Panamax vs. Monster power conditioners.

Monster power conditioners use MOVs, which have a relatively limited lifespan. After the MOVs are gone MANY times the units continue to pass current to the equipment meaning that the next surge could destroy the connected gear. The Monster units do have a light to indicate that they are no longer protecting the equipment but who wants to depend on a light that they can forget to check?

Panamax uses an avalanche diode that acts almost like a flood gate. It opens when voltage is above or below a safe area, then starts testing the voltage. After the voltage is back within the normal range for 7 seconds Panamax units allow the equipment to receive electricity again. When an avalanche diodes fails they are stuck in the "open" position 99.9% of the time. Meaning that the equipment receives NO electricity so the user knows that the power conditioner needs to be replaced.

Panamax specifies that MOVs are 1000 times slower then their avalanche diodes. At trainings Panamax regularly does a demonstration where they hook up a Panamax and a Monster into a device that can create spikes, then into each unit they plug an illuminated lamp. Both units are then hit with a 150 volt spike. In the 10 or so demos that I’ve attended I’ve noticed two things. First before clamping down the lamp plugged into the Monster grows momentarily brighter. A sign that is letting the beginning of the surge through before clamping down. Hence the potencial for damage to connected equipment. No increase in the brightness of the lamp plugged into the Panamax is observable. Second, I’ve NEVER seen a Monster live past the third “hit”. Twice they began to smoke, once a small fire began. The Panamax products have lived through 10-15 hits before they go on with the presentation, they don’t fail mind you the presentation just moves on because they’ve proved their point.

From what Panamax says other surge devices using MOVs will act in a similar manner. If you are considering things up market from the Panamax products Transparent Audio’s power conditioners also use avalanche diodes and offer some of the best power conditioning that I’ve ever heard. PS audio’s new power conditioners use something in addition to an MOV. They claim that these two devices in tandem are better than an avalanche diode. They may be, for me I look at how these devices work in the long term (ie years) and their products are just too new for there to be a body of empirical evidence out there, one way or the other.

For my own use I've used the original version of Panamax's MAX-5510 for about 4 years in my high-end two channel system. For my computer, TV, and AV receiver I use one of their cheaper units.

Absolute Power!

I finally got around to changing out the power cords on my DAC, Transport, Preamp, Amp, and Power conditioner. I went with the Transparent Power Link Plus. For a brief moment I tried to kid myself that I’d be happy with the High Performance Power Link cords also from Transparent. This was mostly because they were less than half the price, but the performance gap between the PLP’s and the HPPL’s is undeniable.

The breaking in of power cords seems to occur much faster than interconnects and speaker cable. Perhaps a major contributing factor is that I leave all the components in the system on at all times. Out of the box with zero break-in they edged out the stock cords. After about three hours the difference was more audible than that. After a number of days of beak in it began to sound as if there was a bottle neck in the sound of my system. The obvious culprit was the new power cords. Quickly a theory emerged that the power cords on the amp and power conditioner must be breaking in faster than the cords used on the other components because they had so much more electricity flowing through them. So I removed those two cords and switched them with the cords on the DAC and Transport. The system’s performance improved in some areas and slightly worsened in others for a net gain. After a night of the power cords that had previously been hooked up to the DAC and Transport being burned in on the Power Conditioner and the Amp it was a different story. The new level of accuracy of timbre that the system is exhibiting is startling.

Preliminary results indicate an elimination of a certain hardness that could inhabit the midrange of female vocals. Bass has more tonality and more body, yet is still tight and articulate. Cymbals have taken on a more metallic quality and the subtle differences between different cymbals are much more easily recognized. Gone is the slightly whitish coloration that had overlaid them in the past. There is an increase in sound staging width and depth as well.

Also impressive is the change in stringed instruments, particularly acoustic guitars, hollow body electric guitars, and mandolins. Differences between different electric guitars have become even more obvious. The sound of the body of the instruments is much more integrated with the sound of the strings. A lowering of the noise floor also creates the impression that notes hang in space a little longer. Violin bows sound as if they are being drawn across the strings more slowly and lovingly. For whatever reason this upgrade also made the sweet spot for the Logans much larger, I have no explanation for that one.

An increase in the micro dynamics of vocal performance has made listening to female vocalists beguiling. It’s got me grabbing for Tori Amos, Diana Krall, Sheryl Crow, and Natalie Merchant albums. On my copy of Robinella and the CC Stringband when she flubs a line during “Marie Laveaux” the smile that creeps onto her face is very audible in her voice and is just plain sexy!

