Which cables and power cords ?

[krelldog]

I currently have an XP-17 Phono...an XP-12 Pre, and a 250.8 amplifier. I'm using all Audience cabling and Power Cords.

I'm curious as to what other cabling/power cables work well with Pass Labs ?

My Power cords are all AU 24 SEi's ...

My interconnects are all AU 24 SX.

What cabling and power cords work well with your Pass gear.

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Krelldog

 

[BlueFox]

Shunyata. See Sig for details.

 

[Mikem53]

I’m using Acoustic Zen PC on amp and preamp. I haven’t tried anything else.
I do have some shunyata interconnects ordered. Canare 4S11 for speaker wire.
I just received Signal cables PC for my balanced power unit, nicely made in the US too.
I spent my cable allowance on another amp, so i Need to start again.. Then I plan on
getting shunyata PC’s.
Signal PC 10ga $89

 

[markramler]

I currently have an XP-17 Phono...an XP-12 Pre, and a 250.8 amplifier. I'm using all Audience cabling and Power Cords.

I'm curious as to what other cabling/power cables work well with Pass Labs ?

My Power cords are all AU 24 SEi's ...

My interconnects are all AU 24 SX.

What cabling and power cords work well with your Pass gear.

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Krelldog

I use Transparent Audio Gen 5 signal and power cables for my components. On my Pass Labs x250.8 amp I use TA Reference PC and Ultra XLR interconnects. On my primary system I use the XL cables. I find that TA brings brings more life to my system, much more musical and natural harmonically. I have no experience with Audience cables. The TA power cords seem to work best with their own power conditioners and may not be compatible with other brands power conditioner.

 

[alfa100]

Transparent Audio Reference series upwards

 

[MAXPWR]

I currently have an XP-17 Phono...an XP-12 Pre, and a 250.8 amplifier. I'm using all Audience cabling and Power Cords.

I'm curious as to what other cabling/power cables work well with Pass Labs ?

My Power cords are all AU 24 SEi's ...

My interconnects are all AU 24 SX.

What cabling and power cords work well with your Pass gear.

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Krelldog

Hello Krelldog,

I'm using Audience AU 24 SX, Low-Z phono from tonearm output to the XP-27 phono preamp. Then AU 24 SX normal IC from XP-27 to XP-32 preamp, with very good results. Also AU 24 SX between my Berkeley RS DAC and XP-32. Because I use MIT speaker cables, I have matching long MIT IC's between the preamp and my XA-160.5 amps. So, I think you are doing well with what you have going right now. Other ICs of merit with Pass gear would be Zenwave D4 and the OCC version of Belden Iconoclast. When considering the Zenwave offerings, I have found the D4 as being the most neutral and resolving vs the other DX versions.

On the power cables it is very hard to recommend, since every power system and ambient noise threats will interact differently with your equipment and the low level interconnects. You can think of the power cables as being a threat to the system, given radiation given off (rectified harmonics of the system's equipment and downstream users) of them and at the same time victims, since they can pick up fields of other cables and ambient RF noise. I'm using Shunyata, Etron Alpha HC power cables BTW, but temper that knowledge with my previous comments on power cables. Power cables seem to have a large influence on the overall tonality and spectral balance of the system. That said your speakers, speaker cables and listening environment will come into play on what power cable may suit you best.

You can check out my Members "About" page tab for a full listing of my equipment for other cables that I use.

Hope this helps,

 

[tarquineous]

Transparent Audio Reference series upwards

That's the trouble I find with Transparent and MIT. The top of the line products sound excellent and the rest are not so competitive. This is not true with other brands, at least not as pronounced. Just a weirdness I've found in the cable world.

 

[MAXPWR]

That's the trouble I find with Transparent and MIT. The top of the line products sound excellent and the rest are not so competitive. This is not true with other brands, at least not as pronounced. Just a weirdness I've found in the cable world.

II have experience with MIT cable products and I totally agree with your assessment.

 

[assessor43]

whats wrong with the power cord that came with the unit?

 

[andromedaaudio]

CHING CHENG

 

[Mikem53]

whats wrong with the power cord that came with the unit?

They are usually at minimum gauge, wrong length, minimal Shielding if any, connections at both ends...
I think most high end manufacturers realize the user will replace power cord and just supply a cost Effective solution.

 

[Mikem53]

CHING CHENG

But then not so much cha Ching.

