I have a Torus RM20 BAL isolation transformer (balanced 220v) that all my components plug into. I have a Cardas Clear beyond power cord for the K50 and just had a custom Cardas Clear Beyond power cord made for the Torus. Both power cords made a modest but audible improvement over the stock power cord. The K50 is so well designed I don’t think paying a lot for high end cords are needed unless you are trying to get the last small bit of improvement and have the money to spend.
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From a purely theoretical perspective, the opposite is likely true. The power cord becomes an extension of the power supply. The better the power supply the more it’s likely to respond positively positively to being able to draw more current more quickly. The K50 actually has three power supplies all drawing power through the same power cord so the lower the impedance the better all three of these will be served. Now whether this is true in practice, I don’t know.
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I agree I tried various digital cables on my K50 and there was a difference in the sound but at a relatively moderate basis yet discernible. I have also tried a number of power cords on my K50 and each one significantly changed the sound of my system. It was immediate and did not require me switching back and forth and living with the cord for a while. My experience is that power cables have a large impact on the sound, especially at the source which is amplified down the line. What was surprising to me was changing power cables on the K50 made more of an impact on the sound of my system then changing the same cables on my Dac.
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Placing a Delta v2 on my K30 brought a bigger step change than placing one on my amp. My DAC gained the most though.
Instantaneous current matters a ton to audio. What’s crazy is that it matters to digital components too. The only possible exception are those digital devices that run steady, like switches and clocks. For these I think a power cord like the Shunyata Venom V14 NR can be a steal. This came out of their medical division so it aims more to reduce noise. I forgot I had two of these. One on the ER and the other on my REF10.
Servers see a lot of fluctuating current. I wonder though about the separate players like the S30 and the K21. These might not scale as well with better power cords.
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My Aqua Formula Dac connects to a Transparent XL Gen 5 power distributor, with Clarus Crimson HC power cords to the wall, whereas the K50 is direct to the wall which may account for the greater impact of changing power cords on the K50.
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I use a gigawatt PC2+ EVO with DC blocker connected to a dedicated 20 amp circuit using GW PC2 PC.
All of my gear (K30, Dave, Vitus RS-101, sub) is connected to the GW. K30 uses a Sablon Audio Corona Reserva PC.
I tested a number of conditioners before purchasing the GW - it was the only one that did not throttle the Vitus RS-101 amp (as far as I could tell on my setup).
I personally think that the impedance of the powercable doen’t matter that much, when the impedance to the source (plant) can be 50 Ohms. A powercable manufacturer once wrote, that their cables make a difference because they burn high frequency noise, I think like a ferrite core, and that is also the reason the cable needs to be of a certain length. I think it also reduces high frequency noise that can bounce between separate mains filters.
My personal experience is that filters can also reduce dynamics. I focussed too much on stereo image and micro detail. My power amp sounds livelier without a filter. My dac now has a current source as a power supply so doesn’t need such a filter and sounds more dynamic too. It’s a mixed experience. I think too much is not good, like adding too much reflection absorbers in a room without addressing the pink elephant: the bass that can hardly be treated well without sacrificing a lot of space. Every time you add some, it sounds more precise. But at the end it becomes too dull.
My s30/s60 runs without mains filter and it sounds very good and smooth and also very dynamic. I guess the s60 does its own job in terms of keeping noise away from doing harm, so it won’t necassarily need low-pass filtering to sound incredible. But experimentation is maybe the best, I think I will try one of these Puritan power cables soon.
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I have had an Audioquest Niagra 7000 for a couple of years. Originally purchased as I live in a rural area, with plenty of power outages and surges.
The bonus selling point was a side by side comparison in the showroom of the same music played on the same system with and without the Niagra. There was a definite improvement in both bass response ( tighter and more musical), as well as an airiness in quieter passages.
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The power from our wall ultimately gets modulated into the music we hear so the better conditioners can have a very positive impact.
I will never forget my reaction to hearing what my Shunyata Denali v1 brought to my system. Or more specifically, what it took away. I was actually stunned to find that I had been listening through a haze that I didn’t even realize was there. Quite remarkable.
