[prepress]

Hope everyone's New Year was blessed. I spent Christmas in Texas with my sister (the near-constant presence of four grandkids made it interesting, and not particularly restful!).

While away, this idea of upgrading the power cord on my C2300 preamp gained some traction in my mind. I have laid out an incredible (for me) amount of money the past few months so it may have to wait a bit, but I'm contemplating putting a Kimber PK10 Ascent or Transparent Premium on it. The Kimber's a more appropriate length (4 ft), more flexible, and less expensive than the Premium. Yet, I can't say with honesty that I have a problem with what I hear now, using a Transparent HPPC. Last night I played my system for the first time in a few weeks and listened to two CDs: Early Venetian Lute Music (Naxos) featuring Christopher Wilson with Shirley Rumsey on some duets, and Gord's Gold, a Gordon Lightfoot anthology. I liked what I was hearing, though I was back and forth to the kitchen for most of the lute CD and about half of the Lightfoot CD (cooking then eating dinner). And, most important, I was listening to the music more than the sound or the equipment.

Still don't know if I'll actually do it, but it's become a legitimate consideration at this point. I do have Kimber 12TC speaker cables, so the PK10 wouldn't be a total outlier. I could get a custom 1.5m Premium cord, but it'll cost the same as the standard 2m cord. I like the idea of the same cord on pre and power, but the PK10's flexibility is a huge factor for me; the Premium's stiffness was a bit of a challenge when I connected them. Plus, the preamp sits on the shelf immediately above a power conditioner, so flexibility and length matter.