Maybe I'm amazed

My Martin Logan CLS electrostatic speakers are now powered by the Audioquest AC15 power cords that I recently mentioned. Each was broken in by using them to power my Threshold Stasis S550e amplifier for 24 continuous hours. There is no contest between the Monster Cable PowerLine300 that I was previously using and these. The first thing to strike me is how much more quiet the backgrounds are with the AC15s in place. On Belle & Sebastian’s “It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career” the gentle hums and buzzes of the guitarist’s tube amp is clearly audible in the right channel as he waits for his turn to enter the song. The acoustic guitar also has more body behind the strings and the piano sounds fuller too. These cords have also made the soundstage more spacious, increased the shimmer around cymbals, and allowed music with lots of layers to really reveal itself much more effortlessly. They’ve also gotten rid of the extremely slight sibilance that female vocals could occasionally take on.

Gone is a slight muddiness on cello that I always noticed on Jacqueline Du Pre and the London Symphony's transcendent performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. The unwelcome hardness of the dynamic peaks at the very beginning of the second movement have also been tamed and sound much more effortless.

The audible effects of power cords continue to amaze me. How much of these changes are due to the ferrite clamps, how much do the Wattgate connectors contribute, how much of it is just the better wire in the cable. It would be hard to know for sure but the overall effect is nothing short of jaw dropping!

A good deal for skeptics

It would be hard to find a topic more controversial and debated in high end audio today than the effect (or lack there of) of power cords on sound. The discussion of the contribution of power cords to the overall sound of a system has been discussed many times on this blog. When I first started my forays into this phenomena I didn't want to hear a difference, because I'm cheap and I'm a natural skeptic. However, my brand of skepticism is more of an “open-minded skepticism” so investigation was clearly in order. For those looking for an inexpensive way to do some experimenting HCM audio has a closeout deal on Audioquest AC15 power cords at an unbelievable price, $39.95 for a seven and a half feet power cord. As a bonus, they are fitted with WattGate/Marinco 5266, ends. Much nicer than what Audioquest originally offered as the standard terminations.

The AC15s includes a ferrite bead to help stop RFI and EMI from getting into the components. They will be replacing the Monser PowerLine300 on my Martin Logan CLS speakers. Audioquest has been my cable of choice for a number of years now. In addition to being one of the oldest cable companies in existence, they always make clear what makes one level of cable better than the next. Their staff is more than willing to make custom cables to any specifications and to complete and ship them extremely quickly. Take a couple minutes and read this short interview with Audioquest founder Bill Low.