Experimenting with power cables

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QuestForThe13thNote

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Has anyone experimented with different power cables to tune the sound to the way they like it, especially on power amps. If so which ones and what were the differences between cables.

im not sure I can get used to some Titan Audio Helios cables I’m trialling as the bass depth is a bit much. They are very good though and with detail too, and add an awful lot to the system.

I’m only really interested in people’s opinions in the positive, not a cable debate.
 

MajorFubar

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QuestForThe13thNote said:
im not sure I can get used to some Titan Audio Helios cables I’m trialling as the bass depth is a bit much.

Congratulations on being the first person in history to ask for advice on the forum about curtailing their speakers' deep bass response :)
 

CnoEvil

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Do you have room to experiment with speaker position?...ie. further from walls and corners.

Is your seating position in a bass hotspot, or against a back wall?
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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Can’t really experiment with position. Actually I’m now thinking the bass is perhaps not such a problem. The thing is because there is so much detail on offer, sometimes on new recordings where the high frequencies are good, you get this sort of high frequency haziness around the vocals. Just listening to elbow and it’s doing it, but put on something older like frank Sinatra and it’s not there.

Im taking it by your replies you’ve never tried power cables cno evil and Fubar?
 

CnoEvil

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QuestForThe13thNote said:
Im taking it by your replies you’ve never tried power cables cno evil and Fubar?

...and that's the problem with assumptions....and i don't understand how you can decide that from my reply.

On a system as competent as yours, bass issues are almost always room/positioning related.
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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I didn’t assume or decide, I asked you if you have tried. That’s was what I posed in post 1
 

ellisdj

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I think CNo has touched on an interesting point here.

You may setup your system with one lot of kit - then you improve the kit - does that mean the setup is still correct.

Maybe the new kit allows you to hear the limitations of your setup more clearly - its a very good point
 

CnoEvil

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QuestForThe13thNote said:
I didn’t assume or decide, I asked you if you have tried. That’s was what I posed in post 1

"Im taking it by your replies you’ve never tried power cables"...is assuming.

If you believe in the positive effect of Power Cables, which I do....and I've heard Titan Power cables (Helios/Electra/Eos), though not on my system.....then when they do what they are supposed to do, then I look to other weaknesses, rather than different Power Cables.
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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Question mark used. I like the way you miss that out.

.....But if I buy a speaker cable and it doesn’t do the right sound qualities I want, I don’t think I need to accept it, as I can tune the sound to what I like using by buying a different cable. My speakers work well with placement and best possible, not close to walls, forward atl ports etc.
 

CnoEvil

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QuestForThe13thNote said:
Question mark used. I like the way you miss that out.

.....But if I buy a speaker cable and it doesn’t do the right sound qualities I want, I don’t think I need to accept it, as I can tune the sound to what I like using by buying a different cable. My speakers work well with placement and best possible, not close to walls, forward atl ports etc.

IMO. The sentiment in your statement was clear (otherwise why say it at all)....which was you assumed from my reply, that I hadn't tried power cables....anyway that aside....and I'm talking as a cable believer....is that what a Power Cable does, is fundamentally different to what other cables do. It is my opinion (and generally my experience) that supplying, especially power amps, with current in the way good Power Cables do, usually has a marked effect on the Bass, making it more powerful and detailed. I believe, that if you are experiencing issues, it is as a result of this. So the answer is (preferably), not to reduce your new found bass, but mitigate any ill effects, if possible.

How far from the walls/corners are your speakers and what does PMC recommend as ideal?
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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I think I agree with you on the bass front. As the bass is just more real. Just got to get used to it. I think in all fairness though the premise of your point about something else being the issue is a good one, but not room placement as that can’t be changed and is a compromise. The speakers are 40 to 50cms from the walls, bang in middle of room.

So on the point of something else, It got me thinking that the speaker wire may no longer be a match. The power cables have hiked detail too so using silver coated copper chord epic reference, is bringing this harshness out a bit. I’m going to try with a different copper only cable now. Some cheap talk cables which on my latest speakers is decent.
 

MajorFubar

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QuestForThe13thNote said:
Im taking it by your replies you’ve never tried power cables cno evil and Fubar?

My reply not to be taken too seriously 13th. I'm purposefully staying out of this debate re power cables, but just latched onto your comment about the bass being too deep, which round here is an unusual complaint. It's usually along the lines of 'how do I get better bass from my tiny speakers with their 4" woofers so that drummers sound less like a preschooler tw@tting a shoe box'.
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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MajorFubar said:
QuestForThe13thNote said:
Im taking it by your replies you’ve never tried power cables cno evil and Fubar?

My reply not to be taken too seriously 13th. I'm purposefully staying out of this debate re power cables, but just latched onto your comment about the bass being too deep, which round here is an unusual complaint. It's usually along the lines of 'how do I get better bass from my tiny speakers with their 4" woofers so that drummers sound less like a preschooler tw@tting a shoe box'.

yes the pleasure of great speakers and amps, they don’t lack bass!
 

