[headshrinker2]

Greetings everyone.  I've been struggling over the past month to find the right combination of cables for my Bryston rig.  I did an experiment that brought interesting and positive results yesterday.  I was trying so many combinations.. perhaps too many variables and combinations..I decided to get back to a simple "starting point".

I removed all of my third party power cords (Harmonic Technology) and put the stock cords back on all my Bryston gear.  Most of the system "problems" I was having went away!   BCD-1/BDP25/4BSST was spot on to my ears.  BDP-1/BDA-1/BD25/4BSST is finally really exciting me.

I'm definitely not saying third party power cords are bad or evil.  But, they definitely alter the audio.   I will be carefully reintroducing them one at a time.  But for now, I'm just really enjoying the tunes!

[SoundGame]

Interesting.  Though the power cables are all OEM now and you've reached a greater perceived balance are your IC cables as neutral as OEM.
 
Starting with a consistent set of loom as a reference sounds like a great idea.  There will always be changes with cable changes given the transparency of Bryston equipment - the question is whether the change is better or worse.

[Diamond Dog]

FWIW, when I re-cabled my system this year, I went with one manufacturer and one product all the way through and left the PC's alone. I've been really happy with the outcome. I can imagine trying to come up with an ideal combination from a variety of cables and companies could end up being a little bewildering / frustrating - so many variables...
I've taken a pretty minimalist approach compared to a lot of people here but I do like how the whole thing sounds - the last puzzle piece is on order and I'm going to be done for the foreseeable future.

D.D.

[konut]

The Shunyata Venom was indistinguishable from stock on my BDA-1. I perceived an improvement with the Mojo Audio base cord.

[Anonamemouse]

All you really need to make sure of is that the current can easily reach the system. Shielding and such are not needed at all, The 150 miles between the power plant and your wall socket are not schielded either. The last 8 foot will NOT make a difference.

The only upgrade worth considering is using heavier cable, like for electric cooking, and sturdy plugs, so current has more room in the cable.

[srb]

Shielding and such are not needed at all, The 150 miles between the power plant and your wall socket are not schielded either. The last 8 foot will NOT make a difference.

Perhaps as far as that power cord picking up noise and sending it into the component it's connected to.  However, power cord shielding can help to minimize AC induced hum into other cables - interconnects, phono cables and speaker wires - unless all of your power cables only cross other cables at 90 degrees, which few of us can manage to implement.
 
Steve

[headshrinker2]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  The purpose of my post was not to re-ignite the whole "do power cords really matter" debate.  One can find that discussion repeatedly frequently on most audio forums.  I would personally never debate what somebody else hears.. or doesn't hear.

However, in my system, I definitely and consistently hear differences between different interconnects and power cabling.  And these differences vary depending on where they sit in the system.  Sometimes changes for the better.. sometimes changes for the worse.

I was pleased to discover that returning to stock Bryston cabling throughout my system restored my perception of audio balance.  Using power cords that I already own- this is a cost effective tweak

[redbook]

 Well I still have to stand by my Nordost Vishnus. In my case they have allowed smoother highs and a bit better soundstaging. I do cross all wire at 90 degrees however. There must be some noise rejection at work here somewhere  !!!!?

[sebrof]

Man, from the title of your post I was hoping that you actually did some sort of experiment. You know, like where you provide some meaningful information. All you did was switch cords and listen like everyone else. Bummer.
Nothing necessarily wrong with that, it's just not what I would consider an experiment.

Signed,
Disappointed

[headshrinker2]

Now that I have established a baseline of cabling that I find pleasing, balanced and effective, I think it will be easier to start slowly experimenting again with my third party power power cords. 

Well I still have to stand by my Nordost Vishnus. In my case they have allowed smoother highs and a bit better soundstaging. I do cross all wire at 90 degrees however. There must be some noise rejection at work here somewhere  !!!!?

[Regalma]

I work with RF and microwave test equipment. One day I tried an experiment with power cords. I compared the ouput display on one of our spectrum analzyers when using our cheap stock cable and with an audiophile cable. With the input port to the SPA open the display was unchanged. With a 50 ohm termination on the input ports several large spurs popped up when using the audiophile cable. They were in the 100 kHz or so range. With our regular cable there were no spurs, just the noise floor. I have no idea what the meaning of this is in terms of sound. I just found it curious that there was a difference at all. I would infer from the results that the audiophile cable may have the potential to color the sound.

Some day I may show this to one of microwave gurus and see what they think. Most microwave engineers think we audiophiles are nuts when it comes to things like cables. 

[PRELUDE]

Have you ever thought,that what would you do if your amp had attached power cord?
It would be Ok or not.

[Phil A]

Some day I may show this to one of microwave gurus and see what they think. Most microwave engineers think we audiophiles are nuts when it comes to things like cables.

Many engineers have that impression.  Many years back when I had a different pre/pro with easy capability to A/B inputs and a DVD transport that had multiple outputs, I had an engineer type out (I think chemical or industrial), I had someone else connect the cables (and then were about a half dozen ones used or one or two more and there were multiples of some) from the transport to the pre/pro for digital cable comparison (which of course could not make a difference).  Some of the cables used were the same others were different.  I did the A/B switching between digital inputs one the pre/pro without knowledge of what was connected - the person who connected them kept track of that for each comparison.  Listened to just CDs.  At the end the person detected obvious differences which they identified.  When they say what cables were used they wanted to have someone dissect the pre/pro as it could only be due to differences in the digital inputs.  The silence of the person was really funny when I pointed out that the cable swap showed the same differences existed in the same cables regardless of input used was amusing.

[Joe Keifer]

All you really need to make sure of is that the current can easily reach the system. Shielding and such are not needed at all, The 150 miles between the power plant and your wall socket are not schielded either. The last 8 foot will NOT make a difference.

The only upgrade worth considering is using heavier cable, like for electric cooking, and sturdy plugs, so current has more room in the cable.

The other possiblity that I see is that the equipment manufacturer really bothched the design of the power supply allowing your 8 feet of power cable to become a "critical" element in the power supply design itself.

[bummrush]

 I wish i had a extra Volex to send to you to try

[headshrinker2]

bummrush,
I am not familiar with Volex.  I peaked at their website.  Not a company specializing in audio gear?

I wish i had a extra Volex to send to you to try

[srb]

I am not familiar with Volex.  I peaked at their website.  Not a company specializing in audio gear?

No, just an  electrical cable and connector company with no audiophile aspirations.  I use several of their #17604 14ga shielded 2M cords which sell for ~ $8. 
 
A solid buy to upgrade generic power cords, but depending on the system they may sound better than, as good as or worse than Kimber Palladian, Nordost Valhalla and Shunyata Anaconda!
 
Steve

[PRELUDE]

Here we go,I left this room quickly before I get in the conversation.
As you can see there are many cables on the floor and they all NORDOST.The guy was keep changing the power cords and he had cords from $300 to $3700 and he said if you really want to hear the difference you have to change all of them + the power distribution was more important then power cord and that one cost $1700.
The speakers which is I do not care about was $15000 and the stand was $1700 extra.
Then they complain that they do not have business.

[jtwrace]

bummrush,
I am not familiar with Volex.  I peaked at their website.  Not a company specializing in audio gear?

http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=93K2606&CMP=AFC-GB100000001