I am considering different power cables for the M800s and would like to hear some ideas on cables you have used. I was using VH Audio AirSine’s and BAV’s on BHK amps and despite the price difference the BAV’s were close to the AirSine’s. The Oyaide connector on the AirSine does not fully insert into a P20 (slightly longer ground pin) so the AirSines are retired.
Although I have no real complaints with the BAV’s I suspect I can get improvements with others. I am looking for a high current amp cable that gives a neutral tonal balance with the M800s. I want to avoid a darker tonal balance and would chose to err on the lighter side. Yes I know this is all highly system dependent but I was hoping to get some clues as to what to expect. So far I am considering the Audioquest Tornado and one of the Voodoo’s but don’t have experience with either brand. At this point I am leaning towards the AQ unless someone says it is dark/bloated, which I really doubt. Other suggestions are also welcome.
I can suggest Zavfino OCC Silver Dart Graphene power cord because I like it a little better than AQ Hurricane. They do not sound dark at all but neutral. But it is the stiffest cord than anything I have tried so you need room for installation.
I use the BAV power cables on the P20s (20a version) and on the S400 and Rel subs. I don’t detect any shortcomings. But this is for the bass section and the M800s on the upper section may well be different.
I will certainly post the results here although it could take some time. If it seems I may have forgotten feel free to remind me in this thread.
I haven’t gone through them in detail yet. One aspect is the connector type. I lean towards the rhodium plating of the Dynasty or Tesla but would prefer to spend less than the Tesla.
Amps are Jeff Rowland 501 monoblocks with an Infinity power cable each coming from a Running Springs Audio Duke power conditioner, which is connected by way of their upgraded HZ power cable connected to a dedicated 20a circuit I only use for these amps. Hope this helps. I have a very modest system, but I’m happy with it.
I do not want to discourage you from improving power cables to your power amps, but I have found that better power cables make MUCH more of an improvement on dac’s and preamps, and if you don’t have killer power cables on those, I would focus there first versus on the amps.
Front end is PMG transport/512 dac/pre, speakers are FR30 with M800 on upper module and S400 on lower. ICs and speaker cables are Iconoclast. Powered by P20s. More details on Audio Asylum under same moniker.
Source components and pre (all PMG) use Oyaide Tunami V2 which I think are pretty decent. The weak link now is the BAVs on the M800s, at least that’s my guess. Your point about source component power cables is certainly valid and I may need to reevaluate those later. Right now the BAVs on the M800s are kinda nagging at me.
I shouldn’t rag on the BAVs too much since the level of performance I’m getting is outstanding. And they inexpensive.
There was still black goo oozed out of SC banana heads the last time I cleaned my SC connectors. Don’t wear your best clothes when handling this “magic oil”.
Jerry, the caliber of your system could well benefit from power cables equal to the task, or should I say, the quality of the PMG M800/400 combination. I’ve found that power cables on amps can have as much improvement as with source components, and, often the most uptick came with putting it first on the power source, the P20 in your case.
These cable revelations came after many shootouts via the Cable Company in the early days. More recently they have taken me through complete power ups from Iconoclast (silver plate), Audioquest (Dragon), and currently Stealth (Dream Series). Every time I thought the new guy would be the last guy, end game. My ears said otherwise and my wallet followed because the bump was most often a component level upgrade. To put it in perspective, a loom of better cables should give you that leap you experienced with the move to the PMG Series. You may have to invest as you have with your components (roughly half of component cost, I have found) but you won’t have a weak link in your chain.
Once at that level, the cable should unequivocally sound “right”. No character of its own, just a clean gateway to what will be revealed by the component.
I made the assumption that high end cables followed a law of diminishing returns. My experience told me otherwise. Time to get your system in blissful balance.
Yes, I’ve been whispering that to myself for a while but now that it’s out in the open … . I will certainly go in that direction but I should take a breather given the past year. I ordered three AQ Hurricanes for the pre and 800s. I can’t imagine any incompatibility since PSA uses AQ cables. These should give an idea how AQ cables work in my system and I’ll go from there. I may not get to the Stealth level.
Thanks for the info. I will post about the AQ’s shortly.
Enjoy your journey. The AQ Hurricanes had a couple good years in my system back in the day. You will appreciate the step up from entry level cables and your PMG gear will love ‘em too.
