Classic 60SE tube Question

[mgttr]

Since you seem a bit of a tweaker, curious if you've played around with different power cords into your Classic 60SE amp? I haven't gone there yet but also haven't found much regarding CJ peeps experimenting with options. Have to say my CT5 pre-amp did not change dramatically with the couple of cords I tried.

The power cable I got with my Classic 60SE was an ordinary looking cable that was 14ga and ridiculously long, like 10 or 12ft. I bought it used so I can't say if that's the original cable or not. I'm a big fan of the Shunyata Venom cable series - they seem to provide good performance for a reasonable price. I have their power cables on all my gear, and I'm using their interconnects and speaker cables too.

I first put a 1.75M Venom V14 (14ga) on the amp (I didn't even bother with the super long cable). Later on I stumbled into a good deal on a 1.75M Shunyata Venom HC (10ga!) and I bought it because I was curious to see if it improved the sound. I have to confess that I really didn't hear any difference going from the Venom V14 to the Venom HC. Of course a 10ga cable is ridiculous overkill for a 60wpc amp - I didn't think I really needed it but I just wanted to try it because I got it cheap.

The V14 cable is pretty cheap (for a "hi-fi" power cable) at $125, and I think I snagged the HC cable for $200. Shunyata has since introduced some new models that I probably would have tried if they had been available when I bought my gear - one of the new items being a version of the V14 that is specifically designed to filter out crap from digital equipment (I have a Bryston BDA-3 DAC, OPPO BDP-105, and a Roon Nucleus music server with a Teddy Pardo power supply). You can see the whole range of the Venom series at https://shunyata.com/view-cables-by-ser ... _tag=venom

My power conditioner is a PS Audio Dectet with a PS Audio AC3 1.5M power cable going to the wall outlet. The Dectet was $500 which is about all I felt like spending on a conditioner and I got the AC3 power cable on another sale that was too good to pass up.

[mgttr]

I should add that I have a hard time with the concept of spending big money on power cables - I can't say that I've heard any differences between any power cables (then again I don't have any real expensive ones either). I'm dubious of these reviews that claim huge improvements in the sound just by changing power cables. Interconnects and speaker cables are another story - I have definitely heard differences there.

[roberto]

Hola mgttr,

Admin has built beautiful AC power cables. I might have a little tip for you. After half one hour of playing the music in your system, touch the male and female connectors of the power cables. If you have one with little warm, you should change it for a heavier gauge cable, that particular power cable. Also you should get a more amps connector. You can buy them at any hardware store or if you like the nice ones, Ebay has them too a very fair price.

https://www.amazon.com/Viborg-Copper-Rh ... 0J0ZSTR9G0

You can use heavy wire with this type of connectors and are safe up to 15A. Look how Admin did the job.

Happy listening!

[admin]

I have also experimented a little with power cables including Shunyata as well as making my own as Roberto mentioned above. I have not noticed very significant changes but I think this is system dependent as many/most audiophiles do employ high end cables. At the very least I had a fun time making my personally designed cable. The typical CJ power cables are pretty minimalistic in my opinion. Not that they are bad, but power cables do offer a simple way to upgrade from stock.

[mgttr]

I thought it was interesting that Audio Research supplied a heavy 14ga power cable with the LS17SE preamp I just bought. The maximum power consumption on that component is only 50W, so that didn't justify a 14ga cable. Audio Research must think there is some advantage then to using oversize power cables.

[ajf75]

Well I certainly agree that power cords impacting sound, beyond insufficient gauge for current draw, falls deep into voodoo territory for some (interconnects carry music signal so much easier to accept), But I've previously satisfied my own curiosity on this via The Cable Co who lets you take as many as 6 cables at a time with the intention of buying 1 or none in end. I did that a few times in the earlier days of building my system (also with interconnects) and have heard obvious good/bad differences in CD transport, DAC, and pre-amp with none of these pieces requiring high current flow (recall the ARC LS15 being very sensitive to pc changes unlike my current CT5).

All I'm saying is that I'm personally convinced that predicting a power cord's sonic impact based on the wire gauge doesn't work so good. And my current theory is simply that the CT5 power supply section is designed in a way to be less affected by whats in coming.

PS during that phase and in observing the small gauge captive pc on my MV-55 (had the P11 also, but not the ARTsa so no amps with plug in cords), i hard wire swapped for another cord of larger gauge (from a top audiophile name) that I convinced myself might be better. It sounded so bad (bloated, sloppy, muddy) that I was initially concerned I inadvertently damaged something else while inside. Decided to let it play for a full week for burn in and it didn't get much better. Re-wired in the orig cord and was right back to the MV-55 sound I know so well.

[roberto]

Hola,

My experience with power cables is somewhat good and nice. I have a friend who had all Transparent cables, from power cords, speaker and IC. He passed the way, and his wife said, Roberto, take whatever you want from this system. I am going to sell it, you were very close friends, and you can have whatever you want from his system. I know he will be there with you, if you do that. OK, I got a lot of power cords, having three black boxes in the cable. The name is PowerLink Super Power Cord. At the beginning I was very skeptical with this...but when my ears got used to the it, and made a change, I found what it was doing to my music.

First thing that I did notice was that with this cable, the music was more transparent, more crystal clear sound...and noise...the noise floor was better. The bass was robust and well defined. With my original cable, I had the opposite. I said to my self, are you really listening all this? Then, a brought to home, two dear friends that I do respect their hearing abilities.

I did not say a word about of my findings, and after an hour or so of listening with my first old power cord, I made a change at the amplifier. Then, I got all my observations and much more. One of my friends pointed out about the image that I was getting. The newer cable made more sense of 3D and the deepest bass lower musical notes now are more easy to tell, the are more accurate. Precision was the word that he mention. So, this is a world of wonders. Some are very subjective and I do love the subjective world.

There are a lot of music lovers that say, a cable is cable...and a zip cord is the same than any other cable. Also they say that all amplifiers sound the same. And thanks to God, my ears are telling me a different thing.

Again, I have to prise what Admin did: to build those beautiful power cables.

Happy listening!

[mgttr]

Roberto, I experienced much the same thing as you did, while listening at a friend's house (he has a nice system B&W 801's, Krell monoblocks). We swapped in some Transparent interconnects and both of us were astonished at the improvement that they made. It impressed him enough that he converted all the interconnects and speaker cables in his system to Transparent. It's certainly not cheap however.

[roberto]

Yup,

And many people say this is pure snake oil. I do respect their believe, but my ears keep telling me a different thing. I usually say: trust in your ears and do what please them.

Happy listening!