The CLS’s disappearing act is impressive under normal conditions, now it’s just plain unnerving. Left/Right imaging is way outside of the speakers when that information is present on the recording. What would happen if I replaced the Martin Logan’s power cords? I don’t want to think about it. The CLS’s aren’t the end goal so spending money on power cords would be silly, or would it? Somebody stop me!

It's good to have connections

Under comparison will be three pairs of balanced interconnects. Ayre Signature, Transparent Balanced Music Link Plus, and Transparent Balanced Music Link Super. Each cable was broken in before evaluation began. Just to be safe each cable had eighty minutes of music ran through it as well as the thirty second Ayre sweep tone. Each song was played twice on each cable. The first time just for listening, the second time through was to confirm findings and to jot down quick notes. The cables were used between the Theata DSPro basic III DAC and my Adcom GFP-750 preamp in active mode. Interconnects between the preamp and the amp were Audioquest Panther. It would have been ideal if I could have had two pairs of interconnects on hand so that the preamp to amp interface would have also been changed as well but that proved impractical.

Music for the shoot out was Robinella and the CC Stringband’s “Man Over” off of their self titled major label debut, Belle & Sebastian’s “Is It Wicked Not To Care?” from the album “The Boy With The Arab Strap” and Thelonious Monk’s “This Is My Story, This Is My Song.” from the recent Columbia re-issue of “Straight, No Chaser.” Between each phase of the testing a break was taken to make sure that listerner fatigue did not become a factor. After this process I listened to two albums using each cable to double check my earlier findings and to deepen my understanding of each cable abilities.

Both Transparent cables utilize their network technology. The network has a number of duties that it is intended to perform. Every cable acts as an antenna, picking up RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) if you know the length of the cable along with some other key information it is possible to calculate at what frequencies this will occur. One of the network’s jobs is to get rid of this unwelcome noise. Transparent also believes that there is an optimum balance of capacitance and inductance, the network also helps to maintain this balance. The interesting effect of this adjustment of capacitance and inductance is that a 3 foot, 6 foot and 10 foot pair should sound virtually identical. In other cable designs this isn’t the case. Conventional audiophile wisdom says that the shortest cable will sound the best because it is the shortest signal path. But in practice short cables tend to raise capacitance which reduces bass and can cause the system to sound bright (all of these things affect speaker cables as well.)

In general the Ayre cable tended to mute the leading edge of plucked strings. On both the Robinella and Bell & Sebastian tracks acoustic guitars lost some of their fullness as a result of the transient response malady. The Ayre also had trouble when two instruments were playing the same melodic line, as the hollow body electric and the violin do on “Man Over.” This same tendency cropped up on the B&S selection when in the middle of the song a male voice comes in to double the female lead. The Ayre Signature also lacked space within the recording. It was as if all of the musicians took two steps closer together. The Signatures also tended to add a very slight grain to female vocals. This grain was also added to lower treble notes on Monk’s “This Is My Story, This Is My Song.” In addition with the Signatures in the system it was less than clear that Theo. was playing a grand piano.

The Transparent Music Link Plus was better with the initial attack of plucked acoustic instruments. The “Chugga-Chugga” of the mandolin on the Robinella song was a much bigger part of the song, setting the rhythm of the performance. Because this song, in fact the whole album lack a drummer this is very important. The bass on this track also had more body. The Music Link Plus also gave this performance more space so it didn’t sound as if the musicians were standing right on top of each other. At the beginning of the Bell & Sebastian number the female vocalist opens her mouth and takes a deep breath before delivering her first line. The Plus allows even this simple act to have more dramatic tension than the Ayres. The Pluses also allowed for a richer sound on Mr. Monk’s piano. Now there was little question that this was a grand piano.

With the Transparent Music Link Super both vocal performances were much more engaging than with either of the other cables. This was primarily due to a better sense of micro dynamics in the voices of both of the women. “Is It Wicked. . . “ took on a much more hushed, almost whispered quality to the vocals, increasing the intimacy of the lyrics. It was almost as if the performance was just for one listener. The violin on “Man Over” also seemed more emotionally engaging because it’s lines seemed slower and more lovingly played. The bass line, while not louder or deeper than the Pluses was easier to follow. Subtle flourishes on the acoustic guitar and mandolin near the end of the Robinella selection, that had previously gone unnoticed also added to the presentation. Theo.’s piano now IS undeniably a GRAND piano and this joint now takes on a much more dramatic and impressive tone because of it. The listener is pulled to the edge of their seat waiting to find out what the next salvo of notes will bring, even if they have heard the performance hundreds or even thousands of times.

