AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Critic's Circle (Equipment Reviews) => Cable Reviews => Topic started by: jimdgoulding on 19 Feb 2011, 01:16 pm
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Got these yesterday to replace the factory supplied cords of my active speakers. Couldn't really appreciate a difference to the sound of instruments until I popped on some opera recorded at La Scala and began to notice how much more effortlessly the music was unfolding. Instruments seemed slightly more distinct and understandable in the orchestra, too. Thought I heard a phone ringing for the first time in Kind of Blue. If I had had my wits about me I would have written down the track title and time. Oh, well, maybe I'll hear it again.
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They are very hard to fault for the price. I use them on my power amps for my subs, my plate amp for one sub, and my BPT balanced power conditioner unit.
No complaints for the kind of money I dished out. All I wanted was an inexpensive cable that could deliver the juice.
I didn't even attempt a diy design as it would be more expensive for me to do it. A 7 gauge cable that doesn't cost a bundle, and is flexible to boot? Me thinks that's mighty fine. From midrange on up I have no comments, but for sub applications and my power conditioner...I think I'm done!
Anand.
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I bought a couple and used them on a couple of things (vs. what I make) and found them very good for the money. I also tried a couple of their HDMI cables and found them an excellent value as well
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How flexible are these? I'm considering them for my subs...
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For the 9awg size wire they are good. You will need a big bend radius as it is about 1.5" in diameter.
Works well here with my Rythmik servo sub amps on the Super-V's.
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How flexible are these? I'm considering them for my subs...
The big (9ga) ones are not that flexible as you need some space to turn the big thick cord and get the connector in the socket. I originally bought (a longer - I think 2M) one for my Bryston 3BST which drives the left and right channel in the bedroom and there is a big chest right where I need to turn the cord (pic below). I moved the chest out and it sounded good but not anything I could discern vs. the home made one I made. I also tried it on the CD transport I use in the main system a bit as the power conditioner is a bit away and I had not made a longer cord at that point. I thought it was as good as my home made one. I am not using it now. The connectors on the cord are of nice quality. I used one of the 14ga ones (a short 2 footer) on the bedroom sub for a bit and it sounded good. I moved it to the processor in my main system and if I place another order and need some other stuff and they are the same price, I'd certainly order more of the 14ga. ones. 14ga. is all you need to pass 15 amps of current and the only advantage I'd see to the bigger one is if you had a very high current amp. In most applications (like a sub) the 14ga. is more than enough. I have 3 systems and most of the subs I have came with 16 ga. or 18ga. cords.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=26164)
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How flexible are these? I'm considering them for my subs...
They are surprisingly flexible for a cable that is almost 1" in diameter, but they are not flexible enough. I have two of them on my monoblock amps. If I try to bend them too much, they put too much pressure on the connectors and start to work them out. I have to push them into the wall sockets often. I need to fix that situation with better quality wall sockets soon.
If I had to do it all over again, I just would have went with the AC-14's for my amps as they should be plenty good for amplifiers. I do like the power cords a lot as they are made very well and were cheap enough to call a great value.
I know it's not a great picture, but you can see the bend I have on this one:
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=27365)
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That's an excellent picture (and much better than my attempt at a description). The chest on the left of my pictures as the receptacle right inside the far side of it (so it is easy to unplug things) and it is exactly 5 inches from the wall to the back of the chest. The amp is behind the center channel (the picture shows my old Adcom 555) and I was not able to bend the AC-9 with those 5 inches.
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Mine is actually a 3 meter cable. Quite reasonable at $120. Probably wouldn't want to waste time shipping it or listing it for sale. I might eventually find a use for it. While it is sitting in a closet upstairs, I don't mind entertaining local offers of sale or trade. I agree that for my purposes if I had to order it again, I would have tried a long AC-14 for the bedroom system amp. I'm using a 14 ga. cable now. For most of my subs and source components which don't require heavy current draw I make my power cords with 16 ga. cable and I've had $500+ cords to try against it and preferred what I made. I have one of the big VH Audio DIY cords on my 20 amp Torus power conditioner and the cords I've made for my bigger amps consist of 16ga. doubled up or the equivalent of 14 ga. Both of my bigger amps (Bryston 14BSST and 6BSST) use 20 amp IECs even though they are 15 amp. So it was easier to make my own.
