Curiosity is Dangerous

[prepress]

I've been in touch with Demos at Transparent, and his opinion is to do the interconnects first; moving to all Plus ICs would put me in good shape for the forseeable future, then as I'm able I could start with the power cords. The HPPCs would be good on the amps; Premium Power Cords would be better presumably (how much better I don't know), given their heavier gauge and network.

The apple cart has been upset. Listening to Yes' Close to the Edge album yesterday, toward the end of the title track's third movement called I Get Up I Get Down, the low synth note I usually heard only barely in the past showed up big-time. It was clearly audible and even packed a bit of punch. I've never heard it that clearly before. The only change in the system is the HPPC having replaced a WW Electra 7. I'm now wondering what putting HPPCs on my sources might do, rather than re-do the three non-TA ICs. It's about the same cost, too.

[prepress]

One of my great challenges is to maintain perspective and keep a level head. And not to expose myself to danger. I'm failing miserably.

Despite solid recommendations from both Demos at Transparent and Dan (which I agree with in theory), I've decided to focus on power cords rather than the ICs for now. I have two more Transparent HPPCs coming, intended for the 501s. Then, two things happened. One, I took the C7 PS Audio Jewel AC off my LD player and returned the WW Stratus there with a VooDoo C7 adapter. The result? An immediate droop of the cord. It just isn't a tight connection. I was going to put the Jewel AC back on. Two, having been on the Shunyata forum, I remembered they, too, make a C7/C7P adapter, so I went to their website to track it down. Then I started to look at and read more on their PCs . . . you know where this is going.

I left the Shunyata website with visions of Venom 3 PCs on all sources with a C7P adapter for the LD's cord. That goes alongside the all-HPPC on sources with Kimber PK10 Ascents on amps idea and the current plan of Wireworld on sources and HPPC on amps.

I will take a deep breath and stand back for a bit. Some of this frenzy will pass. At some point.

[jdandy]

Charles.......No offense intended but your selection of mismatched power cords is beginning to look like a bowl of Chex Mix. .

[prepress]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Charles.......No offense intended but your selection of mismatched power cords is beginning to look like a bowl of Chex Mix. .

But Chex Mix is brown. I don't have any brown ones yet (the Electras are gold, though).

[prepress]

I was all set to call it quits a while back and stand pat with what I have, but though most of my audio enthusiasm has waned, most isn't all. I still find myself thinking about my unresolved power cord situation. I was becoming content with things as is, but I now find that thoughts lean toward all Transparent HPPCs on sources and preamp and then for my MC501s Kimber PK10s, Transparent Premiums or (today) Shunyata Venom HCs. The main thing they all have in common is that all are 10 gauge. The Venoms came back into play because of a review of the new Audio by Van Alstine hybrid monoblocks, specifically a mention of how important it is that the power cord wiring be up to spec, lest you put 120V on the chassis. I remembered that Shunyatas are UL approved. There you have it.

This competes with the very recent return of the idea of a pre-emptive replacement of my turntable or speakers before I move into retirement mode in a few years since they are 25 and 24 years old respectively, and replacing them later on should they break down could be a financial challenge. If either it should be the speakers probably, since I have other sources and don't play LPs all that much these days. Who knows, a new TT might re-stoke the interest in playing vinyl.

One thing is apparent. I have somehow moved beyond the "flavor of the moment," "instant lust for eye candy" and "kid in a candy store" modes. Maybe all this audio stuff is on its way to assuming its rightful place and proportion in my life. Finally.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by prepress

One thing is apparent. I have somehow moved beyond the "flavor of the moment," "instant lust for eye candy" and "kid in a candy store" modes. Maybe all this audio stuff is on its way to assuming its rightful place and proportion in my life. Finally.

Charles.......As long as you have a decent sound system and enjoy listening to it there will always be something to tinker with. That's at the very least.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Charles.......As long as you have a decent sound system and enjoy listening to it there will always be something to tinker with. That's at the very least.

In an ideal situation I would have a room without the limitations of my current one. I know my Mirages are capable of a much deeper soundstage, for example. Though the sound is still great, I know it could be better (I remember the demo). There's nothing I can do about that, though. So I look at other things that I can "tinker" with, such as the current consideration of power cords. When I have the time (not sure when that will be) I'd like to try moving to all Transparents on sources, then put the WW Electras (5.2 version) I still have back on the amps and see how that sounds.

I never got a reply to the e-mail I sent to the store regarding whether I can order by phone and then pick up when they're in. To save money, I can put the TT into my 2300 directly, removing my phono preamp from the system and reducing the number of cords I'd need by one, though the TT's tonearm cable spades don't fit the huge terminals on the 2300 that well. I'd swap tubes in the 2300's MM section also, to match the line stage tubes.

I think this is about as far as I should go at this point, short of something needing replacement.

[prepress]

And the moves begin. Today I received two Transparent HPPC1 power cords from the Transparent Store. With this, for all practical purposes I've committed to an all-Transparent PC setup for sources, essentially; I plan to play around with a couple of PC configurations, reinserting the WW Electra 5.2s that were on my amps. But for now I may just stick my C7 PS Audio Jewel AC back onto the LD player, as it's a low-use source, rather than get another HPPC. We'll see where this goes.

[prepress]

There are now HPPC power cords on everything except my LD player and power conditioners. There is an improvement in sound, and not just low frequencies; here and there I hear new details in familiar recordings. CDs and SACDs are a bit smoother on top. This was a nice upgrade, and it didn't start that way; it was to get solid IEC grip on my equipment.

To be frank, I'm somewhat skeptical about the difference power cords make with power conditioners, despite reports that they do. Still, I've ordered a 10ft extension cord, to give me the possibility of replacing the cord on my Furman SPR-20i voltage regulator with a true 20A IEC-head cord rather than the 3m WW Stratus 5.2 and adapter there now, which connects to a Shunyata Venom extension which then plugs into the wall. I'd probably want a 1m version of something for the connection between the VR and the Furman Elite-15PFi as well, for completion's sake if nothing else. I still have a 25-ft extension cord which is too long, I've thought, but it would allow me to use any length I choose for the main PC.

What I don't know is if the 25ft extension would make a difference over using a 10ft in terms of power delivery to the system.

[2fastdriving]

I personally feel that your ic's are more in need of an upgrade than your power cords. Looks like I'm too late in suggesting that. But with your gear, you should be at LEAST at the gen5 "super" level. I just went through this myself and I upgraded from super to gen5 reference. Super is only a mid level cable, so I can only imagine how much you are missing with the "plus". I don't think a power cord can fix that.