Yes, this is the longest invitation sent by anyone, to anything, ever.
This being the first event I’m coordinating for BAAS, I thought that making it easy, participatory, educational and fun would be a good start. So, I kept on thinking… hmmmm, how can we tap into the enormous experience and massive number of man-hours our collective membership has invested in researching, auditioning and breaking in a piece of gear? And what do most of our audiophiles already have that is very personal, may have taken them forever to decide upon, are easily transportable, easy to get in and out of their systems, and make a HUGE impact on the sound coming out of their speakers? Of course, Power Cables!
Because A/B-ing Power cables is so simple and relatively immediate, what could be better than having a whole bunch to audition from many different companies, different philosophies, different architecture, and yes – from price points that range from reasonable to astronomical? Without any manufacturers taking the stage to present their products (which is important and we will do that at another time), I invite all participants to bring their own power cords to the event to see how they fare against everyone else’s!
This Power Cable Smack-Down should be fairly fast-paced and lively. To make it also sane, we’ll keep the variables low – swapping only the cable that powers the source component, which in this case is a DAC. Please bring paper and pen to take notes on what you hear. Cables will by graded by you, first and foremost for overall sound pleasure factor (SPF), and optionally, for specific nuances such as imaging, dynamics, tonality, transparency, speed, etc. And… we’ll do all auditions blind! As a group, we’ll rate each one, find out which sound best, reveal their identities, and publish the results in this blog. We’ll give special recognition to anyone who can identify their own cable when it’s being auditioned! Cool, huh?
Yes, I know that cables are very system-dependent, and nothing ever sounds exactly the same on your rig at home, but this event should definitely give you some idea of which cables you just might want to audition in your own system. Maybe the cable you are most impressed by will be attached to a new friend who would even bring it over to your place for a listen?
I remember the moment I heard a high-end power cord in my system for the first time… the difference was unbelievable. Whether you’ve had many such epiphanies, or you’re still skeptical, this event should be very enlightening and a lot of fun.
Some details: We’ll be meeting on Saturday, March 8th at 10:00am-12:00pm at the beautiful home of BAAS member Leslie Lundin, in Orinda, only 10 minutes from Jason’s soon-to-be-sold Casa Bellecci-Serinus. Leslie is an avid audiophile with a great CJ tube-amplified digital rig feeding a pair of Vandersteen full-rangers, flanked by two matching subs. The sound should be wonderful and very revealing for our purposes.
Here is a list of Power Cables we have for audition:
- Synergistic T3 SE with the Galileo mpc
- Speltz Audio Lab Level 3 Power Cord
- Verastarr Grand Illusion PC
- PS Audio AC3
- Triode Shunyata Cobra Zitron
- Hoveland PC
- Synergistic Research Element Copper
- Audio Note PC
- Virtual Dynamics Genesis PC
- Pangea AC-14 SE
- DH Labs Encore power cable
- Lessloss DFPC Ref power cord
EVENT IS SOLD OUT.
Alón
9 thoughts on “Audio Gear Smack-Down #1: Power Cables”
Larry says:
February 16, 2014 at 7:26 pm Edit
Hi Alon, sounds like great fun! Count me in, I can bring PS Audio AC12 and AC 3. thanks, Larry Deniston
Reply
mcb says:
February 16, 2014 at 10:26 pm Edit
Hello Alon, please add me to the list. Thanks!
Michael Butler
Reply
Bob says:
February 17, 2014 at 12:22 am Edit
Wow. Sounds like a fun event.
I have 2-3 esoteric PCs if you need more.
Bob
Reply
anomaly7 says:
February 17, 2014 at 8:30 am Edit
Hello Alon and welcome aboard. I’d love to attend this event. Power cords would (will) be the last frontier of audio extravagance for me. Attending this event will give me the comparative knowledge to equip my equipment with power bling and improved sound. That all translates to my not really having any special power cords to bring, but I’d love to hear what’s out there and use the demo to help me figure out what to buy.
David
Reply
skepica says:
February 17, 2014 at 10:25 am Edit
Although I’m highly skeptical that power cords make any difference at all, at least the testing is going to be blind. Of more interest for me is hearing another members sound system, so please count me in.
Vince
Reply
gundam91 says:
February 17, 2014 at 11:08 am Edit
Alon,
Welcome! I would be interested, but have other commitments at that time. Would be interested to hear the results. If anyone going from the South would be interested to bring some additional cords to the shoot-out, I could provide some Electraglide, VH Audio, and home-brew cords (just to spice it up).
FrankC
Reply
derekw14 says:
February 27, 2014 at 7:05 am Edit
Hi Alon – add me to the list, with a Lessloss DFPC. Thanks, Stephane
Reply
antenor says:
February 27, 2014 at 4:15 pm Edit
Alón, please count me in. Thanks! Antenor
Reply
macbaas says:
February 28, 2014 at 12:37 pm Edit
Hi Alon, I’m intrigued … if there’s space please may I attend?
Thanks, David.