Black Sand Silver Reference MKIII Power Cord

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #40 on:** 23 Apr 2006, 04:37 pm »

Quote from: earlmarc

Chris, I have no problem loaning out my cord, but right now I'm using it for my power conditoner. I can send my Voodoo 15amp to 20amp IEC connector to George to use. Is that ok?

That might work....thanks Marcus !!

Chris[/list:u]

mdconnelly · « **Reply #41 on:** 23 Apr 2006, 04:51 pm »

FWIW, I suspect that using a 15a-20a adapter will likely muddy the water a bit when attempting to compare one PC with a 20a connector with another that requires the adapter putting the one in need of the adapter in a slight disadvantage.

Mike

earlmarc · « **Reply #42 on:** 23 Apr 2006, 05:17 pm »

Well, we wouldn't want that mdconnelly! I'm sure George would want a direct comparison. I'll send him my 20amp cord. George, PM me with your shipping information.

BlackSandCable · « **Reply #43 on:** 24 Apr 2006, 03:58 pm »

Gents,

I would be willing to send George a power cord to demo. This will save you from pulling a working cord from your system.

All I would need to know is where to send it and more importantly what type of cord George would like to demo.

Cheers

(We don't normally send cords out for demo as we have had trouble in the past getting them back and with our return policy being what it is potential buyers are covered regardless but I will look after George this time around!)

zybar · « **Reply #44 on:** 24 Apr 2006, 06:22 pm »

Quote from: BlackSandCable

Gents,

I would be willing to send George a power cord to demo. This will save you from pulling a working cord from your system.

All I would need to know is where to send it and more importantly what type of cord George would like to demo.

Cheers

(We don't normally send cords out for demo as we have had trouble in the past getting them back and with our return policy being what it is potential buyers are covered regardless but I will look after George this time around!)

Thank you very much!

I will send you a PM with details.

Regards,

George

Robert57 · « **Reply #45 on:** 24 Apr 2006, 09:28 pm »

I'll be very interested to hear Zybar's report on how well the BS Silver IV's perform with the CIA D-200's.

I would appreciate John at Black Sand commenting on the differences between the high-end Silver Ref. and the Artctic Blue, with Watt Gate endings (sale running now on Audiogon). Would the Arctic Blue be a better choice for preamps rather than power amps, or are they both intended for the same application? I see the Silver Ref's come with the Furutech plugs standard, with silver anealing. Can you comment generally on performance differences? The flexibilty of the cords is also a factor for me.

Has anyone compared the Arctic Blue with the Silver Ref? I am considering using either with the CIA D-200's monos (in lieu of Volex), and maybe a Bel Canto SS preamp. And what is the duty on goods from Canada?

Thanks.

markC · « **Reply #46 on:** 25 Apr 2006, 03:47 am »

Well here we go again.. You guy's have sucked me in to trying another better than ever product. Just kidding. I just won an auction on the white lightening cord and will be hooking it up to my front end. I hope to hear improvements in blacker background as has been stated. Existing is a diy DH design.

BlackSandCable · « **Reply #47 on:** 25 Apr 2006, 03:59 am »

It’s the Silver Ref that is most noted for it’s Black background but the White Light V1 holds it’s own in that regard.

markC · « **Reply #48 on:** 25 Apr 2006, 04:18 am »

I guess I'll soon see...or hear rather. If I get superior results I'll be quite happy. Not ready to shell out the higher $ for the Silver as I have a few other commited upgrades in the works with my system.

BlackSandCable · « **Reply #49 on:** 26 Apr 2006, 12:35 am »

George,

Your cord has been shipped. Tracking info was sent via PM. Let me know when it shows.

Cheers.
John

zybar · « **Reply #50 on:** 26 Apr 2006, 12:36 am »

Thanks again John.

I really appreciate this opportunity and hope that the product's performance matches the service!

George

BlackSandCable · « **Reply #51 on:** 26 Apr 2006, 12:53 am »

Huh? You have doubts? lol

Cheers,
John

audiojerry · « **Reply #52 on:** 27 Apr 2006, 11:20 pm »

I just got back from 10 days of vacation, and I've returned to a huge backlog of work at my job (figures...), so I haven't had any time to keep tabs on things, but I had to comment on these power cords.

The week before I left on vacation, I had a chance to have an all-day get-together with Earlmarc, Steve Sammet, and Spectralman at Spectral's and my place. We listened to several extremely good components, including Marcus's Black Sand's.

