The difference between the Audioquest Dragon Source and High Current is the diameter of the three conductors in each strand for L and N. All three conductors in the Dragon Source are solid core PSS silver. In the high-current version, two conductors are made of PSS silver and one conductor is made of PSC + copper. The Fierbird HC has one PSS conductor made of silver and two PSC+ conductors made of copper. The Firebird Source has two silver conductors and one copper conductor. (Same as Dragon HC with other AWG) This also makes the Dragon HC and the source sound different, and not just because of the different thicknesses of the conductors. The Zenwave cables only have a braided copper grounding conductor. All conductors are Neotech OCC 6N type rectangular flat silver conductors. The Neotech OCC Silver Conductor is one of the finest silver conductors available.
It would be interesting to compare the Audioquest Dragon HC used on a source that requires less power then sounds the same as an Audioquest Firebird source. I couldnāt make this comparison because I didnāt have a Fierbird source. In my system, a Hurricane source sounded better than Dragon HC and Fierbird HC at the sources. Both offered less resolution than the source Hurricane. A Hurricane HC in comparison lacks resolution versus Fierbird HC and Dragon HC offers the highest resolution of the Storm series of amplifiers. HC is not actually designed for this, the HC were designed for amplifiers.
I concur with Lucaās finding, Dragon HC does not work well with digital sources and DAC, but for BHK pre it works great in my system.
Donald, what is the fuse and amperage for the BHK preamp? Does he need more power? The HC sounds better there than the source? What are the differences there? Donāt you have an AM M1 in the preamp? It could be that the Dragon likes to have an M1 to get more color in the mids. Does the socket sound a little better?
It is a 2A for USA model, and I have a AM M-1 fuse in it. Dragon HC is not necessary ābetterā than Dragon Source at the BHK pre, but it is not as āagressiveā as when using it in the streamer and PST. Source sounded more refined and HC sounded more powerful. It comes down to personal taste and systems.
Furutech may have improved slightly, but it is not really sounding great yet.
On my Edge Nq, which is a streamer, preamp and DAC in one, I had a covert dark sound with the Dragon and the Fierbird HC. Fuse at the time were Hifituning supreme silver/gold and Padis Furutech. With HC on the amplifier and power plant it sounded much better. With Dragon alone, it was more dynamic than ever, but I felt it sounded a little cold or thin. The Fierbird sounded fuller and warmer. In contrast to the Dragon, the dynamics were missing and the stage was smaller, but it made the sounds much more tangible. A mix of Dragon on the amp and Fierbird on the power plant sounded more correct. But it slowed down the dragonās crazy momentum. The PSR is dynamically as fast as the Dragon? Possibly it gets too warm with the PSR 14 on the preamplifier in connection with the AM M1. Vmax also had better balance with Dragon and M1. The PSR and M1 connection could tend towards a warmer sound.
If it works with the Dragon HC on your preamp, it might be a good idea to have similar cables behind the power plant.
The Dragon HC sounds better there than your other cable?
PSR has a fuller sound, and a sweeter mid-range. But, it does not sound warm at all, It is sounding on the cooler side just like Dragon. When I have both in the system, the sound turned into āgreyā instead of āwarmā. I probably should go back to remove the word āwarmā in previous posts, as well as saying HC is ābetterā than Source at pre.
One PSR-11 in the generator with other Dragons in the chain has made a noticeble improvement by bring in the SQ to a fuller, denser, faster, dynamic, and retaining all the details. Lifelike is a perfect word to describe the SQ.
Actually It is just hard to describe with words. One thing I have not tried with PSR-14 is to put it in Pre alone, and with Dragon HC still in P15 to compare. But it is too late now.
With PST-11 in P15, both Dragon HC and Source worked in pre. I did not lose any detail when using HC, and it did not give me a punchy and expressive SQ like it did in Lumin. But I always have Dragon S in the pre, and it always sounded great. I can live with either one depending on what type of music I am playing.
How late? Do you mean the time or because of the socket? You should be able to hear a difference. You still have a cable that you had before. Havenāt you tested all the combinations yet?
The sound is a bit less enjoyable now, and I will give myself a break too. My wife is sick of me playing the same playlist all day. Maybe after golfing on Thursday Iāll try it.
Maybe itās more comfortable with the PSR 14 instead of the Dragon HC as long as the socket is still burning in? And you recheck Dragon on PS 15 vs PSR 11
Weāre going out for most of the day tomorrow anyway, and hopefully the system will sound better a couple of days from now.
Itās a blessing in disguise. Once you pull the master fuse the sonic landscape goes to infinity And the constriction choking off bass and ringing mids and highs are replaced with natural sounds
My latest upgrade is a 43" computer monitor. The monitor has made reading and navigating on this forum easier, but hasnāt made comments funnier, yet
Have you tried squinting?
Another streamer.
Watched it. Interesting they say they designed their own RPi board. They said for SQ, but I wonder how much of that is supply chain related vs. wanting to do this. The overall design seems thought out. Second streamer (Airlens) being announced NO USB.
You understand the AirLens is just a Bridge 3 donāt you? Ethernet to I2S. I canāt believe that after all that has been written about it some of you still donāt understand this.
Since there are so many network streamers, and more each day, there is something to be said about choosing simply on the comedy value of the name.
If only Schitt could have teamed up with Denafrips on the Arce projectā¦
Would Schitt named it Arsse then?
We went to Half Moon Bay nurseries to get some flowers, then we had lunch at a place by the beach. Afterward we decided going home instead going to more nurseries (bought enough plants).
PSA has a major software updates on DS MK2 today. After upload FW the system sounded a lot better. Maybe it is a combination of FW and Furutech NCF break-in. Dave told me his old Psr-11 demo needed a few days to settle after traveling too. Because he told me I should not experience what I told him so far.
Anyway, I will resume the power cords comparison tomorrow night to let them settle more.