Don’t judge the Ayre Signatures too harshly, none of their errors were on the magnitude of being major, if one didn’t have the opportunity to hear the Transparent cables it would be difficult to even notice these imperfections. Also I believe that the Martin Logan CLS electrostats tended to highlight these flaws because of their strengths in these areas. For a brief time Transparent’s Balanced Ultras were to be part of this survey but sanity and my pocket book got the better of me. I don’t want to listen to anything in my system that I can’t afford and take the chance on falling in love with them on the spot. I have heard them in other systems on many occasions and already know what I don’t want to know for sure, that they are a world class cable. Many years ago 7-Up used the slogan “The Un-cola.” Too bad it’s already taken because Transparent could easily and truthfully have used the slogan “The Un-cable.” Maybe they already have in their own way. Maybe that’s why they named their company Transparent. No single word better describes their character, or lack there of.

Power To The People

The audibility of power cords is starling! I've been playing around recently with stupid expensive cords and I must say the differences can be shocking (no pun intended). The main argument against power cords being able to create audible difference is that the power cord is NOT in the signal path, this is false. An amplifier, for example simply modulates the power coming out of the wall to produce a larger version of the signal that it receives as an input. Hence the power supply is in the signal path. Hence, in my opinion the power cord IS in the signal path in a very real sense.

Interestingly this theory of mine was helped to form by McIntosh labs who believes that their power supplies are in the signal path and are major contributors to that "MAC sound." What's ironic is that McIntosh doesn't believe in highend speaker cables or interconnects, let alone power cords. Mac has been very public about this belief. Only recently at trade shows did they start using better interconnects and speaker cable, just to "shut people up." The IEC socket of a removable power cord does compromise the connection slightly but allows for much better power cables to be used, a slight step backwards for the possibility of a couple of major steps forwards. But the same cord soldered directly to the power supply versus being removable and connected to an IEC socket would be the best solution.

Other arguments brought against power cords have to do with the fact that the last 6 feet can’t make up for 50 miles of low quality wire between the utility company and our homes. Again, this simply doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny. First off, it isn’t the last six feet, it’s the first six feet. The power company doesn’t push power to us, we pull power from the electrical company. If this weren’t the case we would not be able to turn off electrical devices. Second, the power that they are running long distances is different from what we find in our homes. In that form it is much less susceptible to EMI and RFI interference. It is converted at a nearby pole by a transformer before entering our homes. In the walls of our homes the electricity is shielded from stray EMI interference by the conduit through which it is running. So the point that it is most vulnerable to these problems is from the outlet to our components.

Aftermarket power cords differ in a number of ways from stock units

-They are a thicker gauge wire than stock units. All things being equal, the thicker the gauge the faster large amounts of current can be delivered to the component. This higher current capability leads to more controlled, more extended bass. Not to mention better dynamics.

-They have better shielding which helps reject EMI interference. This creates blacker background from which the music emerges. Improving the perception of low level detail. This is not new musical information but information that had previously been obscured. The amplifier is also freed from having to amplify the high frequency hash which gives the system a greater sense of ease.

-The plugs make better physical contact. When dealing with electricity poor physical contact between outlets and the blades of the plug causes the electricity to jump the gap between the two surfaces. This causes heat and when dealing with electricity heat equals resistance. This resistance again slows down current delivery.

Under evaluation are three power cords from Transparent audio. All were used to replace the stock power cord on a Panamax Max 5510 power conditioner, which was set to balanced power. Patricia Barber’s “Love, Put On Your Faces” from her album “Modern Cool” and “Man Over” by Robinella and The CC String Band off of their self titled album were the main tracks used for this series of tests.

Transparent High Performance Power Link:
The sibilance on s and t sounds was much cleaner than with the Panamax stock power cord, which tended to make these sounds more aggressive than is proper. Distinguishing between the original event and the reverberation that followed was also much easier with the HPPL cord. The stock cord tended to smear the transition between these two distinct components of a sound. Bass intergraded with the rest of the music much more seamlessly, and lost the mechanical quality that the stock unit added. The Piano on the Barber track had much more body, it was impossible to mistake it for anything other than a grand piano.

Transparent Power Link Plus:
With this power cable the piano has a greater sense of ease and there is an increase in micro and macro dynamics. The piano sounds less forced and more effortless than it did with the HPPL power cord. Gone is the angular sound that plagued the attack of bass notes, it is replaced with a more naturally rounded tone. Bass notes also have more consistent authority, midbass notes are now closer in weight to deeper bass notes. The cleanliness of sibilance has also taken another step forward.

Transparent Power Link Reference:
Piano notes have greater sustain and thus take longer to decay into a more black background. The weight of midbass notes is greatly improved matching the power of lower bass notes much better than the PLP. The choir sounds like it is made up of more voices, but at the came time it is easier to pick out individual voices in that choir.