In my system the 1x4 and 4x4 put more elbow room between instrumental and vocal sounds no matter the complexity of the music. Users of the 1x4 and 4x4 can make comment that have used both designs.
To my ear this added “space” removes the Stereo from the presentation a little more.
Best,
Galen
Thanks Galen. Looking forward to hearing them.
Greg
The first comments are here from the BAV Power Cables. A few of the comments.
"Bob,
These cables are something else. Everything is bigger and spacious.
You guys have nailed more detail and musicality 
The midrange is so balanced. The PS Audio AC-5 was too bright possibly, mids were somewhere but something off…
The AQ Monsoon (which Ps Audio recommends) is not a good cable IMO… dark sounding… narrowing. Almost like the AQ Monsoon reduces the harmonic information while your cable increases it.
It’s like the system is a lot easier to listen to… "
AND
“BAV is so detailed and dynamic. It sounds like I’m right there! It sounds like a new system. Can’t wait to hear what the Iconoclast line is gonna sound like!”
Everyone have a great weekend. Get out of the house and do something fun!!
The BAV power cords are here, I have one with the Tech flex on it, looks great, but my listening chair is not located at the power rack, so i can’t see it any ways… so the other two are raw cables…no tech flex , i ll swap the first one on the preamp give it a listen… replacing a Pangea 14SE MKii … ill report something in a day or two. Greg
That’s funny. I’m also named Greg, am waiting on my BAVs, and also will be replacing some Pangaea cords, and others (including Cerious Graphene, WaveForm, PSA, and Shunyata), with them.
I’d be curious to see how they compare to Shunyata Venom which are similarly priced.
I haven’t done an a/b yet but they appear to have brought a larger change than my shunyata alpha.
How can we order with tech flex? Which awg is everyone recommending for amp, dac and preamp?
Thanks
Falling_leaves, i started with the 12 gauge for preamp and dac, cd transport. i am going to try it on my power amps as well. ill see if i need to move up to the 10 for my amps.
Just reach out to Bob directly. No way to choose that option on the temporary website. I ordered 14 for my sources [DAC, clock, upsampler] and 10 for my amps and Torus. All with Techflex.
Lets understand the basics of what we KNOW a power cord does;
When we pull CURRENT through a power cord, any power cord, it will drop VOLTAGE onto the cord from the wall outler. That 120 volts won’t all go to the device at the other end based on the DC resistance of the cord, and the current drawn. Delivered voltage FLUCTUATES as the demand varies.
So if we pull 0.5 amps at an instant in time and our power cord has a resitance of 0.5 ohm, we will lose E=I*R= 0.5 amps x 0.5 ohms = 0.25 volts across the power cord as an example. This isn’t a deal killer but if you draw 20 amps in a HUGE amp that’s now 10 volts drop on the 0.5-ohm total resistance cord…maybe an issue. This is why big amps are harder to test, the wall voltage changes too much! It isn’t only the amp that is being tested anymore but the power delivery system.
The more power you draw the lower the cords DC resistance has to be to not modulate the power loss over a large voltage swing. The voltage modulation follows the power cords DC resistance for a given current. More resistance equals a larger voltage modulation at the end of the cord. The power cord is LOAD, too. No magic there. We lose some energy in the cord as it is in series with the wall outlet and the device. The voltage divider rule splits up who gets what voltage in a series circuit. Parallel circuit do the opposite, they split the current instead of the voltage.
The device’s power supply uses capacitors to smooth over these voltage fluctuations in the delivered voltage with a bunch of capacitors. The ability to hold what is called RIPPLE, or variations in the DC voltage based on current draw from the capacitors, is a spec that indicated how well the power supply can tolerate voltage fluctuations from the cord based on it’s resistance. The better the supply the less the DC will RIPPLE with varying voltage at the end of the power cord. All power supplies have to anticiate this modulate voltage and deign based on the CURRENT draw expected through the AC delivery “system”.
SOURCE devices don’t draw much current and don’t need larger cords (I use 14 AWG to all my SOURCES; T-Table, DAC, DISC Player ETC). The larger current draw devices, for the P20 and amps I use 10 AWG for better voltage delivery BUT, and just as important, to keep the GROUND point at the device and the wall as near the same as I can to minimize ground loop noise (hum). This is also DC resistance and current proportional. Bad ground differential is why we get HUM in our systems. Lower DCR cord help this not get WORSE if you have a high resitance junction somehere, they can’t FIX IT, though. series DC resistance all just adds up until we have a problem.
The passive RF properties of the dielectric are the same on all the BAV cords. As you go up in frequency the cord looks more and more high impedance and attenuates the unwanted signals going down the cord. This is backwards of delivering the power we want. Here, the cord should be the “device” that gets that voltage and not the device we are sending it to. I “trick” the RF signal into dropping voltage in the cord, not the device. In theory yu want the cord to look like an open circuit to RF. This is what those Ferrite collars do around a cord…they CHOKE the signal above a frequency. I do this without using a choke.
We want to waste that RF voltage in the cord so…I selected a dielectric that does that. Whatever is a higher impedance at a specific frequency will drop the most voltage. The Rs traces show the properties in the cord’s dielectric.
