Discovered a nice power cable

Autor

Beitrag

abhi.pani
Inventar

#1 erstellt: 01. Apr 2008, 13:05

Hi All,
Incidentally, power cords were the last thing I paid attention to in my audio system. I normally used computer power cords and was ok with it. Its not that I didnt believe in power cords, I did and I also tried a few of them ranging from 2-6k (from DIY to branded stuff).
My earlier CDP was a NAD which had an in built cord and didnt have IEC socket so I couldnt try power cables on my CDP then. I always tried them out with my integrated amp. Later when I upgraded my CDP, it had an IEC socket so I had the option of trying out multiple power cables.

To my ears very few power cords actually made a difference worth noticing. One of them was TMC (The music cable) and it went well with my CDP so I still use it with my CDP. For my amp, though I knew computer cords are downright cheap, I still never found cord which got me a better sound (not even TMC, it was exceptionally soft sounding when connected to my amp). So I was pretty fine using a 50 buck power cable at my power amp with the satisfaction that there is hardly any power cord in my budget which makes a difference.

But, the other day Jochen Sembler (alias goolimangala on this forum) met up with me and offered me to audition a power cord that he had made. I was as usual not very enthusiastic about the difference I may/may not hear. But then whats the harm in trying....I hooked up the cord to my amp. It was past 10.00PM and noise floor was pretty low. Just a basic Jagjit Singh CD was what I used at very low-moderate volume levels. The difference was there in front of me within a flat 10 secs. I was pretty surprised as well as confused. I was definitely hearing much better music but what is it that has made the music more pleasant was something I was trying to get to. On closer analysis I found a lot darker background, soundstage moved back making the music more relaxed, upper-mids and highs were the main areas which improved significantly in terms of refinement and texture. I didnt quite believe my ears as it was contrary to my past experiences with PCs...I did a repeated A/B and every time the results were the same...the computer power cord suddenly sounded too grainy, noisy and irritating compared to this gem of a PC from Jochen.
Jochen had told me that he wants to sell this PC on a commercial basis and wanted my comments on the sound....I became his first customer right there.
The next day, I tried it out at louder volume levels and yes...the magic it does is even more significant at higher volumes as music is much more fatigue-free.
As Bhagwan69 once said, you wouldnt know what you are missing unless you hear it.
I can only suggest to listen to it once..even if you dont intend to buy it...it can be a good ear-opener.

regards
Abhi

[Beitrag von abhi.pani am 01. Apr 2008, 13:19 bearbeitet]

Amp_Nut
Inventar

#2 erstellt: 01. Apr 2008, 13:54

Price Please ?

abhi.pani
Inventar

#3 erstellt: 01. Apr 2008, 13:59

Rs.1000 for a 1 meter PC.

abhi.pani
Inventar

#4 erstellt: 01. Apr 2008, 14:27

Guys, someone just PMed me asking if it was a April Fool prank....

....just to clarify, its not. Its a serious post...seriously

goolimangala
Hat sich gelöscht

#5 erstellt: 02. Apr 2008, 02:31

abhi.pani schrieb:

But, the other day Jochen Sembler (alias goolimangala on this forum) met up with me and offered me to audition a power cord that he had made. I was as usual not very enthusiastic about the difference I may/may not hear. But then whats the harm in trying....I hooked up the cord to my amp. It was past 10.00PM and noise floor was pretty low. Just a basic Jagjit Singh CD was what I used at very low-moderate volume levels. The difference was there in front of me within a flat 10 secs. I was pretty surprised as well as confused. I was definitely hearing much better music but what is it that has made the music more pleasant was something I was trying to get to. On closer analysis I found a lot darker background, soundstage moved back making the music more relaxed, upper-mids and highs were the main areas which improved significantly in terms of refinement and texture. I didnt quite believe my ears as it was contrary to my past experiences with PCs...I did a repeated A/B and every time the results were the same...the computer power cord suddenly sounded too grainy, noisy and irritating compared to this gem of a PC from Jochen.
Jochen had told me that he wants to sell this PC on a commercial basis and wanted my comments on the sound....I became his first customer right there.
The next day, I tried it out at louder volume levels and yes...the magic it does is even more significant at higher volumes as music is much more fatigue-free.
As Bhagwan69 once said, you wouldnt know what you are missing unless you hear it.
I can only suggest to listen to it once..even if you dont intend to buy it...it can be a good ear-opener.

regards
Abhi

Nice review Abhi, but just for clarification: there are already a few in Bangalore using this cable and all are quite satisfied with the performance of the cord. In fact one of my customers who was the first to buy the new ARISTAs in January now has to wait for the next lot of cable to come from Germany because I don't have enough length anymore to supply him a pair of cables for his ARISTAs.
Some more information about the cable. It is imported from Germany where it is also considered as an insider tip on various HiFi fora as a cable with excemplary price- performance-ratio. It easily outperforms any ordinary power cord and even some highpriced and more sophistcated designs. It is copper shielded against electromagnetic interferences with your interconnect and speaker cables. It comes in various core diameters to suit different hifi components. Termination with high quality IEC- and three pin plugs is done by me. All pins and contacts are made of solid brass for best current flow.
Well now everybody is invited to come and listen.

