Randy Brecker w/Michael Brecker (2005) - Strap - Hangin'

Charlie, keep thinking! A new power cord is much easier to hide from the wife then say a new pair of speakers or a 100 lb. amp. While you're at it, get a couple for me. Tell your Wife it's a Christmas present.

Guys,

Haven't been ignoring you; I've been plagued with internet drop outs. Mr. Spectrum is coming today...

I plan to do the PC switch and see if I can hear a difference. First I have to understand the sound I have now with the Gaia 2s. That has been utterly transforming.

Charlie

Hey Charlie

Re the Gaia 2's, I agree. I've read reviews by B+W Diamond speaker owners also saying how much the sound got upgraded, and then wondering why speaker OEM's don't provide same as standard equipment, (or at least an optional upgrade), since it moves the SQ up a number of notches. Good point I think, makes speakers sound even further above their price point. I've never looked back or regretted the decision to install them over a year ago. Your recent review here of the Gaiia's is one of the best, most comprehensive I've seen anywhere. Good job! Lots of good reviews of Gaiia's on this forum, so there's something there for sure.

Re the PC switch, I assume you're going to experiment with replacing the Heimdall 2 PC on the DAC with the stock cord again and see how that sounds now that you have the P20 feeding such clean power??? I'll be very interested in what you hear! I've wondered for awhile how much of what an upgraded power cord does is in cleaning up the effects of dirty power coming in vs preventing subsequent noise intrusion in the cord, and cleaning up noise generated by processing in the device it's feeding.

Have fun and keep us posted.

Thanks!

Rick

anthem,

Unfortunately (or fortunately in this case), I'm not married, so I don't have to worry about reactions to my spending on audio. Just my own...

Rick,

I do plan to do that experiment with the PCs, and I'll let you know what I hear or don't hear.

On the Gaias, I'm an ex mechanical engineer, and it's gratifying to finally run into something mechanical that has as big an effect as all the electronic stuff! It's amazing that even at this leve, the difference can be so remarkable.

Charlie

OK, guys, as promised. The PC switch evaluation.

I should mention that this is the first time I've ever done a pure A/B comparison with power cords like this. Up till now I had taken it on faith that things were better, but I had multiple changes going on, so it was hard to separate what was responsible for what. I was kind of afraid to do an A/B for fear that I'd find out I'd wasted a bunch of money on power cords!

I have been running a Heimdall 2 PC from my P20 to my DSPeaker Anti-Mode X4, which is used for room EQ, and as a DAC/Pre. I switched out the Heimdall and put back the original PC that came with the DSPeaker. It's a heavier gage, three-conductor standard power cord, nothing special. I listened to the same pieces of music starting with the Heimdall, then switching to the stock PC, with the volume level unchanged. After listening to the stock cord, I went back to the Heimdall and listened a third time to confirm what I was hearing.

As usual with these things, I assumed there would be no change. Well....there was! The most obvious change was a reduction in bass and lower midrange energy, so piano sounded brighter and a bit harsher. Not as engaging as with the Heimdall. Another orchestral piece had a flatter soundstage. There seemed to be plenty of detail there, but something was just flattening things a bit. Finally I played Beyonce's Partition, which has this swooping bass synth that plunges down to the very bottom, a real room shaker. With the stock PC that bass was less well defined and had less energy.

It's an interesting change. The sound with the Heimdall is not so much warmer as sounding better balanced with a natural sounding richness. The stock PC had a definitely thinner and and a little harsher sound, especially on the piano recording I listened to. The Steinway was brighter sounding and weaker in the bass. Back to the Heimdall, and the piano was THERE.

The bigger, more obvious change seems to be in the amplitude of the lower frequencies. I was thinking what might cause this, and the only thing I can think of is the stock PC might have more parallel inductance (or series capacitance), so that the low frequencies get attenuated. But there's probably a lot more to it than that. The soundstage compression may have to do with something else, maybe even the insulation on the PC. Different cables, different connectors, different materials, different construction geometry. These things are real, but remain mysterious.

So now what!? If the Heimdall 2 is that much better, I wonder what the real high end power cables sound like.

Argh.

Charlie

Rick, I forgot to mention. Thank you for your comments on my Gaia review. If you haven't, see if you can find a copy of the latest (November) Stereophile, where Michael Fremer tries them on his own high end speakers. A very interesting review where he said pretty much the same stuff everybody has been saying.

I agree that speaker manufacturers should get on this bandwagon, and I think they will. Certainly, the Gaias should be offered as an upgrade option. The difference is spectacular.

Charlie