[chgolatin2]

Been gone for a while  so hello to all again.  Well here it goes, I have a Jolida 1000 and 100 CDP with a level 2 mod.  Looking to upgrade both power cables.  I currently have Stealth PC on my CDP and Ultimatecables PC on the amp also a cheap $50 power strip by wiremold 

I have about $500 to $1k to spare on a good set of power cables and possibly a good power strip.  A good friend which I havent heard from recommended some DIY stuff but I cant recall the name of the company or the product plus I am not the best when it comes to DIY stuff.  Currently I am running DH Labs Q10 speaker cables and Silver Sonic IC.

So let me hear from the "experts" thanks guys!  Robert

[vman71]

Hi Robert,

Can you have dedicated lines installed?  If so, I would invest some money to have at least 2 lines installed.  If you can't, a couple of suggestions that come to mind:

- From personal experience (and a current owner) Audio Magic power conditioners.  They are very good.
- Black Sand power cords
- Entry level BMI power cords (I do have one extra 7ft BMI EEL that I could sell for $125)
- VooDoo power cords offer tremendous value and very good performance
- TG Audio power cords

There are certainly other very good power cords out there, these just come to miind from personal experience.

Mike

[Photon46]

Well, No double you're going to get a variety of opinions about this subject. FWIW, here's mine, admittedly biased by my own experience. I'd suggest at least thinking strongly about buying a used PS Audio P300 power plant for around $500 and buying a couple of sub $250 power cords. The P300's are going for very little money now, good deals to be had on Audiogon. I can tell you the addition of a P300 was a revelatory experience in my system. The combination of a P300 and $500 worth of power cords is going to be likely to offer much more bang for the buck than $1k worth of cords. You could also read reviews of products from Shunyata, Audio Magic, Running Springs, BPT, etc. to see if you think their "house sound" night appeal more to you. Power conditioning is an absolute essential to me now in some form or fashion, it really does transform a system. Mike's suggestions are all good ones for cords. I can tell you I've had VERY good results for very little money by making up DIY cords from Cryo-Parts AC cable and Furutech IEC and male ends. For less than $150, you have a cable that brings a lot of sonic goodness to the party. Virtual Dynamics is having a half price sale for a short time. You can buy a new Power 3 for $152.00. I've got one of those and it's a no brainer for that price. A very good cable at that price. I've used that one on both my power amp and cd player to very good effect.

[Double Ugly]

Welcome back, Robert!  I think I saw where you called a couple of times, but I've not heard hide nor hair from you in weeks.  Glad to see you out and about again.

I don't know about power conditioners (tried 'em; don't think I need one), but I do have dedicated lines.  I can't say how much difference they've made, or if they've made any at all, but it's somehow comforting for relatively few $$$.

I agree with vman on PCs; Black Sand Cables.  If you can't afford them new, they show up on the used market with regularity.  Try to find Silver Reference Mk. Vs and you'll be set.  I've not heard a better cable for the money, even at full retail.  They're a steal at used prices.

vman's other recommendations have excellent reputations, too, but I've not personally used them.  I was really close to buying a pair of TG Audio cords once, but the guy selling them (retailer) turned me off, so I returned the favor. 

[chgolatin2]

Thanks guys, keep them coming!   

[Midnite Mick]

I think that a lot of power cord retailers will give 30 day trial periods.  I would suggest taking advantage of this and compare them.  I tried the Black Sand Silver MKV myself which really did not work on my gear even though others love it.  Don't know why but it just didn't.  I have also had a PS Audio Statement cord which really wasn't anything special to me either.  I then tried some Manitou cables by 6Sons Audio and found them to be amazing.  I tried them with the 3 different Oyaide ends that they offer and chose the one with the 004 terminations.  That's the advantage of trial periods.

There are several reviews of these PC's on the Audiogon site.

Good luck,
Mike

[bacobits1]

I use all Signal "Magic" Power Cables. I have just picked up the "Magic" Digital PC and I like it so far. These are great cables at a reasonable price with 30 day return policy.
But everything is system dependent and subjective. All my  equipment is plugged into a Brick Wall line filter. It works without changing any sound, and is also reasonably priced. I have been all over power filtering years ago and spent way too much money on it. Going through probably 4 different units. The Brick Wall has been in my system for 6 years now. No desire to change. System is extremely quiet.

All interconnects are HGA Solid silver tri braid, speaker cable is Kimber 8TC.

Just my 2 cents worth.
But caution as usual YMMV!
Did I mention I'm cheap?

D

[jrebman]

A few ideas and vendors not mentioned so far:

1.) Depending on what sonic characteristics you're looking for, you may want to try an Oyaide SWO-GX or SWO-XXX wall outlet (the GX is gold on gold plating, and the XXX is palladium on gold plating) Then call Alan Kafton at AudioExcellenceAZ.com and try to demo the Acrolink power cords that are in the $350 to $400 range (forget the series number now), but an excellent cable for the money.)

I've heard the cables, but not plugged into Oyaide outlets (the cables have Oyaide connectors on both ends, btw).  Oyaide to Oyaide is a nice combination.  I just had one each of the SWO-GX and XXX installed, and do anticipate trying the various Acrolink cables when I have the money, or can get demos.

Failing that, there are MAC cables: http://www.myaudiocables.com  Never heard them myself, but people whose ears I trust find them great values and great performers (these are what will probably end up in my second system.)

Good luck,

Jim

[satfrat]

For the best bang for the buck IMHO, VenHaus (VH Audio) "flavor" power cords are hard to beat. I quickly replaced a Signal Cable power cord with a flavor 1 power cord. I have all 4 flavor's of VenHaus power cords in my system, they will wake up a flat system. There are better cords out there for 3-4 times the price tho and I'm will shortly be comparing the Flavor 4 PC's with Lonewolf's Black Sands Silver Reference MkII on my pair of Butlers,,,,, just to see for myself if there's a need to spend that 3-4 times the price.

A good power cord will even improve the performance of a balanced power conditioner. Just replacing the terminations on my BPT Litz-10 powercord with Oyaide gold made a noticable  smoothening difference with my BPT BP-2.5. I also replaced a PS PowerPort duplex with a Furutech FP-20 Gold that complemented the slight smoothing out change.

Cheers,
Robin

ps, if I like the Black Sands Cables, I'll have 2 VH flavor 4 PC's that would work real good for ya. {just thinking outloud, not selling anything} 

[twitch54]

I use all Signal "Magic" Power Cables. I have just picked up the "Magic" Digital PC and I like it so far. These are great cables at a reasonable price with 30 day return policy.

I totally agree with your choice, far too many folks get 'sucked' in to the cable BS, if I had a nickel for every knucklehead who spends big $$ on cables to "Tune" his system rather than proper room acoustics, system set-up, etc....I'd be rich !!! Again, Frank (Signal cables) makes a very good product @ fair prices.

By not putting 'stupid' money into your cabling you can then have more to spend on Lp's, CD's, SACD's.......whatever !!

[Big Red Machine]

I sold off all but a few Signal Cable PC's to "have" and have built my own PC's.  Probably time to start my own side business!

Photos soon.

[CSI]

I've tried a variety of power cords over the years including some very expensive ones from WireWorld and others. I keep coming back to Signal Magic Power cords. The Signal Digital cord seems to be particularly effective but they all work well and are very reasonably priced. I believe there is a review in the current Affordable Audio that discusses Signal and several other "budget" power cords.