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Audio Note UK Sogon Silver Power Cables

Posted by Cicerosecundus (A) on January 31, 2012 at 00:41:01

I have a full Audio Note UK system in my NY suburban home: Kegon Amps with WE 300b output valves; M8 Phono preamp with the latest power supply based on the company's patented Galahad circuit, E speakers with silvered crossover components, all silver AN UK speaker and interconnect cables including Sogon cables in a few key places, etc.

For about a year, I have been using Audio Note UK's new Sogon silver power cables for the preamp and the two Kegon mono amps and found the ANUK Sogon power cables to be deeply revealing and musically superior and satisfying compared to other power cables I have used over my years in audio.

Recently, I ordered a CDT3 and put another well respected power cable on the preamp in order to burn in the power cable before the CDT3 arrived. I forgot that I had taken the Sogon power cable off the preamp. I had house guest over for cocktails and played some LPs for them. They were stunned at what they heard, but I was vaguely dissatisfied. I was missing the kind of deep focus and transparency that I was used to. The next evening, I rummaged around in my valve (tube) collection to see what I would try out, figuring that I had an excessively aged valve that was likely to be in the preamp. In the midst of picking which valve to try first, I recalled that I had taken the Sogon Power Cable off of the M8. I then quickly reinstalled the Sogon power cable and the system's transparency and natural musical sound and deep focus snapped back on - instantly. It was like bringing an analog Nikon lens into manual perfect focus from being slightly out of focus. It was what used to be called in audio reviewing an "Ahh" factor. These Sogon power cables are highly recommended. Admittedly, I do not have a clue why different power cables can make that kind of difference in the sound, and a number of my electrical engineering clients swear that power cables cannot make a difference in the sound once the designer does the basics correctly, but I do hear the difference.

Now that I have posted this, I am going next to make a statement about my former Kondo system of an Ongaku and Silver 7 Phono Preamp and my present Audio Note System, which in my humble judgement as an audiophile for over 50 years is superior to my former Kondo System. Not to diminish the Kondo System, which I had for over 10 years, but the Kondo System, once I was very used to it, began leaving me vaguely dissatisfied and a trifle bored with its consistent golden glow that it gave to all of my LPs and CDs. This Kondo golden glow made all music that I played have a similar very, very pleasant sound, which after living with the Kondo gear for a decade, I found far from transparent to the source. After passing the 10 year mark with the Kondo System, I tried the AN System described above and found that it displayed far better the distinctions between the various recordings in my collection and sounded absolutely wonderful with a well recorded piece and with a less well recorded piece, I could clearly hear the difference in the various recordings. The Kondo System narrowed the distinction between the recordings and gave all my recorded music the same golden glow. After trying the AN UK system described above, I sold the Kondo System and bought the Audio Note UK system. It took a bit to get used to the difference between the Ongaku's and the Kegon's output valves, but the Kegon's WE 300b won out with a utterly to die for mid range in the Kegons and Audio Note UK Systems's transparency to the source which retained the Ongaku's wonderful impact of an all silvered SE amp and preamp. I am very glad to have had the Kondo Ongaku and Silver 7 system for over a decade and remember them with great affection and respect, particularly when I recall the era in which they first came into the market, but could not now go back to them, even without the new Audio Note UK Sogon Power Cords, which materially improved the transparency to source of my Audio Note UK System. I did not have any reason other than the comparative sound of the two systems to sell the Kondo gear in favor of the UK gear. I did not do it to liquidate cash out of the Kondo System - I did it because I found the UK gear to better fit my needs and, now that I have had the UK gear for a number of years, I have even more appreciated the switch.

When I receive and burn in properly the ANUK CDT3 that is on order and has recently been shipped, I will post a comparison between it and a CEC TL1, which I have used for over a decade for spinning CDs into an Audio Note UK DAC 4.1. The CEC unit lost a key component which is no longer made and that rendered the CEC unusable. Indeed, it lost that key component just six months after having it rebuilt by Nick Gowan, who could not locate that component in the after market and advised that my CEC 1 was unusable, which led me to the CDT3.

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