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Mine is actually a 3 meter cable. Quite reasonable at $120. Probably wouldn't want to waste time shipping it or listing it for sale. I might eventually find a use for it. While it is sitting in a closet upstairs, I don't mind entertaining local offers of sale or trade. I agree that for my purposes if I had to order it again, I would have tried a long AC-14 for the bedroom system amp. I'm using a 14 ga. cable now. For most of my subs and source components which don't require heavy current draw I make my power cords with 16 ga. cable and I've had $500+ cords to try against it and preferred what I made. I have one of the big VH Audio DIY cords on my 20 amp Torus power conditioner and the cords I've made for my bigger amps consist of 16ga. doubled up or the equivalent of 14 ga. Both of my bigger amps (Bryston 14BSST and 6BSST) use 20 amp IECs even though they are 15 amp. So it was easier to make my own.
Same for me. I don't want to bother selling my AC-9 cables either. What I am thinking about doing is adding another outlet for my setup. I could use another outlet anyway, but having one between the amps will allow the thick cables to lie better. Right now, the outlets are right behind their respective amps which causes a more severe bend radius if I push my stand too close to the wall. Right now the stand is farther off the wall than I'd like, but I can't go back any farther because of the AC-9's.
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How flexible are these? I'm considering them for my subs...
They are fairly flexible but do not take a set per se so they need some space to wind around. There are much better cables out there Art but for a sub I would think they would do the trick.
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I have three of the 2M variety of these. They are all feeding high current Legacy (coda) monoblocs. Yes, they are well made. Yes, they are fat and only semi-flexible. Mine are all fed into heavy duty Furman PCs so I don't have to deal with the wall jack per se. I had some modest wall socket noise that was 90% eliminated by the Furmans. The remainder disappeared when I installed these cables. Can't explain why, but that's what I hear.
I also hear cleaner mid-low to low frequency response. Not earth shattering, but it's there.
However, what others have said here is true, if you don't manage the cables properly they will try to pull out on both ends (with the plug end being more pronounced).
P. S. I also own some 14's (used on DAC-2, pre-amp, and non-monobloc amps).
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The Pangea if not used for your system can make a huge difference with the Plasma, LED or LCD. Sharper and better color. Give it a try.
BTW that coiled AC cord is acting like an inductor adding resistance to the line. As far as duplex outlets a spec grade Hubbel 5262 or Jena duplex would be reccomended. Have fun.
charles
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The Pangea if not used for your system can make a huge difference with the Plasma, LED or LCD. Sharper and better color. Give it a try.
BTW that coiled AC cord is acting like an inductor adding resistance to the line. As far as duplex outlets a spec grade Hubbel 5262 or Jena duplex would be reccomended. Have fun.
charles
That was only temporary. That was the subwoofer cable and I've since changed the sub that thankfully came with a much shorter power cable.
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They are fairly flexible but do not take a set per se so they need some space to wind around. There are much better cables out there Art but for a sub I would think they would do the trick.
Thanks all. Pete, you kind of read my mind on my working theory. I don't think I need to break the bank on PC's for subs so I'm looking for good enough to do the trick....
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For the 9awg size wire they are good. You will need a big bend radius as it is about 1.5" in diameter.
Works well here with my Rythmik servo sub amps on the Super-V's.
Don't mislead and scare the guy, it's only about 1" in diameter, not 1.5. You're absolute right that it needs a big bend radius as it's just somewhat flexible. Years ago had some PS Audio Power Lab A/Cs. Now THAT's inflexible (Of course, the PSA Power Lab was even bigger in diameter, probably 1/25"). Comparing, the Pangea is much better though....
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Ok, I was wrong. It is actually 0.864" in diameter according to my calipers. It still takes a good bend radius, but not bad.
Sorry Art, I guess I was just wishing it were bigger! :D
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I have a lot of Pangea cords. The '9' will turn a corner within six inches.
The best thing to do is have a Pangea long enough so it can rest on the floor below the wall plug sort of like Cobra snake so the cord below sort of props up the upper portion.
The one issue with the short Pangea 9 cords is the torsional rigidity. They do not like to be twisted about there own axis. So a short 0.6 meter cannot be twisted 180 about at one end. The one meter is marginally better and can be twisted about the axis at one end but it does not like it. Only from one and a half meter or longer can you twist it about the axis at one end and the cord is happy.
Since the ends (plugs) are not always in the same relationship, a few of them around would allow for the various rotational factors of plugs and sockets lining up?
Anyway, this is not a problem for the longer 9s. and not for the 14s either.