I thought I knew power cords, and I thought I had some very good cords. I know pc's can make a difference, but I was FLOORED by how significant an improvement the Black Sand made on everything it was used on. Absolutely Incredible!

Again, Marcus has demonstrated his ability to discover top notch components.
John of Black Sand has created a MUST HAVE component!

When time permits, I will have more to say on my other positive experiences from our get-together.

PS: Thank you Bill for being a great host, thank you Marcus for you generosity, and thank you Steve Sammet for all your great contributions.

AC members, be prepared for a revelation from SAS Audio Labs....

zybar · « **Reply #53 on:** 30 Apr 2006, 06:36 pm »

Ok, I received my SIlver Max with Furutech FI-32 20amp connector yesterday.

Thanks go out to John at Black Sand, Marcus, and Chris for all their efforts to make this possible.

I will be popping it into my system this afternoon where it will be replacing a VH Audio AirSine (also with 20 amp Furutech connectors).

George

spectralman · « **Reply #54 on:** 2 May 2006, 12:48 am »

The best recommendation I can give the Black Sand PC's is that, after hearing them on my Atma-Sphere MA2 Mk2.3 monoblocks, I ended up buying four PC's for the amps and one more for the Sound Application line conditioner I ordered. Thank you, Marcus, for introducing me to this (and other) fine product(s).

The Black Sand PC's on my amps gave the following: way better bass (more control and texture), better timbres throughout the mids and highs, blacker background. Also, there was increased harmonic "density" in the mids. One problem I was really fighting in my system was a bit of leanness in the mids and upper bass. The new PC's wiped this problem out.

mdconnelly · « **Reply #55 on:** 2 May 2006, 07:00 pm »

Spectralman, what cables did the Black Sand PCs replace in your system?

I also concur that my Silver Reference cables yield a very real and wonderful improvement in the harmonics of the music conveying a better (and more real) sense of venue. I'm sure this is related to the sense of blacker blacks making it easier to hear into the performance and hearing things that simply went unnoticed before. Very nice!

Mike

spectralman · « **Reply #56 on:** 3 May 2006, 01:18 am »

Mike,

I was still using the stock PC's with the AS amps. The gentleman I purchased the amps from told me that I would not hear what the amps were truly capable of until I put good PC's on them. He was using FIM Gold's. I kind of poo-poo'd the idea, never being a big believer in the whole PC thing. That is, until Marcus brought over the Silver References.

Bill

zybar · « **Reply #57 on:** 3 May 2006, 01:29 am »

Ok, here are some initial impressions after letting the cord get a few days in the system:

- Music is fast, powerful, and dynamic
- BIG presentation
- Nice black backgrond that music emerges from
- Lots of detail, don't have to strain to hear subtle cues and nueances
- Just a little bit lacking in top end sparkle and overall dimensionality (but it is getting better in this area)

Overall I would say if it keeps improving it will wind up being in the same class as the very, very, good VH Audio AirSine.

Great job John!

Good call Marcus!

George

mdconnelly · « **Reply #58 on:** 3 May 2006, 02:51 pm »

One more thing I can contribute is that I have heard differences in the top end, but can't yet discern if it's a lack of sparkle as you say or the result of more pronounced/quicker leading-edge transients. Perhaps a bit of both.

For example, I have heard on more than one recording a more defined sound of stick-on-cymbal with the Silver Reference on the amp. With the Flavor 4 PC, the sound of the cymbal itself seems highlighted a bit more (or perhaps just that the stick-on-cymbal sound is not as defined).

Overall, I have to say that the Silver Reference is really letting my DNA-500 strut it's stuff!

Mike

mdconnelly · « **Reply #59 on:** 7 May 2006, 04:45 pm »

Just gotta add a few more comments to this thread... I've now had the Silver Reference PCs for nearly 3 weeks. It seems clear to me that these PCs truely enable a very realistic dynamic and initial transient response yet follow it through with an incredibly natural and well defined harmonic decay as well. This has held consistently true on all types of music I've listen to, but particularly so on a well recorded piano.

Listening to Chris Anderson on Love Locked Out (Mapleshade) put Chris and his slightly funky piano (on this recording) right in my room. I had a similar experience with an old vinyl album by David Sancious called The Bridge. From the initial strike of the hammer to the tonal quality and decay of each note in the recording space - a very real piano is presented in the room.

Me thinks thar be a bit of magic in these PCs!