You all know by now about the P20’s output impedance being cut in HALF, right? Well, this is so we DO NOT lose power “inside” the P20! Yep, we want that power to go OUT to the devices and not be used up inside the P20…same kind of thing. So again, the devices IMPEDANCE is what determines WHERE the “signal” all ends up…eventually. All the decives in the chain steal some away and we want the right devices getting the goods.
A power cord isn’t magic as every cord does this. The differences are in the passive RF supression. We can use various methods to remove RF; dissipate the RF, shields to block and attenuate it external to the cord, do nothing and use capacitor shunt to ground in the power supply (yes, those are there, too) or use Ferrite CHOKES, or any combination. Some methods can interfere with low INDUCTANCE to allow current to flow INSTANTANEOUSLY in a wire. Keeping inductance low is important so watch that spec is good.
The BAV cords make sure we have a quality low DCR cord and connector with good passive RF absorption yet retain low inductance for varying instantaneous current draw. The fancyness is making sure I keep the cords WORKING well and at good price. Doing both is not easy, just a low price is easy. Just don’t pay any attention to the cords in-use properties and RF issues. Do that and the selection gets narrower and narrower for a quality cord. If that’s magic than OK, I did do that, select the best based on TESTING that anyone can do. Testing is not making the cord however, and I was lucky to find that Belden already had a really good cord and no one knew it. We win! Sometimes you get luck. That luck got you a nice well made cord that should work well and exceed the expectation for the price. We hope you like it. The market needed another option for the most of us in this hobby.
Best,
Galen Gareis (you know you can’t type if you mess up your own last name!)
And not just from a price perspective. It’s great to have proper, documentable, verifiable engineering in the cable market.
Thank you sir, for pointing them in the right direction. We have had some online ordering issues that are close to being fixed but we have not focused on making the tech flex option online until we get the rest of it straightened out. Please feel free to simply email with what you would like to order and I will place the order manually. You may also give me a call to discuss. bhoward@iconoclastcable.com
I just took delivery of a new BAV 1O gauge power cable which now feeds my P15. I decided not to get the Flex material. In my system it would have been a needless extra expense. I am always pleasantly surprised at how quickly products arrive from Blue Jeans Cable, my hats off to the folks there.
My immediate impression out of the box. The connectors are substantial and well made. The BAV easily matches the performance of the Perfectwave AC 12 cable I purchased for over $1000.00 years ago. The background seems blacker, which allows for better bass slam, extended treble, clarity and realism.
I intend to listen further, and swap the AC 12 cables back in before reaching a final verdict. However, if the trend continues I’m forming mixed feelings about Galen and Bob. I’m not sure if I like them for introducing me to cable which improves my enjoyment of the music, or hate them for tempting me to alter my budget plans to buy more BAV cable. I guess I could sell my old cables to raise funds.
I will certainly not be purchasing any power cables in the near future other than Iconoclast.
Galen
Is there a potential sound quality downside to a larger gauge power cable on a low power component like a CD transport or DAC? For example, why not go all 10 gauge with your power cables? The price differential are low enough not to really matter.
Ron,
No, no downside on the sound but…there can be a usability downside with larger HEAVY cables pulling out of those IEC sockets easier. Same connector and heavier cable is just the physics. And, bending moment (force needed to bend the cable) means a larger natural bend radius. Even with the best retention blades we could find, big cable are HEAVY and use larger bend requirements.
So even though 10 AWG size is economical, I’d try before you buy. I use 14 AWG on sources and the heavier 10 AWG on my floor placed amps and P20.
Be realistic on the use factor as well as the performance. The DCR in a low current short length cable won’t drop much voltage across the cable and modulate the delivered AC power. A big amp is one thing but your sources?
We’ll take your money but only what is necesary to get you what you should have. More than that is up to you! Try a 14 AWG verses a 10 AWG on a SOURCE, first.
Best,
Galen
Thanks Galen.
I have compared the BAV 12 gauge power cable to the Pangea 14SEMKII that I have been using for a few years on my Schiit Freya preamp, its a clear winner over the Pangea, much more clear and dynamic, better low end definition and clarity. This is a keeper. Tried the two other remaining BAV 12 gauge power cables on my Schiit Gungnir Multi-bit and my Cambridge Audio cxc Transport. I had a Pangea 14 SEMKII on the Schiit Gungnir , the clearness of this cable was welcome on my system, all the instrument had more space over the Pangea , less of a digital feel to the sound than the Pangea. I love the sound of this dac and now i like even more with this power cable. Now mind you, I’m comparing it to a cable that I have been using and know very well.
On my mono block Schiit Vidar amps, I was using the Pangea AC9 power cord, I still like that cable over the BAV 12 on my amps. I did order the BAV 10 gauge to put on the amps, these amps have their own dedicated lines for each amp. I am confident these cables will do great things in my system. They should be here this Thursday, I’ll report back. Greg
I bowed to peer pressure 
and ordered a cable. . . should have it by Monday. Will break it in somewhere in my headphone system and then use it to replace one of the PS Audio AC-12 in my main system and see how that fares.
I replaced a Decware DHC-1 with the BAV 10AWG. Going into a Decware ZMA. Just pulled the old and plugged the new in without turning Anything off. The amp will play for a good 5-7 seconds once the power has been turned off.
Very slight difference. The BAV seemed to warm up the sound a bit.
I’m really happy with the cable. When I can travel again I’ll compare it to a few different cables from $300-2200.