Over the last 6 years I have owned several conditioners:, in chronologic order:
- PSAudio Powerplant P5
- PSAudio Powerplant P10
- Synergistic Research Powercell 12SE
- Synergistic Research Powercell SX with SRX cable
About 2 years ago while owning the Powercell SX with SRX cable I was challenge by a local vender to test a Keces BP unit (costing 8 times less than my conditioner system). My first reaction was “no way this low cost Keces will bring me any improvement over my current SX”… and I refused the offer from the dealer.
Some weeks after the same dealer called me again with the same proposal, but included a small bet: “if you don’t keep the Keces I will pay you a lunch in a restaurant of your choice”. At this point I got really curious not because of the lunch, but to realize how sure this vendor was about the Keces BP…
So I did this tryal of the Keces on my system. Model BP-2400 costing less than €2000.
Next day my super Synergistic Research Powercell SX was for sale on Audio Markt.
The improvement with the Keces was on every aspect: the dynamics, the soundstage, the details, the bass control, everything was more live. The sensation was like injecting my system with steroids.
In the meantime Keces launched new models of their conditioners. I haven’t tested them yet…
Investigate about these Keces and give them a try. You will be surprised!
PS - I haven’t got my lunch but I definitely gave a nice boost in my system. 
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If I may give you a suggestion… you should try the ENO filter instead of the EtherRegen. I had it and the ENO in my system is miles away in terms of sound quality. ENO is on another league no matter how good the etherregen reviews are.
Thanks for the recommendation. My EtherRegen is performing at a higher level now thanks to the Farad Super3 power supply and also because it receives a reference clock signal from a REF10 SE120. It also got a not-insignificant boost from the fiber span coming into it.
The only thing I don’t like about the EtherRegen is that it drops the network speed down to 100 mbps. Transferring music to my K30’s drives is slowed because of this. Uptone is now developing a Gen2 model that removes the bottleneck. It wouldn’t hurt for me to take a good look at the ENO before making that move.
I must say that the reference clock into my EtherRegen turned out to be a pretty big deal. For reasons I cannot explain, it even improves the sound quality when I am playing music off the K30’s local drives. A test that I’ve done on occasion is to power down the network while music is playing. It used to be not too difficult to hear a slight improvement in sound quality when doing this. The reference clock seemed to level the playing field (or possibly swing a slight advantage towards not powering down the network).
A manufacturer explains here in detail what exactly is going on in German
He is an expert in high end power supply’s. He had to stop his business but the website is still there. He even posts the scematics of his products, but he doesn’t like it that manufacturers constantly steal his ideas, …he once said.
I hope it works to translate this in English.
It is not rocket science but it does takes some tweaking of the filters depending on the specific country/area.
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Antipodes has made a great point about the goal being infinite bandwidth and low noise. Filters help us with the latter but most often at the expense of the former. As a general rule I have tried to avoid filters except where there is no other option. No doubt though they can be effective.
You may try it anytime. ENO manufacturer is giving 30 days trial period to customers.
I had also my etherregen powered with Farad Super3 PSU but in my system the ENO blown away my etherregen setup. Took me 5 seconds to convince me.
If you try it, please let me know your thought then.
Cheers…
Both the ENO and Muon filters work well. They actually improve dynamics by lowering the noise floor. The Muon is more effective with an effortless organic sound. I use the Muon from my downstream switch into my K50 and the ENO out from my router to an upstream switch.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for bringing up Puritan. I bought a power cord for my main amp. I heard an improvement over my other power cord so I ordered one more Puritan power cord for the s60.
I wonder if I should buy the mains filter Puritan PS106-dc. It’s Puritans budget mains-cleaner. Then the analog equipment will be partially on the same path as the s60-s30. Or should the digital Antipodes be more isolated from the analog equipment?
Having all your equipment on the same board shouldn’t be a issue
Thanks!! I will check out the mains filter when I collect the other power cord. I like Puritans philosophies like I do Antipodes’ (keep musicality/dynamics alive).
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I used to have a Isotek G2 Vision conditioner along with a number of there high end mains cables which I bought secondhand, I then spoke to my dealer who suggested I try a Puritan 136 as they had amazing feedback from customers. Got one on trial along with a number of HiDiamond mains cables & amazed just what a huge improvement they made.
Listed all the Isotek on eBay which I sold at what I paid for them & never looked back.
Puritan along with HiDiamond are 2 hidden gem brands who offer amazing quality products at unbelievable prices- something very rare in high end hi fi nowadays.
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