New Power cords for the Sequels...

I received two of the three power cords today that I ordered from Mouser Electronics in February. (Apparently Taiwan and China can't keep up with the American market after all...) They are "Qualtek" hospital-grade 8ft cords, terminated in a standard IEC connector on one end, and a US 3-prong clear moulded Hospital Grade plug on the other. All pins on the plugs are nickle-plated brass, and this cord has "twisted conductors" but is not otherwise sheilded. It's rated for 15 amps. (hopefully the third one wil come soon, and I can get the Logos on one too)

Plugged them into the Sequels this morning, and have been listening all day to Bob Marley, Norah Jones, that Mozart Horns disc that Lugano recommended, and a few other things, and they sound pretty good. Way better, in fact, than the stock cords. They are gray, so they don't blend in with the speakers, but they DO blend in with the carpet better (which is off-white).

Soundstage is where I notice the most change, and it's not subtle. Not much wider, but definitely more defined and spacious, like the spaces between instruments are more distinct...

And here is the kicker. They cost me all of $5.07 (plus shipping) each. I figured if they are good enough to run EKG's and ventilators on they should do just fine for the Sequels. And they do!

I imagine that some Signal Cables or Nordost power lines might sound better, but for the price, what's not to like! The shipping on a set of three Signals would be more than my whole order from Mouser! Sure, they don't look like the water hose from a pumper fire-truck hanging out of the back of my speakers, and I imagine they might pick up a tiny bit of RFI if they get too near the TV, but I think they work just fine. Like I said, they are WORLDS better-sounding than the stock cords that came with the Sequels.

Just about the best $20 I ever spent on my system...

Sometimes it actually pays off to be a boarderline ADD catalog collector and amateur electronics geek. You have to think outside the box in this hobby.

--Richard

Way to go Richard! If there is anything I learned over these long years of tweaking it is that EVERYTHING MATTERS.

Dreamer said:

I received two of the three power cords today that I ordered from Mouser Electronics in February. (Apparently Taiwan and China can't keep up with the American market after all...) They are "Qualtek" hospital-grade 8ft cords, terminated in a standard IEC connector on one end, and a US 3-prong clear moulded Hospital Grade plug on the other. All pins on the plugs are nickle-plated brass, and this cord has "twisted conductors" but is not otherwise sheilded. It's rated for 15 amps. (hopefully the third one wil come soon, and I can get the Logos on one too)

Plugged them into the Sequels this morning, and have been listening all day to Bob Marley, Norah Jones, that Mozart Horns disc that Lugano recommended, and a few other things, and they sound pretty good. Way better, in fact, than the stock cords.

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Try lifting them (use CD jewelcases to quickly try it out at zero cost) and you'll probably notice some improvement, given they are unshielded and you have carpeted floors. If you decide to do that experiment, you might as well go all the way and also do it with the speaker and interconnect cables.

Actually i have a big box full of those large ceramic telegraph pole insulators that some "tweek company" is selling as "cable lifters". but I'm not using them right now, because their WAF is actually in the negative numbers...

--Richard

Dreamer said:

Actually i have a big box full of those large ceramic telegraph pole insulators that some "tweek company" is selling as "cable lifters". but I'm not using them right now, because their WAF is actually in the negative numbers...

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Interesting, I am using 8 of those and the WAF was very very positive. The intermediate stages with CD cases and then paper cups may have contributed to the warm welcome the cable isolators received when they finally arrived .

I would definitely try them out, even if only temporarily. It will put things in perspective and you'll know if your carpet + cables combination is detrimental to your sound (not all are).

Actually, it is my understanding that it's not so much the carpet as i is the stuf unerneath the carpet--In my case, steel-reinforced concrete. All that metal in my floors is just BEGGING to propagate electro-magnetic fields through any cables laying on the floor...

But no, the Cable lifters are a no-go, as long as my gear in in the "living room". When we move int a house, and I get my own dedicated listening room, then I'll be able to put them up, and set everything up th eway is SHOULD be, but as long as its in the living room, the biggest factor is "domestic tranquility", which unfortunately, often wins ou over optimised sound...

--Richard

Power cords for the Sequels

Richard, I would like to piggy-back the same order and see if those cords make a difference with my Ascents. Can you send me a copy and I will do an eval? thanks in advance

paulo m said:

Try lifting them (use CD jewelcases to quickly try it out at zero cost) and you'll probably notice some improvement, given they are unshielded and you have carpeted floors.

