Revelation Audio Labs Passage, Part 1
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| Posted on September 12, 2020 at 18:11:33 | ||
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Posts: 7336
Location: Bay Area Joined: December 11, 2000 |
The whole name for this umbilical power cable is Revelation Audio Labs Passage CryoSilver Reference. That is quite a mouthful.  The first time I had anything with a 5-pin XLR was in February 1993, with the B&K Pro10 MC preamp. But the cord was permanently attached to the outboard power supply, so I did not give this type of connection a second thought. I was just miffed, that I had to find shelf space for said power supply.  At that time, my girlfriend CC2 loved "A Whole New World," by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle (in the movie, Brad Kane and Lea Salonga sing it). We were in Santa Cruz. A mobile zoo came by with animals. When it came to snakes, we were thinking more about interconnects, rather than the umbilical for DC transmission. Indeed, we felt that the Cardas Quadlink 5-C was a better sonic match for the B&K preamp, than our AudioQuest Quartz or XLO Reference Type 1.  We appreciated "A Whole New World" even more, when it knocked off Whitney Houston's awful and ear-bleeding "I Will Always Love You" from the top spot. I will leave it to you, to decide if umbilical power cables rise to the level of "A Whole New World." But here, we have the RAL Passage, which is $229 for 0.5m, $279 for 1m. Uh oh, the website shows the product in a beautiful lavender outer jacket, but ours is in ugly black.  In this COVID-19 era, I actually met up with a local audiophile. Through that meeting, I was encouraged to bring up a RAL product. Here, the Passage is configured with 5-pin XLR. They use the Neutrik NC5MX-HD set.  The model name/number is printed on the back of this label.  According to the website, the Passage is available in 3-pin, 5-pin, 6-pin, 8-pin DIN, plus a 1/8" phono.  The one-sheet instruction page says that the connector contacts are treated with Furutech NANO Liquid Gold/Silver C30H50. This stuff, I believe, retails for $179.99 for a tiny little bottle, almost as much as the Passage itself! Also very interestingly, the page says that the cable has been conditioned on an audiodharma Cable Cooker. For how long, we know not. At least when used on a Simaudio 820S power supply, this Passage does sound like it is over-Cooked. The music is soft. Images are stretched wide. Drums are blunted. Treble is rolled off or subdued. The overall sound is muffled. And there is a lack of color, transparency, and speed. The instructions do warn about needing several days to physically settle, so we'll give this Passage some time. Stay Tuned, -Lummy The Loch Monster
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