 

[alfa100]

whats wrong with the power cord that came with the unit?

Nothing wrong. It will power up the unit. But can easily be bettered

 

[assessor43]

I have used other aftermarket power cords and although they alter the sound, sometimes not for the better. The power cords that come with the unit I would have to think that the engineer that designed it would do so with the stock power cord. I would think they would listen to it.

 

[BlueFox]

Upgrading the power cords on all my components was one of the best things I did to improve the sound.

 

[paolo]

Just assembled a 6' pair of Canare 4S11 speaker wires for my all-tube electronics/ Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage Speakers and it sounds pretty darn good to me. Break-in so far has been about 150 hours so I have no idea if they'll get "better" or different with time. Out of pocket: about $50 USD including banana plugs for the pair. Maybe mega buck speaker wires would sound mega better? Maybe not. I'll never know.

 

[English210]

I’m interested in this as well. I was hoping for some responses that included comparisons, though. I had already purchased AQ Rocket 88 speakers and Colorado IC’s. Lots of room to upgrade, I know, but I’m new to cables, and got a good deal on something to try. Although far from ‘high end’ by the standard of many of the systems I see here, I have some impressive sound, especially with the new amp, but I can’t articulate what I’d be looking for out of cables…

 

[audiotunesx]

I currently have an XP-17 Phono...an XP-12 Pre, and a 250.8 amplifier. I'm using all Audience cabling and Power Cords.

I'm curious as to what other cabling/power cables work well with Pass Labs ?

My Power cords are all AU 24 SEi's ...

My interconnects are all AU 24 SX.

What cabling and power cords work well with your Pass gear.

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Krelldog

It perhaps depends on what you're lacking or want to hear more of from your system. On the x350.5's I thought they needed a cable that brought warmth and density (haven't heard the new .8's yet), Purist Audio Design Dominus would be my pick (older Preasto revisions are a good value if it can be found, there was also a model called Canorous that was similar). "27 Best Audiophile Power Cables - Audio Bacon" has some insight on the new Diamond Revision and the SX.

The XP-22 is the highest resolution Pre I've heard. The Nordost Valhalla V1 power cord seems like a synergistic match if the system already has lot's of density in the mid's and bass (I don't know what the V2 sounds like).

You've got some great cables already though, so here's a few tweaks I've found to have as big an effect as power cord upgrades. I've experimented with fuses, and would recommend giving that a try if you haven't already. The SR Orange would be great on the Pass x350.5 amps IMO (haven't heard the new Purple one yet). The Audio Magic Ultimate Premier would be a great match for the high resolution XP-12. I also found replacing the receptacles to be important too. Furutech GTX Gold for a laid back, high density, warm sound. Furutech GTX-NCF for a something more inline with the Pass sound signature. Either provide significantly more resolution and better timbre than a standard household grade receptacle. If you haven't experimented with isolation, I think critical mass CMS footers would be a great match with Pass gear (they're well worth the premium over stillpoints SS imo).

With that said, I haven't heard an Audience power cable. I have one of their AR2P-TOSOX power conditioner that plug into the wall and it's a keeper. I read the audio bacon review of the sx power cord and it sounds ideal for my amp "weight, body, dynamics, solid, dense, musical, romantic, sweet, effortless" - but out of my price range. I've wondered what the AU 24 SEi HP power cords sound like. I have a Cardas Clear Beyond on my amp which is super warm, smooth and laid back. Is the AU 24 SEi a lean or dense sounding cable? Any warmth/color or is a cool sound? Is it laid back/smooth or high energy/forward?

 

[cjf]

I like the Kubala-Sosna Elation speaker cables I am using with my Pass XA60.8's.

For power cords I am using an older pair of Waveform Fidelity HE/MK3 HC cables to feed the XA60.8's....No complaints here.

 

[Don Reid]

They are usually at minimum gauge, wrong length, minimal Shielding if any, connections at both ends...
I think most high end manufacturers realize the user will replace power cord and just supply a cost Effective solution.

I am using three Nelson Pass amplifiers in my system, a X150 amplifier and two First Watt F3, amplifiers to triamplify my DIY horn speakers. On all three I use the included with the amplifiers black rubber power cords.

I find them to be very satisfactory. Do you really think a great master of of electronics and sound such as Nelson Pass would include power cords which compromise and diminish the sound of his amplifiers.