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FYI... the Volex 17604 Power Cords are SHIELDED, and highly regarded by many audiophiles. Unfortunately, their price has gone WAY up over the past few months (perhaps resulting from audiophile demand). I bought 6 a few months ago for only $6 ea, but now they are $9-15 ea at Carlton-Bates or Mouser (you might find better pricing elsewhere). I use the Volex cords on ALL my components (including my Summits), but can't say I've noticed any substantial audible difference.

Also, not to be contrary, but just wanted to point out that ML's official stance has been (at least for non Summit or Vantage models) that upgrading the power cord should NOT have an audible effect, since the power is used only to initially charge the panels. You can demo this effect yourself by unplugging your Ascents while they are playing. It takes quite a bit of time for the panels to actually lose their charge, and sound to degrade. Since the Summits/Vantages have internal ice-power amps, they (theoretically) could benefit from a power cord upgrade, so at the pricing I got the Volex's for, it was a no-brainer.

sleepysurf said:

FYI... the Volex 17604 Power Cords are SHIELDED, and highly regarded by many audiophiles. ...... I use the Volex cords on ALL my components (including my Summits), but can't say I've noticed any substantial audible difference.

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I used to use the Volex cords on my equipment and speakers and thought they were pretty good for the price. Then I upgraded to Signal Cable PC and really liked the difference I heard. Note: I was VERY SKEPTICAL there would be a difference.

I did a comparison of the SC PC against the PS Audio Lab II PC, a $340 price difference, and I could not hear a difference between them on any of my components or speakers.

Also, not to be contrary, but just wanted to point out that ML's official stance has been (at least for non Summit or Vantage models) that upgrading the power cord should NOT have an audible effect, since the power is used only to initially charge the panels.

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Like above, I changed my PC on my CLS from the Volex to the SC and liked the change I heard.

But as always each one here has to determine their level of budget and if they want to change, and if they can hear a change.

Dan

Dan,

Which Signal Cable did you get, the shieldless 10 gauge or the shielded 12 gauge? How (in)flexible are these cables?

ralflar said:

Which Signal Cable did you get, the shieldless 10 gauge or the shielded 12 gauge? How (in)flexible are these cables?

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I got the Magic Power models. They are a kind of stiff, but not anywhere near as stiff as the PS Audio Lab II. I know, not much help there with my explaination - sorry.

Frank does offer a 30 day return if you do not like them.

http://signalcable.com/magicpower.html

Dan

Thanks. Signal Cable is on my shopping list. So are Element Cable and Zebra Cables. All three offer unshielded 10gauge and shielded 12gauge cords of similar design and construction, for about the same prices. From what I have read they are all inflexible although I am not sure what that means. What kind of turn radius can you get when you use only gentle force?

ralflar said:

Thanks. Signal Cable is on my shopping list. So are Element Cable and Zebra Cables. All three offer unshielded 10gauge and shielded 12gauge cords of similar design and construction, for about the same prices. From what I have read they are all inflexible although I am not sure what that means. What kind of turn radius can you get when you use only gentle force?

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With the three foot one, I can easily make a circle with them around 12 inches or so if I remember right. This is the way they come packed in a ziploc type back from Frank. But they do not retain this circle, so there is some stiffness to them but you will not need to have them in a straight line.

I will try to remember to check them out when I go home and see how much I can bend them and how much they come back. Do me a favor, tonight, send me a PM to "gently" remind me :haha1:

Dan

power cord

I've installed the hospital grade outlet at home last weekend and, and will probably also make a hospital grade power strip.

In general, does it help more to use shielded AC cable such as the voltex, or is it fine to just use the twisted qaltex cables?

I'd probably swap out all my cables (PC, DSP, ML's, Sub).

One thing I've noticed is that since i introduced a berhinger dsp1124p feedback destroyer as a parametric EQ, I'm finding that I have an AC hum introduced into my system (my amp is not balanced). I've got a temporary fix with disabling ground, but need to find a long term fix.

If the cable is shielded, and shielding properly wired to ground, should this help reduce the AC hum?

Is there a general view on shielded vs unshielded AC cables

..David