My first Pangea on Forte 4a amp had immediate better low frequency response. I decided to do the whole system and video stuff with Pangea. Happy.
And yeah, Plasma image is much better with a Pangea 14se.
I use the 9s on amps, receiver, one preamp, and 14s on the rest.
Added 06/2011 A new SE version of the Pangea 9 is coming soon.
It is nearly twice the price of the standard Pangea. And with the standard Pangeas alos rising gradually in price, the compitition is there in the Shunyata Venom 3 cord.
For amps the Pangea is still pretty good, and i plan on getting at least one Pangea 9SE for my amp when they become available. The Audio Advisor Summer sale flyer has them on the back page, however the store does not yet have any in stock.
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Pangea AC9 make have the number "9" in it, but its actually a 7 gauge cord. There is a big difference between a 10 gauge cord (like Signal Cable's) and a 7 gauge cord. As for flexibility, what more do you fellas want (for a 7 gauge cord that is)? The damn thing is a garden hose, it's priced very cheaply (probably because it is sourced from China) and just delivers juice. It can handle 40 amps with ease. Overkill? Absolutely. But if flexibility is what you want, and all your wall socket can provide is 15A (which is 99% of y'all), then stick with the 14 gauge. You may or may not hear a difference compared to the stock cords that come with your subs however :dunno: I've also seen that upgrading the wall socket makes a massive difference in cord stability. The Jena's are nice, as are the Porter Ports.
I'll probably order the 14SE when I get my projector...
Anand.
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AC-14's $30/meter audio advisor.
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AC-14's $30/meter audio advisor.
Ed, is that price with some discount code? I am seeing 49.99 for 1meter.
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Ed, is that price with some discount code? I am seeing 49.99 for 1meter.
AC-14 is $29.99/1 meter and AC-14-Signature is $49.99/1 meter.
Steve
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AC-14 is $29.99/1 meter and AC-14-Signature is $49.99/1 meter.
Steve
Thanks Steve. Missed the Signature bit. Did not realize they had two different kinds.
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Had the 9's awhile now and feel like I know more about their contribution in my system. First up, agree that having the component near enough to the wall socket so you can coil the wire to create pressure on the socket or having a 2m cord to give you that option if not will secure the connection tightly.
These plug directly into the bottom rear of my speakers (active speakers) about 20" off the ground so the weight of the cable pulls the plug downward and away from the socket. Everything worked fine but this made me nervous. So, I built a wee shelf under the rear of each speaker, sorta like a tongue blade, and put some dense felt blocks on top of it to elevate the plugs and hold them at right angles. Problem solved.
I had said earlier than on symphonic music, opera, actually, that the players did their thing seemingly more effortlessly. That has remained. The cymbal splash on the opening of track of Kind of Blue is more free, less constricted, and with finer filagree to the information. The longer I have listened, it seems as tho bass (deep bass) in general is fuller. I can't say that it is more extended, it just has a more natural feel and quality about it. I guess there is more or easier dynamic life is why.
This makes me happy.
Elizabeth, if you see this, I couldn't thank you for your PM reply cause I keep getting a window that says something is amiss and has to close (?). So, thanks for your reply.
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Recently I heard for the first time the big difference an aftermarket wire made on my preamp. It was an AR and it made that amp act brand new, and added gobs of soundstage and dynamics. It sounded just like new areas of the stage were being lit which had been in the dark before.
I soon had bought new power cords (Venom) for each of my components and a Hydra to plug them in to, and each new purchase had brought its own contribution to the sound picture.
I also filled in the gaps with some major interconnect upgrades to Harmonic Technology. Each of these has also added a new level of performance, some of which was unexpected, all good.
My point here is that one of the biggest changes I heard after that initial shock was when I installed the Shunyata SR Z1 duplex outlet. Some of the forums I've seen have told of small upgrades in outlets bringing major results. The Hubble thirteen dollar outlet is probably among the best of these. Hubble is who builds the SR Z1 for Shunyata. I can at least vouch for the terrific quality and the audible results of this one
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I have been wondering about these cords ever since I have seen them in the audio advisor. I have been looking for a cable to replace a stock on my Denon DVD player but am unwilling to spend the money for higher priced cords(Elrod, Gabriel Gold, Synergistic Research) like I have on my other equipment. Maybe I will give them a try based off what I have heard here and possibly replace my cheap RCA HDMI cable as well. Thanks!