Power Cord Possibilities

[Puma Cat]

Prepress,
Here's a pic of the Venom NR-V10 coiled up with it's natural, relaxed coil, shown next to my iPhone 6S for scale. It can actually be coiled tighter than this without putting strain on the cable.



Here's the Venom NR-V10 plugged into the back of Everest, with the natural drape of the cable going down the shelf my DAC sits on.

[SCAudiophile]

Looks incredibly flexible to me...

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by SCAudiophile

Looks incredibly flexible to me...

[prepress]

Of Puma Cat's two photos, the second is more telling to me. The downward slope of the V10 from its IEC connection is different than that of my Transparent Premium. It is more abrupt, suggesting the Venom is indeed more flexible.

In order to move the process along, I have e-mails out to Shunyata, Transparent, and Furman; the answers I get to my questions should help me get closer to a decision on what to do about either power cords or interconnects. Again, I'm not displeased with the Transparent HPPCs, it's just that I wonder if there'd be benefit from having noise-reducing PCs on the sources, or getting better ICs for them; no money for both! Transparent Supers are thicker than the Plus I have now, and they supposedly have greater dynamic range; maybe they're heavier gauge too.

[jimtranr]

Originally Posted by prepress

In order to move the process along, I have e-mails out to Shunyata, Transparent, and Furman; the answers I get to my questions should help me get closer to a decision on what to do about either power cords or interconnects. Again, I'm not displeased with the Transparent HPPCs, it's just that I wonder if there'd be benefit from having noise-reducing PCs on the sources, or getting better ICs for them; no money for both!

This is anecdotal, so consider it as a for-what-it's-worth.

About two or so years ago, I upgraded the ICs from my DAC and to my power amp and got what I considered a nice bump in performance. Each of my more recent successive noise-reduction PC upgrades for my DAC (first a Venom NR v10, then a Delta NR v.1) yielded a considerably greater sonic improvement than what I experienced with the IC upgrades.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by prepress

In order to move the process along, I have e-mails out to Shunyata, Transparent, and Furman; the answers I get to my questions should help me get closer to a decision on what to do about either power cords or interconnects. Again, I'm not displeased with the Transparent HPPCs, it's just that I wonder if there'd be benefit from having noise-reducing PCs on the sources, or getting better ICs for them; no money for both! Transparent Supers are thicker than the Plus I have now, and they supposedly have greater dynamic range; maybe they're heavier gauge too.

I'm in full agreement with Jim on this one. NR PC's provide a significantly larger degree of improvement than upgrading ICs. It's not even close in my experience.

In the last year, here's what I've learned about the "hierarchy" of which cables make the biggest impact:

Power cables (most significantly NR PCs for components) > digital cables (not the least of which are Ethernet and USB cables) > speaker cables >> interconnects.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by jimtranr

This is anecdotal, so consider it as a for-what-it's-worth.

About two or so years ago, I upgraded the ICs from my DAC and to my power amp and got what I considered a nice bump in performance. Each of my more recent successive noise-reduction PC upgrades for my DAC (first a Venom NR v10, then a Delta NR v.1) yielded a considerably greater sonic improvement than what I experienced with the IC upgrades.

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

I'm in full agreement with Jim on this one. NR PC's provide a significantly larger degree of improvement than upgrading ICs. It's not even close in my experience.

In the last year, here's what I've learned about the "hierarchy" of which cables make the biggest impact:

Power cables (most significantly NR PCs for components) > digital cables (not the least of which are Ethernet and USB cables) > speaker cables >> interconnects.

My experience mirrors yours, actually, though a long time ago I went from Linn speaker cable to Tara Labs RSC and the difference wasn't subtle. But to be thorough I'm considering both options, PC and IC. I've heard from Shunyata and waiting for a specific recommendation from Transparent, who asked for my complete system so as to make better recommendations. I haven't heard from Furman yet.

Shunyata recommends the V14 for my LD player, and while the V12 is ideal for sources, they say their customers and dealers report the V10 is better. Either one is a great option though, and my budget should decide.

[DaveM]

Can anyone comment as to the importance of the power cord and interconnect (BNC 50 Ohm) for a digital clock? I am using a TEAC CG-10M. I know Shunyata Research has a couple of BNC 50 Ohm clock cables. I couldn’t find any other audio manufacturers who have them.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by prepress

My experience mirrors yours, actually, though a long time ago I went from Linn speaker cable to Tara Labs RSC and the difference wasn't subtle. But to be thorough I'm considering both options, PC and IC. I've heard from Shunyata and waiting for a specific recommendation from Transparent, who asked for my complete system so as to make better recommendations. I haven't heard from Furman yet.

Shunyata recommends the V14 for my LD player, and while the V12 is ideal for sources, they say their customers and dealers report the V10 is better. Either one is a great option though, and my budget should decide.

The Venom NR-V10 is definitely better. I went from using the V12 to the V10 for my DAC and it was a big step up. The new Delta NR v2 is an even bigger step up from that.

[prepress]

in the midst of my renewed research, I am also in the process of resisting a sale on Venom HC v2 PCs. It would be easy to give in to, but buying them wouldn't address the questions on hand.

Still no word from Furman, so digging into the manuals confirmed that the banks in my SRP-20i and Elite-15PFi are separate from each other, but doesn't say anything that suggests the outlets within a bank are separate from each other. So, a noise-reducing PC still seems reasonable to consider. But I don't know if I have that much of a noise problem and actually need them. A conditioner like IsoTek's Aquarius might solve some issues, as the outlets are individually fused and don't see each other. I suspect higher-priced ones like Shunyatas are too. But even the IsoTek is more money than the PCs would be, regardless of whether they're Transparents or Shunyatas.