Best regards,
Jochen Semler

[Beitrag von goolimangala am 02. Apr 2008, 03:43 bearbeitet]

square_wave
Inventar

#6 erstellt: 02. Apr 2008, 09:54

goolimangala schrieb:

abhi.pani schrieb:

awesome

I am looking forward to this one

Does different core diameters mean different types and diameters for digital sources, amps, preamps etc..?
Is the cord flexible or very stiff ?

[Beitrag von square_wave am 02. Apr 2008, 09:57 bearbeitet]

abhi.pani
Inventar

#7 erstellt: 02. Apr 2008, 10:37

Nice review Abhi, but just for clarification: there are already a few in Bangalore using this cable and all are quite satisfied with the performance of the cord.

Sorry about that Jochen, I didnt know your cables are already out in the community.

whatever it is....to me its a find of my journey in this hobby.

regards
Abhi

goolimangala
Hat sich gelöscht

#8 erstellt: 02. Apr 2008, 12:20

[quote="square_wave
awesome

I am looking forward to this one

Does different core diameters mean different types and diameters for digital sources, amps, preamps etc..?
Is the cord flexible or very stiff ?[/quote]

Hi Square Wave,

usually 2.5 mm dia will do for a normal power amp. For amps which draw a lot of power such as the CANASYAs I would even recommend a dia greater than 2.5 mm. But with such a cable I am getting some problems terminating the Indian three-pin plugs. They are simply too small. I would recommend Schuko plugs which are a bit more userfriendly in this regard.
For source and preamps normally 1.5 mm would do and for Cadence's electrostatic speaker even less is fine because they draw less than 1 Watt. But there is no harm in using a 2.5 dia for this kind of equipment also.

The cord is rather flexible (or what would you say, Abhi?) but not as flexible as Manek's power cord which is also a damn good power cord, but not as stiff as the Finesse cord. These two are the only power cords of Indian make I have come across so far.

If you need more information or want to audition it please send a PM.

Regards,
Jochen

goolimangala
Hat sich gelöscht

#9 erstellt: 02. Apr 2008, 12:25

abhi.pani schrieb:

Nice review Abhi, but just for clarification: there are already a few in Bangalore using this cable and all are quite satisfied with the performance of the cord.

Sorry about that Jochen, I didnt know your cables are already out in the community.

whatever it is....to me its a find of my journey in this hobby.

regards
Abhi

No problem Abhi, you couldn't know 'cause I didn't tell. I have just send out my demo cable to Pune also.

Regards,
Jochen

square_wave
Inventar

#10 erstellt: 02. Apr 2008, 12:39

[quote="goolimangala"][quote="square_wave
awesome

I am looking forward to this one

Amp_Nut
Inventar

#11 erstellt: 03. Apr 2008, 04:49

Hi Jochen,

Congrats on creating this product and offering it at a down-to-earth price, despite its imported content.

Jochen said

for Cadence's electrostatic speaker even less is fine

I thought that Power Cords would not have any effect in this application because its practically not in the signal path... just creates an Electrostatic field. I suspect even the margibal power drawn is ( almost ) constant, irrespective of the sound output ?

Did not occur to me ... I used Computer power cords when auditioning them a year or so ago ...

goolimangala
Hat sich gelöscht

#12 erstellt: 03. Apr 2008, 07:56

Amp_Nut schrieb:

Hi Jochen,

Congrats on creating this product and offering it at a down-to-earth price, despite its imported content.

Jochen said

for Cadence's electrostatic speaker even less is fine

Hi Amp Nut,

That is all correct but still very often the power cords run in very close proximity to the speaker cables and therefore shielded cords are absolutely recommended. Makes a big difference.

Regards,
Jochen

SDhawan
Stammgast

#13 erstellt: 03. Apr 2008, 19:14

Hi Jochen !

Any chance of Delhi getting powered up?

I'm in need of 3 PC - one each for my Cyrus CDP, Pre & Power amp. And I'm also looking out for speaker cables for my ProAcs.

bombaywalla
Stammgast

#14 erstellt: 03. Apr 2008, 23:32

THIS THREAD IS CUSTOM-MADE FOR MEMBER Superczar - the ultimate disbeliever of power cords!!

goolimangala
Hat sich gelöscht

#15 erstellt: 04. Apr 2008, 04:14

SDhawan schrieb:

Hi Jochen !

