New P20 owner: Need 20 amp cable recommendations
 

Howdy all,

Just ordered the Axpona show price P20 :banana:and need a good 20 amp power cable. Any P20 owners out there using the 20 amp circuits and what cables are you using? Prefer no adapters, budget no more than 2k. Have dedicated 20 amp circuit with 20 amp outlet, Furutech GTXD Rhodium with carbon fiber cover. Currently using 15 amp Shunyata black mamba from the existing P10, but want to use the P20”s full 20 amp capacity, hence the request for 20 amp cable. Powering two McIntosh MC2301 amps, and a Octave Jubilee preamp. Thanks in advance. Will use the 15 amp circuit if needed until I get a decent 20 amp cable.

Ciao,

Audioquest4life

At that price you’re in the Shunyata Alpha range, which I think is Shunyata’s sweet spot for price/performance. I don’t have experience with the P20, but do with the Alpha and it’s an exceptional power cable. I’m sure Ivan can hook you up (pun intended).

Thank you. Been all over the net looking at various cables. So many to choose from.

The new Shunyata Research Reference Series NR v2 cables were just released and the new Alpha NR v2 is really excellent. I'll be putting up some brief reviews of this and the new Sigma NR v2 in short order, but I can say these cables have brought the largest quality of improvement from a power cable I have ever experienced, BY FAR.

https://photos.imageevent.com/puma_c...20NR%20V2B.jpg

I ended up ordering the new Shunyata Alpha NR V2. Thanks to Ivan for the technical feedback and candor concerning these cables, and the subscriber discount. I can’t wait to post my impressions. Meanwhile, plugging in the P20 today to get a baseline on how it works and sounds. Thanks all.

Indeed, already ordered! :banana:

Ivan, thank you. The P20 is sounding beautiful right out of the box.

Congrats! You are going to be REALLY happy. :yes:

Listening to the Alpha NR V2 on my DAC right now...:speaker:

New soon to be P20 user here as well.

Why did you select the NR over the XC?

What gear do you have connected to your P20?

@Pyro,

I had selected the NR because at the time I was not very informed about the differences between the regular Alpha NR V2 and XC series. I am very elated by the performance of the Alpha NR V2 connected to the PS Audio P20. In combination with my custom built Neotech silver power cables with Neotech Hi-Fi plugs which were connected to my McIntosh MC2301 tube amps (those are the only things connected to the P20), I was in hi-fi heaven. The sound was just mind boggling.


Being cooped up at the house, and after reading peer reviews of the Sigma NR2s, I have since ordered a half dozen Sigma NR V2s and one Sigma XC and they are now installed throughout. The Sigma XC V2 is now on the P20. It also sounds glorious and is just as organic sounding as the Alpha NR2 but with a touch more spaciousness. If your budget is Alpha NR2, then you would be fine. More than fine…the combination of Alpha NR2 with P20 powering my McIntosh MC2301 amps was more mind blowing to me than swapping out to the Sigma NR2 or XC V2 into the P20. It was more of a slight incremental increase in resolution, but different in a way. For now, the XC V2 will remain in the P20 until further analysis.

I must be honest, I am really impressed by the sound qualities of the Alpha NR2s and it has taken a while for me to get things, sound wise, to the level of sound quality I had before, and then start to surpass it, somewhat….ah yes, that somewhat.

You will have to read about my further experiences with the Sigma NR 2s in the Shunyata Sigma review post later. But, to me, it is like making spaghetti; the ingredients must be just right to get that perfect flavor. Been making spaghetti since I was a teenager and been listening to music also since I was a teenager. This started with me listening to reel to reel session tapes of Santana that my step dad played for me since he was a Congo/Bongo player for Santana in the mid to late 60s. My ears have a certain way of hearing music which must support my spaghetti ingredient analogy. Years and years of listening, musical and equipment influence, trumpet playing, and live music have set the bar for me to personally respect and measure music qualities via my ears. That being said, with power cables, you have to ask what you are trying to get at? A noise floor that is lower than what you can already hear? A change in sound due to differences in metallurgy of various power cables? Lowering interference from external factors such as EMI or RFI. Is your equipment leaking noise back into the AC which some components do and is measurable, but sometimes not detectable in listening situations. All this to say, that yes, power cables make a difference, but, what is the difference you are trying to make.

