Humbler Power Cables for Stellar PowerPlant & M700s

I am building a new audio room (finally) and have a few questions about power cables. First thing to know is I’m not super-rich and I’m happy to upgrade as I go. For instance, last year I bought my first higher-grade interconnect and speaker cables, probably spending about $800, so I guess that’s “entry-level” audiophile, but I heard a significant improvement. For the new room, I’m going the Stellar route with the PowerPlant 3 and M700 mono blocks. I’m feeding the room with dedicated 20A 10AWG lines. I see that you suggest AudioQuest Monsoon AC cables for the Stellar series, but I’m going to have to steal all my wife’s butter & egg money to come up with the thousand bucks to Monsoon them all. I sure don’t want to defeat the advantages of the dedicated line, but is there something that will be almost as good as the Monsoons for maybe $750? Non-AQ is OK too.

You’ll certainly get a lot of opinions on this. I’m using Audience Forte F3 power cables with my M700s and the rest of my gear. It’s a budget power cable that gives great results.

Check out the Pangea Audio line of power cables

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Another one to look at would be Iconoclast Cables BAV line of power cables
https://www.iconoclastcable.com/bav/index.htm

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I have no idea how they compare to the Monsoon, but you can get three Shunyata Venom HC V2’s at MD for $595. They have a package deal that saves 33% compared to buying them individually.

https://www.musicdirect.com/shunyata-venom-hc-v2-power-pak-cable-bundle

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How long do you need? My friend Nick can get you a deal on the Monsoon for a lot less than $750 a pair. I also have my 2m thunder for sale.

+1 on the Iconoclast BAV

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Hey Paul, since I can specify where the outlets will be in the room, I can get away with cables as short as 2-ft. each, but I really want to get 3 so the whole enchilada is consistent.

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Well you might very well win because of your name. Jazz is my preferred music. So the M700s and the Fortes do justice to acoustic jazz?

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The shortest that they make without going custom is 1m so 3’3”. So that would be less money. I would bet you’d be a little over $500 for 2 1m Monsoon. The BAV is also a good choice.

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Yes, I listen to mostly jazz. I’ve been very pleased with the Fortes and they were within my budget. I tried Pangea, which I found good but kind of dark, and the Viborg that’s supposed to be the famed CPT cable that they and another hi-fi company were/are passing off as a much more expensive cable (that’s a long read on Audiogon forum), and the Stealth HAC. The Forte sounded best with my gear.

Even more effective than upgrading the power cable itself was my experiment with power conditioning and the M700s. They seem to not like power conditioning, and prefer to be plugged directly into the wall. I understand this is true with Class D amps in most cases. To accomplish that with only one dedicated outlet, I use the Pangea Premier XL power strip. The strip is connected with a Forte as well.

In my direct-to-wall experiment, I tried a Furman Elite 15 PFi, APC units of various “good for audio” kinds, Waudio, and the ifi AC purifier. Interestingly, the ifi has the best effect with the Stellar GCD and Arcam CDS-50, but, like the other units I tried, seem to put a veil over the M700.

I haven’t tried a Power Plant with the M700, but hope to do so in the near future.

If your dealer doesn’t have the Fortes to try, you can give The Cable Company a call. They have a lending library for some of their stuff. I don’t know if the Fortes are part of that library.

Good luck on your quest. Cables, like all hi-fi gear, are very subjective. One person’s gold is another person’s trash.

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If you’re considering the Audience Forté you won’t likely do better than AudioConnexion’s BoGo Two for One deal: https://www.audio-connexion.com/AURIC-85530a.html

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That’s a great deal for sure. That’s on-point for what I paid for each when I got them on a special sale for $125US each.

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Man, thanks for the reply. I LOVE this forum - people just honestly trying to help, without being judgmental about budget, etc.

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I have oft-stated, this forum is an oasis in the desert that is the uncivilized “interwebs”.

Our host, admins and “frequent fliers” work pretty hard to keep it that way. Most of us here appreciate what we have and would like to hang on to it.

I don’t know if you are into home theater or not but HTFE Home Theater for Everyone on Facebook is another rarity - a great place to congregate with fellow enthusiasts.

Cheers.

PS

I can’t believe you think power cables will make a difference in your system.

:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Just kidding.

PSS

+1 regarding Pangea power cables. Very robust, relatively affordable and often available used, second hand and on special. For example, check out the current clearance listings at AudioAdvisor:
https://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=84

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Thanks. What I can’t believe is that I’m believing that a power cord could make a difference in my system. But from what I’m reading, it really does, and a lot of it unexplained by science. You asked about home theater - unfortunately I’m visually impaired, so I guess it makes me care less about what goes into my eyes and more about my ears.

Another good resource for used cables.

Well, conventional wisdom suggests that you will probably appreciate/discern changes to your system that increase clarity, decrease grunge and noise, etc. (or do the opposite) more than many of us.

I am a bit of an agnostic when it comes to power cables because I believe there needs to be a deficiency with a cable design, its proximity to other cables and/or room for improvement with the power supplies of the kit that is being fed the power, for power (different) cables to make a difference.

If you are having trouble sleeping some night, I found this to be informative :slight_smile: :

The author is a designer and purveyor of aftermarket power cables, conditioners, etc. (Shunyata products/Shunyata Research, Inc.), but many find him to be credible (myself included) and Shunyata products are pretty well regarded.

Anyway, the misconceptions addressed in the article go along way in sorting myth from fact and ignorance from knowledge.

Regards.

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By the way, power cables of less than three feet apparently could be problematic under certain circumstance. For example, from the article I linked to in a earlier post:

“Since a power cord is composed of a hot and neutral wire that the component sits between, a change in the length of the cord will increase the size of the “buffer” around the component. In general, I would not recommend a power cord that is shorter than 3 feet or 1 meter in length. But subtle degrees of audio performance are not the only consideration when putting together an audio system. Esthetics is also important especially when the system is located in a beautiful home. I just point out the performance differences so that people can make an informed decision when determining the optimum length for their cables.”

[Source: WHY POWER CABLES MAKE A DIFFERENCE | Galen Carol Audio | Galen Carol Audio]

Anyone try either of the recently introduced iFi power cables?