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Old 04-08-2019, 07:36 AM
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prepress prepress is offline
Semi-audiophile
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Brooklyn, by way of Nashville
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Well, I did it. I removed the Gold Lions and reinstalled the Black Diamonds, wanting to see how they did with the fully broken-in Premium power cords on my 501s. I was pleased with the results on a short sample.

I played my usual Fanfare for the Common Man track by the Atlanta Symphony Orchesra, a Verve Antonio Carlos Jobim CD anthology, then Hans Zimmer Live in Prague, and "Woke up Dreaming" from Joe Bonamassa: An Acoustic Evening at Carnegie Hall, both on blu-ray. To be fair, the ACJ CD was background music, as I was in the kitchen. The primary verdict? There was more weight to the bottom end, which was my initial impression before the Premiums got here. On Fanfare the difference in the bottom end was obvious, as the bass drum was noticeably more powerful than the GLs had offered (though it was more than respectable). Here and there on the Zimmer BD I heard a bass note I didn't remember hearing before, but am not prepared to say the Black Diamonds are more articulate; more listening is in order.

The other thing to note was the lower noise floor, which I'm sure the Premiums have something to do with, but I noticed this a bit more last night. Decay of notes/sounds at the end of some tracks on the Zimmer BD were a bit more obvious, such as the end of Man of Steel. The Black Diamonds may be contributing something there. Again, more listening is in order, but I'm inclined to leave the BDs in for a while because I wanted the extra weight in the bottom anyway. I don't know if I'll want to cycle through all my tubes again; maybe the JJ Gold Pin Hi-Performance tubes, or even give the regular gold pin JJs a shot, as they're supposed to be quieter than the Hi-Performance version, though maybe not as dynamic.
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