[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by jimtranr

The more I listen to my bedroom system that's now fed AC from wall to Hydra and from Hydra to DAC by Venom NR v10s the more I'm impressed with the transparency, venue scale, fluidity, and dynamics embedded in the SACD, HDAD, and CD rips and high-resolution downloads that constitute the system's listening fare. All of the music is stored on an external USB hard drive and is output to the DAC via JRiver installed on a Windows 10 laptop.

The laptop gets its AC from a switched mode power supply, and the feed from the Hydra to the SMPS is via a detachable C5-terminated ("Mickey Mouse") power cord. The supply's hard-wired output and the input connector at the laptop rule out use of a better cable between it and the SMPS, but I wonder if I would hear a non-placebo improvement in the sonic presentation if a C5-terminated Venom 14 Digital replaced the stock cord connecting it to the Hydra--i.e., would the 14 Digital reduce if not eliminate SMPS-emitted noise that's leaking back to the Hydra?

Thoughts and comments--especially experience-based--welcome.

Thanks.

Hey Jim!
In my experience with the Venom 14 Digital power cords, Jim, the answer is YES. The power supply for my Sonore OpticalModule is a "brick type" SMPS of the type you describe for your Windows laptop: AC power cord to the SMPS "brick", then an attached DC cable emanating from the brick to the device. The OM uses a C13 instead of a C5 (I know exactly of the C5 type connector you are referring to, they are a very common plug for Windows laptops), but the power cable configuration is effectively the same, functionally speaking.

Venom 14 Digital was specifically designed for just this type of application, and it works quite well in this regard.

Additionally, if you want to do a further tweak that will really help things, get a female DC barrel plug with screw terminals on the back (you can find these on Amazon), attach a wire from negative screw terminal to an AC plug's ground prong (of the type shown). Plug into the same AC power strip as your laptop, and plug the DC end into your laptop's DC barrel port and your power cable into the back of this female barrel plug.

What this will do is shunt the very nasty high-impedance AC leakage currents from your SMPS that cause all sorts of insidious problems, including adding jitter, timing errors, and clock phase noise to your system. The improvement this will make is quite audible, so it is well-worth doing. If you need specifics on how to make this ground strap up, feel free to PM me.

Best,
Stephen aka PC