I recommend going slowly and not doing it all at the same time so that you get a feel of the changes. Sometimes less is more, and sometimes more is less, and sometimes just right is just right…getting the spaghetti sauce just right:)

The reason I will post later about the Sigmas NR2s is that I am near the end of running them for a while and trying out various permutations of connections with my equipment. It’s been quite the ride and surprising results as well.

Sorry for a run on response….been recovering from back surgery as well and feel chatty when I post, LOL. Good luck

Thank you for your experiences with your P20 and MC2301's. I also have MC2301's in my system. Looking forward to adding the P20, it will be replacing a P10. I have been doing research on several different power cables Wireworld, AudioQuest and Shunyata. Right now I am leaning towards Wireworld Platinum Electra 7's. These will replace Wireworld Silver Electra 5.2's.

All my gear is in storage while we wait the completion of our house.
After that going slow will not be possible especially when I have LuFlu. :beerchug:

Hope you are recovering quickly.

@Pyro,

Thank you, recovery is a slowly progressing, but overall better than a few weeks ago.

I am sure you are enjoying those MC2301s regardless of power delivery accessories:)

Your system is nearly the same configuration as mine was (don’t know your current power cables), P10/MC2301 before I changed things out. In all honesty, the biggest and most profound increase in resolution and organic musicality in my system was when I swapped out the P10 to the P20 and to a 20 amp Alpha NR 2 power cable. It was a very transformative moment and a profound increase in sound quality. I was oblivious to the HC version of the new series. But, I can tell you, that the combination of the Alpha NR2 with P20 into the McIntosh 2301s sounded very well with no, I mean nada, concern of stray nasty electrical issues. It was absolutely silent. I am not entirely sure that the HC would make such a profound difference between the NR version as the combined reduced power noise levels of using the PS Audio products, notably, the P10 or P20. Also, with the outstanding, robust, and the noise resilient McIntosh quad formers, praised for absolute low THD and noise as used in their solid state lines and only used in the 2301s tube amps, makes for a combination that is just unbelievable sounding in terms of quality music playback. That combination is something that one must hear to believe. The HC might give one that last iota of confidence if they are concerned about stray power anomalies. The Wireworld power cables are different but have merit as well. That’s the beauty of this hobby, you can pick your ingredients to make that special sauce that works for you. Also, upgrading to Sigma from Alpha seemed to more of an incremental change and is again different. Still formulating my opinion and thoughts on these new Sigmas. More to follow in the appropriate Shunyata post that already exists about the Sigmas sometime soon.

My up stream power fixes are Carbon fiber outlets with Furutech plugs and an Environmental Potentials EP-2050 industrial power RFI/EMI, spike eliminator, used in server farms, critical and sensitive electrical equipment, and of course, us audio geeks.

Where is the new home build and are you building a dedicated space for your hobby? I custom built a dedicated space, 33x18x8.

Our new house is in San Antonio. Not a custom build but we will have a dedicated room for audio, 16 X 19 X 9. Bigger then our last audio room so we are excited to get everything up and running.

Sounds like an ideal size for sure. I bet you can’t wait for it to be built.

I forget, but I believe that Texas does not easily allow for basements. If your not in a basement, pay special attention to sound mitigation techniques before it is all buttoned up. Some things that are easy to do, spray foam under joists, Roxul Safe and Sound insulation, double drywall with green glue in between or Quietrock Sheetrock. Any little thing you can do now, will help in the future so that your spouse and family will be less disturbed by your constant thrashing of MC2301s at full volume:)

Of course, your power delivery to your room should have a few dedicated circuits. Hope your build is smooth sailing without delays so that you can enjoy your system again soon.