Any chance of Delhi getting powered up?

I'm in need of 3 PC - one each for my Cyrus CDP, Pre & Power amp. And I'm also looking out for speaker cables for my ProAcs.

Hi Sanjay, you got a PM.

bhagwan69
Inventar

#16 erstellt: 04. Apr 2008, 05:35

abhi.pani schrieb:

As Bhagwan69 once said, you wouldnt know what you are missing unless you hear it.
I can only suggest to listen to it once..even if you dont intend to buy it...it can be a good ear-opener.

Thank you - Sir !

I do accept that I may be a 'bit' over-entho with audio gear, but if and when ever I suggest, at least try it out & then dismiss it !!

Appreciate the acknowledgement;

G_S_Madhav
Stammgast

#17 erstellt: 14. Jun 2008, 12:47

Hi All,

After reading Abhi’s post , I too got curious about Jochen’s power cord. Like Abhi I never paid much attention to power cords in my audio system and was pretty happy with either stock power cords or HP Printer power cords.

Just Rs 1000, I said to myself and decided to give a try to Jochen ’s power cords. Ordered a pair (one for the AMP and other one for CDP) and Jochen shipped me cords even before getting payment from my side, that was a nice touch Jochen!

The cables are well made, with fine quality material and finish and WORKMANSHIP, ceratinly a lot better than some DIY job!!.

I was a bit skeptical but these cables really surprised me.

YES, there is a change!!

Well, it is not like a Day-N-Night type of difference but one can feel it for sure.

First impression was much darker background, although there is no noticeable change in soundstage, the music sounded easy flowing and a bit relaxed.

After listening for some three hours this is what I observed:

1.Got much darker background.
2.Music became easy flowing and a bit relaxed.
3.Some rough edges got cleared and instruments sounded more natural
4.Decaying notes and layering of instruments became more apparent.
5.There is some reduction in glare and grain.
6.Effect of changing power cord in CDP is more pronounced than changing for the Amp.

As I said earlier, there are changes but only subtle, don’t expect a sea change! Some changes may not be apparent in just 5-10 minutes of casual listening. It is like better lubricant oil for your car, it certainly improves the engine performance but it t won’t bring a MARUTI –800 to SKODA level.

Such tweaks should come at the end that is only after carefully integrating all major system components including room acoustics is done. (I have seen cases where in people had put $1200 power cord to a $500 CD player! )

At the end, I am happy that this Rs 2100 tweak worked for me, it put smile on my face!!

Thanks Jochen for making such a nice power cord and that too at an affordable price!

Regards

SUhas

Amp_Nut
Inventar

#18 erstellt: 14. Jun 2008, 16:05

Great post Suhas.

Jochen - You are clearly onto something. A good product at an Excellent price. May your tribe grow and prosper

[Beitrag von Amp_Nut am 14. Jun 2008, 16:06 bearbeitet]

square_wave
Inventar

#19 erstellt: 15. Jun 2008, 07:35

I tried them too.
Nice improvement

To add to what Madhav said, it improved detail and tightness in the bass region and the highs got a bit more airy.
Great work Jochen.

Now I have to check the fundamentals and harmonics

[Beitrag von square_wave am 15. Jun 2008, 07:57 bearbeitet]

abhi.pani
Inventar

#20 erstellt: 15. Jun 2008, 09:47

square_wave schrieb:

Now I have to check the fundamentals and harmonics :KR

For that you may need to change your amp..

G_S_Madhav
Stammgast

#21 erstellt: 15. Jun 2008, 12:06

Jochen, let us run for a shelter ............ the guys came here too!

goolimangala
Hat sich gelöscht

#22 erstellt: 15. Jun 2008, 13:34

G_S_Madhav schrieb:

Jochen, let us run for a shelter ............ the guys came here too!

Yes it looks like a virus is spreading in the system

goolimangala
Hat sich gelöscht

#23 erstellt: 15. Jun 2008, 13:37

@ SUhas, AmpNut & Square Wave

Thank you guys for the positive feedback

particleman
Stammgast

#24 erstellt: 02. Nov 2008, 15:46

How could one get a pair of these fine cables in Mumbai? Are they now available through dealers here? I would be interested in a pair for my amp and (future) CD player, with 3-pin termination. My Arcam amp came with a stock 2-pin plug and would like to replace it ASAP.

Silly question: is the termination in a "regular" 3-pin plug that goes into the standard Indian power outlet or is it a more exotic type?

Whoops...never mind. The super efficient Mr. Semler has already sent me a very detailed, most helpful reply by email. Wow, that was fast!

[Beitrag von particleman am 02. Nov 2008, 16:58 bearbeitet]

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