Power Cord Possibilities

[audiohippo]

Anyone have a view on the Nordost Valhalla 2 vs Shunyata Sigma v2 power cords?

[prepress]

Originally Posted by PeterMusic

Unfortunately, yes. The PCs reduce noise coming from the wall. But you will still have noise from the amp and (I assume) from the speaker cables themselves.

Let's go back to the process though--there is no need to do this all at once, or even to speculate on a grand plan. You can do this piecemeal and in a relaxed way. My cables and grounding system were purchased over 4(?) rounds of demos/upgrades as I compared several levels of ICs and PCs. My expectations were often wrong in doing this, but each round yielded a significant improvement. You should get Transparent or your dealer to send you a few things to try. Then buy anything that makes a significant positive improvement. Then, if you till have budget remaining, get them to send a couple of more things to try.

Also, don't be surprised or discouraged if some "upgrades" yield nothing you can hear or even make things worse. If that happens, you've either maxed out on a given brand, or you do not like that brand.

Hi, here are some details on my setup: the Premiums are on my amps and preamp, connected to my Furmans: a SPR-20i voltage regulator and an Elite-15PFi, which amps and preamp are connected to; the PFi is connected to the SPR, and the SPR is connected to the wall. Both Furmans have Shunyata Venom HCs on them. I would think that mitigates anything coming from the wall further, leaving any additional noise (and again, I can't tell if I have a problem at this point) to be generated by the speaker cable?

[prepress]

I have finally made a move on this. I am indeed utilizing Transparent's trade-up program and have ordered three more Premium PCs. In turn, I will trade in three HPPCs. The order was placed a short time ago. We'll see what comes of it.

The new Premiums will go on my Blu-ray, SACD, and tuner.

[Charles]

prepress, congrats on your decision. Transparent may indeed be the best cable manufacturer. I'm sure these new cords will make a significant improvement to your sound.

Best

Charles

[prepress]

Originally Posted by Charles

prepress, congrats on your decision. Transparent may indeed be the best cable manufacturer. I'm sure these new cords will make a significant improvement to your sound.

Best

Charles

Thanks Charles (we have the same name, so it felt like I was talking to myself for a moment!).

Other than my turntable, which has a captive cord, the last piece is my laserdisc player. It doesn't get much use and has a PS Audio Jewel AC on it now, a C7P cord. I debate whether to do anything with that. Transparent doesn't offer C7 connectors as I recall, so the other option to consider is a Shunyata Venom Digital cord. The reason for the change would be for consistency; all my other aftermarket cords are Transparent (sources, preamp, amps) or Shunyata (power conditioners, TV). On the other hand, I decided that should my LD player fail I wouldn't repair it, so If I hold to that I'd have no use for the Venom cord. I do have a VooDoo C7P to C13 adapter, but I recall that the grip wasn't what I'd like, and the extra HPPC I have is only 1m, too short for my needs. So I'll think about this one a bit more, needless to say.

[prepress]

I heard from the store on Thursday and spoke with them yesterday. The Premiums are in. I'm planning to go get them this afternoon. I will plan to hook them up when I get home and, as time permits, play some stuff over a week or two to see what I think. I need real time in front of the system listening, not just background music while I cook, even though that would help break the Premiums in. That "real time" has been hard to come by.

I'm not all that excited, oddly enough. If anything, I feel almost matter-of-fact about the whole exercise. The heavy pressures and stress of work have much to do with that, I'd suspect, as I come home drained most days (yesterday was particularly bad). I am, however, interested to see how much of a difference the Premiums will make. I'm hoping there's something to get excited about after I put some time in with them.

[prepress]

A preliminary update. I have the three Premiums, and right off the bat, the packaging is larger and more elaborate, as you'll see from the accompanying photos. I also note the website has a $25 price increase now. Perhaps there's a connection.

I connected the Premiums and put on a Badi Assad CD, Echoes of Brazil. Not a good test, as I hadn't played it in a while. It must also be dirty, as there were moments toward the last few tracks with no sound. That's what I hope it is, anyway. The guitar and her voice sounded authentic enough, certainly.

Moving to something more familiar, my Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague Bu-ray, I noted the occasional bit of detail I hadn't heard before, such as the decay of a note from Zimmer's piano during one track, or the leading edge of notes on the marimbas as mallets struck the slats (is that what they're called?) being crisper on another, an accordion being more audible on still another, and a perception of greater dynamics on the bottom, especially during the "Man of Steel" track. These are not earth-shaking differences, but I noticed them.

Will see what happens going forward, but I think yesterday's appetizer is what the meal will be.

[prepress]

Session number three with the Premiums this evening, about an hour, with various blu-ray discs, and the report is of overall cleaner sound, with instruments sounding more like themselves, acoustic ones in particular. There was a greater sense of people playing together. Exerpts from Joe Bonamassa Live at Carnegie Hall, Yes Live at Montreau, and Pictures at an Exhibition from the Berlin Philharmonic were used. Session number two on Monday was a bit over a half hour of S&M2: Metallica with the San Francisco Symphony, and there wasn't much to tell from that, it being unfamiliar.

Preliminary verdict is that the Premiums are keepers. I also know they represent a stopping point as far as PCs go.

[Rick721]

Verastarr Grand Statement 3 power cables are some of the best money can buy !

https://www.verastarr.com/praise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=capquaKHOJg&t


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82DjJW22www&t

[prepress]

Another example of improvement: last night I played some of Santana: Greatest Hits Live at Montreaux from 2011 via blu-ray. I was amazed to notice how real the percussion sounded, particularly Cindy Blackman-Santana's drum solo and the congas in "Jingo." Quite realistic, almost "in the room" level; in fact, on occasion the sound hit "in the room." Granted, it's a well-recorded blu-ray, but it didn't sound like this before.

I still have one Transparent HPPC cord I could trade towards another Premium, but there is no point and nowhere to use it anyway. Again, MAYBE I think about the IC move from Plus to Super, but I'm not sure I need to do that.