The Powerquest 2 is great for the price. I have two, one per system.
Iām very happy with my power setup. Iām using two Shunyata Alpha EF, cords, one Shunyata Delta EF, and one Audience AU24 SE- i MP. Iāve also got a Shunyata Denali 6000S-v2 on the way.
Power cords, interconnects or speaker cables?
Iām not too sure myself and used to be a cynic when it comes to fancy power cords. I see most of these costly cords as snake-oil too but the most recent experience changed that perception. I will still evaluate the cords further by swapping the expensive cords with the freebie cords in due time as the newly-installed wall receptacle is still breaking-in. The sound quality is still fluctuating and inconsistent at the moment.
I wouldnāt say itās the personās fault if he/she cannot hear a difference. There are few possibilities;
- The system components/speakers arenāt revealing enough to show the differences
- The wall outlet and/or power strip is limiting the potential of the cords. Higher quality unswitched receptacles or wall sockets may reveal more differences.
- The type of plugs on the cords. UK plugs have fuse inside while US plugs donāt have any fuse.
- Well, some people may be able to pick up the differences better than others
No matter what electrical standard, all Naim units have the equipment fuse & thats a wire aprx thickness of a hair.
This is exactly what the manufacturers rely on ā¦
This thread discusses power cablesā¦
You mean the prices of the cables?
And that thin piece of wire is all that is needed to support the required current. If the item needs more the cable is bigger and so is the fuse. The fuse is there to protect the cable.
So, why do we need silver plated, super duper Cross sectional oxygen free cables?
If you were to specify a great sounding cable, what would/should you ask for. Rather than a load of marketing tosh to flog those with too much money.
And yes, I get that cables can make a difference. But why?
This is why there will be a huge difference in sound between a powerlite costing 100 dollars and another powerlite costing 5k dollars.
āI hear itās better by how much itās costā
Agree absolutely right
Are you sure? Read carefully
If you have only one PL it should go to NAPSC first, makes wonders for PRaT. Then when purchasing a second the balance tilts anywhere you put it, too bright on source, too bassy on NAP etc. Its not until you have the full set it will have great balance again IMHO
Thanks a lot; Iāll give it a try and will probably end up with full loom PL ās ā¦ (but at first Iāve got to get my system more stable: firmware 3.5 issues are popping up in my NDX2ā:confused:).
Personal opinion is that there is a lot of snake oil in cable talk. Also, there are a lot of variables in the equation that make power cord and conditioning more or less important to the system. For examples:
- Multi-dwelling units like flats where your neighbours might be operating motors and other devices that might inject a lot of unwanted signals in the mains.
- Whether circuit is shared amongst other devices such as fridge, air conditioner, etc.
- Voltage stability from your utility supplier.
- Wiring inside wall.
- Moisture in the air and oxidation of copper conductor over time.
I would love to have a really nice conditioner that recreates pure and perfect sine waves and voltage level. I donāt mean AVR or ones that only cleans noise and remove spikes. Let me know what you recommend, please. Hopefully one that doesnāt cost a mortgage. And no fan please!
Sticking to basics and common sense, all I have is a decent filter on my system to rid it of spikes. My power cord is custom built 10awg with 2 layers of insulation with foil and braided shields in between. In addition, there is another envelope on top to provide more insulation / distance from other cables and I try my best not to lay it along signal paths. Both ends have insulated aluminium plugs with rubber gasket to minimise exposure to elements because its insulator isnāt TEP / Teflon.
Overall.
I referred to the assumption that any expensive product which āinvested in its development for many months and unique materialsā will be better than products for the common people.
Absolutely agree yedidā¦there is no short ways,the more expensive the better one
Just swapped the Acrolink Mexcel PC9700 with the cheap Supra Lorad on the Luxman amplifier and listened to 3 tracks for about 15 minutes before switching back to the PC9700.
No contest at all. Quite a big difference I would say. The Supra Lorad made the system sound considerably worse as refinement took a big step backward. Percussion sounded splashy and tinny and didnāt sound real, midrange sounded thin and bass didnāt have the full wallop and sounded weak. The overall presentation is slightly flat and 2 dimensional due to the recessed midrange. Thereās also background noise. To exaggerate a little, itās all highs with no midrange and no lows. Basically itās just not good with the Supra Lorad.
The Mexcel brought a massive difference as everything sounded a lot more refined and controlled. Midrange sounds fuller, bass has the punch, wallop and goes deeper, basically everything is in control and not smeared like the Supra. Thereās a sense of space and 3-dimensionality as the notes float in the air.
Iām astounded really. First time Iām hearing a significant difference with power cords after all these years.
Basically itās money well spent. Perhaps Iāll add another Mexcel cord in the future. Some day.
Isnāt there very expensive Naim designed transformer smoothing all that rough and ready electricity coming into our kit? If so how does a different mains transmission cable technically make a difference?
Haha. Here we go. Iām with you btw. A decent PSU should clean up all that noise/ AC ripple.
And donāt forget,all these cables are ultimately limited by that current limiting fuse. Or two.