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In Reply to: Well I got my 5' Electraglide Fatboy powercord in the mail today... posted by cdc on July 08, 2004 at 02:41:58:
You guys remind me of myself a couple years ago. Yes, I heard "huge" differences that cables, power cords make, got excited, and kept getting more and more cables, cords.After much $$$ and anguish, I've come to a couple of conclusions
1) A great power cord can NOT elevate an average component/system to true greatness.
2) Very often, a cable or cord that is very obviously "beautiful, pretty" or "exciting, " etc, etc turn out to be very colored.
3) One cannot accurately assess cables' colorations without a true "bypass" to compare the cord to. In the case of interconnects, this might be interconnect vs. direct component:component hookup via RCA adapters. With power cords, I use a battery-powered power source with and without the power cord in question to the wall.
4) There's no "best," and there is no truly "neutral" cable, power cord no matter the price. Some come close, some even closer, but it really is a matter of finding a mix of cables whose colorations complement the colorations of your components/speakers/room.
5) I know when one hears the big difference cables make, it's easy to think "cables are just as important (maybe more) as components/speakers," but they really are supporting characters only. Before putting down $$$$$ on power cords, please look at where that money may be better spent on components, etc first.
Follow Ups:
Hi Jon,I agree with your noted views. My deal is that I am happy with my gear. I know I do not have an ultra high end system. I also know it is not mid-fi. What the Fatboy on my pre did is clearly let me know that aside from other fine tuning/tweaking that my gear is capable of more then I hear now. Actually I spend alot of my free time for over 1.5 years now improving my system. It is a hobby for me, I enjoy mucking around with it and can afford financially (so far) to do so. Fortunately for me I have not run into any anguish within this hobby, mainly pleasure. Although it can be an expensive hobby.
For an example, the pleasure and experience my wife and I shared when we played a Patricia Barber CD "Nightclub" (very well recorded) was immense. Thanks to Al Sekela for introducing me to the CD! The pleasure was enough that my wife asked what I did/changed to improve the system so much. I told my wife about the powercord change (Electraglide Fatboy) and that I purchased two more to play with and she said, "ok cool, when are we getting them? The stereo sounds awesome.". MHE has shown me that cables will not turn a sonically mediocre system to a great one. On the other hand, cables in a system can make an astonishing difference in the sonic reproduction in a system. I have heard $50K systems sound so bad that it was unlistenable for any length of time.
This is a contraversial topic. MHE has shown me that there is such a thing as system synergy. And I do believe that cables are a component of a system with the foundation of the system being the the electronic gear and acoustic environment of the listening room.
Actually, when you get all your electrglides in a row, do let us know how they compare to each other and to Elrods. I do have a Electraglide Fatman Gold 2000 in my system currently, and would like to know how the other electraglides differ in sound.Fatman Gold 2000 produces very "different" sound than most power cords that I consider more neutral. It is very rich, robust, colorful, harmonic, and smooth (too smooth IMO). As such, it can do wonders in certain situations, such as some push-pull tube amps. However, I am cursed with an ability to do pretty decent A-B comparison of power cord vs. "bypass," and you really don't want to know how the Fatman does against the bypass :)
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Jon, have you had a chance to compare or try the Ultraman with the Fatman? I have the Ultraman but never had an opportunity to try a Fatman.
Never had a chance to listen to Ultra Man. Is it all copper ribbon? How does it sound compared to some others you've tried?Honestly, I won't be buying another Electraglide cord. I really got sick of constant new products and new names so frequently. He really should have 3-4 cords and STAY with them for awhile.
It's almost a rhyme. Electraglide original, reference glide (I, II, III), Fatboy, Fatboy Gold, Fatboy Gold 2000, Fatman, Fatman 2000 Gold, Fatman 2000 K Gold, Ultra Man (I, II), Ghengis Kahn (I, II), Ultra Kahn (I, II), Mini Kahn, Mini Kahn Plus, and I forget the rest.
Jon, yes, Scott Hall lost his mind over the last couple of years and put out way too many versions of his cords.(One of the reasons that I lost interest in his line). I understand that he has moved his operations and is regrouping to rework the whole line again. He's about to introduce a new behemoth cord with 32 conductors that will be his new Flagship model. There's a little intro of it in the website: www.weekendenvironments.com The only other cords of his that I've tried are the Referenceglide Mk I and II versions. I bought the Ultraman from a friend who gave me a "brother-in-law" deal on it so I had to try it. I'm not sure what the conductors are but the ribbons look like a copper/silver blend. The sound is very neutral and dynamic. The Ultraman was supposed to be a further refinement of all the Fatmans; just as colorful and musical, but without the "Fat". I like the "venue"( as Mr. Crump would say). I like it very much on my amp at this time. It is very synergistic with the Elrod Sig. on my preamp.
Agreed.That said, I would not be making power cord changes in favor of other changes if I thought that it made sense to change other components in my system.
With all due respect, I would not change my speakers for another set of speakers regardless of what they cost because for my room for my taste and for the way I use the system in my view there is not another set of speakers that are better matched to my needs. I would not change my amps for another set of amps. My one regret is that I offed my Wadia 270 for a dCS Verdi during frustatations over the format wars, concern over wether Wadia was going to make it and in acticipation of setting myself up for SACD. I say I regret it and do to an extent but in the end the Verdi is not a terrible transport and that decision will likely play out to be OK in the end.
I really do think that the difference here is a combination of power cord and power conditioning technology advancement which has allowed me to remove some components from my system that I no longer have use for. These are components that were providing a benefit but that had some side effects that made them problematic in my system.
I think Norm has a posting that one can just do a search for regarding the Elrod Statements. In my case, I am using the Statements on a pair of Lamm M2.1 monoblocks which are used for my electrostatic tweeters only. Norm's point (Norm, since you will likely read this correct me if I mis-speak)is that in his view he considers the Statements to be an amplification component and I think that is accurate. That said, I would not have procured any of these at full list or anywhere near it and would in fact have not considered the value proposition to be sufficient at those prices. However, for what I paid for them and for what I got for the components that I was able to eliminate because of them, it is an OK proposition and I AM really surprised as stated earlier in how far folks have taken power cords and conditioners in the intevening years since last I did anything at that end of my system. Now maybe I just had rotten power components to begin with. OK that could be. However, the one thing that has bothered me about the Verdi for example is that on Redbook it is a bit mechanical in its presentation when compared to the 270. The combination of changes that I have made seem to have recovered some of that musicality for me and the Verdi is clearly a more flexible tool than the 270 was.
So to make a long story longer, I do believe that one would have to have a pretty resolving system to hear changes made at the power cord and conditioning end of the system and I think we are talking about subtle changes unless you live someplace where power from the wall ia a real problem. However, once you get to a certain point with a system I think you are trying to make the components that you have reach their full potential. I am in agreement that if one feels like he does not have what he needs for componentry by all means change the component before you do any of this stuff and for those that have the disposable cash to make these kinds of changes at full list price, more power to ya' I guess. I can't afford to but I am sure that somebody can.
By the way none of this precludes the notion that you might visit me some day, listen to my system and decide that I must be partially deaf and do not have the beginnings of a clue about what good hi-end audio should sound like. Wouldn't that be a kick in the teeth!!
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