans cable in his Rogue Audio integrated the entry level one for around $1200. At this point he mentioned to me why don't you try something with the power cords you may like the results. I asked him what he was using the sound was great, he told me several years ago he started using Audioquest NRG-X3 power cords. Not to expensive $100. at that time for a 6 foot length. I ordered three Audioquest NRG-X3 6 foot cables IEC power cords. After I got them I was shocked at the improvement my soundstage opened up I got a better top end and a real noticeable bottom end. Bottom line I did not have to go crazy in $$$ on power cords. Note if someone has a lower end MID FI set up they may not get the results I did. Higher up systems tend to react better by higher end RCA's Power cords Speaker cable etc.. Bottom line you have to spend some money to get great sound you don't have to break the bank to get amazing sound. The Audioquest NRG-X3 drew me away from the Hospital Grade 14ga power cord. I do thank my friend for that and debunking the myth cables don't make any difference they quite do. I also use a ProJect DAC Box E when not using the Musical Fidelity and a Schiit Tone control after the Yaqin CD-3 this piece of electronics is amazing to daisy chain it on your RCA's it works I own two of them. You could spend $600. or more getting a Black Ice Audio bass expander, $800. for a Decware Z Rock or $129. for a Schiit tone control it does what the other two do and for a fraction of the price. For those who's system is already pretty good and a cheap way to bass up plus midrange and treble with or without a subwoofer I would highly recommend getting the Schiit tone control try it , it will make you a believer. But don't use it between the amp and preamp run it from your source. Final thoughts I know there's going to be someone out there that's going to say wait a minute the Pangea AC-14 is also a great sounding budget audiophile power cable, to that I would say I totally agree. In fact when Audio Advisor gets 2M lengths back in stock I'm going to get one. Unfortunately 3/17/2023 they did not have 2M lengths in stock that is why I purchased the Audioquest NRG-X3 no complaints here but I am going to give the Pangea AC-14 a shot. I have their basic coax interconnect the blue one going from my CD player to my DAC amazing quality and sound for $27.00 1M a steal.
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