CnoEvil

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QuestForThe13thNote said:
I think I agree with you on the bass front. As the bass is just more real. Just got to get used to it. I think in all fairness though the premise of your point about something else being the issue is a good one, but not room placement as that can’t be changed and is a compromise. The speakers are 40 to 50cms from the walls, bang in middle of room.

So on the point of something else, It got me thinking that the speaker wire may no longer be a match. The power cables have hiked detail too so using silver coated copper chord epic reference, is bringing this harshness out a bit. I’m going to try with a different copper only cable now. Some cheap talk cables which on my latest speakers is decent.

There will be some technical types shaking their heads in dispair - but here is my experience:

Re Positioning...I certainly think you have less room than is ideal (you probably need at least 1m in all directions...but if you can't move them, you can't move them. For example, when at the HiFi show, how far into the room were the PMC speakers?

I personally don't like Chord Cables and generally don't like Silver coated copper.

Maybe if you are looking for a leaner, fast sound...check out Nordost.

Can you put in some acoustic treatment in the first reflection points (can take the form of pictures), or bass traps in the corners?
 

abacus

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Buy cables on a return basis, then do a double blind comparison, if you here a difference, stay with that one. (In 99.9% of cases users cannot hear any differences)

If you can’t solve the problem with the room, get a miniDSP (With calibration microphone) and put this in circuit, run the calibration program (You will need to put some work in) and you will get a top notch performance for a fraction of the price of using fancy cables, by just using the ones that came with the equipment. (You can also get Dirac Live Software for the miniDSP if you really want the best)

Have fun choosing, just remember that everybody is different, so what suits one, may not suit you.

Bill
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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Well that’s interesting because the guy at the dealer has some Nordost cables and I’m off to swap the Helios cables for a lower specced one, in an hour, to see what they will do. Kronos Audio in Sussex.

I put the all copper talk 3s in which I’ve had since 97 and it’s taken the harsh Hf haziness off the elbow vocal. It’s taken quite a bit of body and richness out of the sound which the epic reference does so well, but the detail of the power cables is still there.

Im not after a lean sound, but just a good balanced one. The pmcs are very rich already and good with Cyrus.

But instead of the Helios being the culprit, it’s more like the chord epic! So maybe I need to be borrowing speaker wire and not a different set of power cables.

Thanks for your help with this.
 

CnoEvil

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QuestForThe13thNote said:
Well that’s interesting because the guy at the dealer has some Nordost cables and I’m off to swap the Helios cables for a lower specced one, in an hour, to see what they will do. Kronos Audio in Sussex.

I put the all copper talk 3s in which I’ve had since 97 and it’s taken the harsh Hf haziness off the elbow vocal. It’s taken quite a bit of body and richness out of the sound which the epic reference does so well, but the detail of the power cables is still there.

Im not after a lean sound, but just a good balanced one. The pmcs are very rich already and good with Cyrus.

But instead of the Helios being the culprit, it’s more like the chord epic! So maybe I need to be borrowing speaker wire and not a different set of power cables.

Thanks for your help with this.

I haven't helped yet. *biggrin*

IMO. It's about balance..and the Nordost may not sound lean in your situation...but sound right.

I find myself agreeing with Abacus *shok* ...in that it has to suit you, it has to give a benefit/VFM and it has to be returnable.

FWIW. Get some Nordost cables, both I/C and S/C, at various prices and try them....and then let us know what you hear.
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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Thanks. Just lost body and spaciousness of chord epic reference with the talk cables. I think this possibly comes from lack of shileding. A good shielded design is what I maybe need. But I will borrow a nordost or a few from him I think.
 

Gray

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abacus said:
Buy cables on a return basis, then do a double blind comparison, if you here a difference, stay with that one. (In 99.9% of cases users cannot hear any differences)

If you can’t solve the problem with the room, get a miniDSP (With calibration microphone) and put this in circuit, run the calibration program (You will need to put some work in) and you will get a top notch performance for a fraction of the price of using fancy cables, by just using the ones that came with the equipment. (You can also get Dirac Live Software for the miniDSP if you really want the best)

Have fun choosing, just remember that everybody is different, so what suits one, may not suit you.

Bill

I'm not saying you're wrong. Just that I can't imagine that many users ticking that box (and probably the more they'd spent, the less they'd be inclined to)

Anyway OP wants only positive comments. He said it's not a cables thread, so I'm out.
 

macdiddy

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you will notice that in every cable thread started on this forum, at some point abacus will post his usual cut and paste (same thing every time) reply whether it's needed or not (mostly no).

he calls nearly everyone (99.9%) on the forum an idiot for having the nerve to say that cables make any difference and proceeds to tell people what to do with their money even though it's none of his business.

*fool*
 

CnoEvil

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If you are still having problems - look at some isolation feet, like EllisDJ is impressed with (IsoAcoustic Gaia)...he will give more info, if interested.
 

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