And it has the 600 ohm tap, nice.
This description reminded me of what Justin-built amps do better than any other amps Iāve heard, favorable if one wants to be immersed and āin the musicā, not preferred for someone that wants to be a listener/observer from a more natural listening position in the audience from a few rows farther back.
We all have our different preferences, thatās for sure. I always try to be very transparent with my likes and preferences so if I praise or pan a headphone, everyone knows where Iām coming from and what my hierarchical values are grounded in.
Absolutely, that context is informative.
Other than some posts referring to using a Core Power conditioner, I was wondering what your experiences have been with power cords / conditioners for Justinās amps, esp compared with the stock power cable. Many thanks!
I have not tried a different power cable with my a&s amps, but early on in trying to get rid of some buzz I thought was in my AC power (but was a bad tube in the end) I tried a couple Furman conditioners and an Emotiva, with no benefit at all.
For your information, in conversation with Justin, he recommended to me the DEEP=CORE 1800 | Underwood HiFi
This what he uses to clean up dirty power. I am reluctant to spend on it thoughā¦
Are you trying to correct an obvious issue or just trying to potentially improve the SQ?
Thanks. Just trying to maximize sound quality, and am a believer of audiophile voodoo
In my limited experience it seems that amplifiers definitely can be effected by power cables / conditioners so thought to hear what othersā experiences have been.
@ktc , Iām not making any claims for higher fidelity because trying to A-B power cables would be a PITA, but I really like the Cullen power cable I bought for my Pendant.
The build quality is excellent, and I had it custom-made with a right-angled connector on the amp side, so that it doesnāt stick up at the back. Cullen just charged me a small extra amount for the right-angle connector, since he makes the cables from scratch anyway.
(ZMF Pendant - Tube Headphone Amplifier - Official Thread - #334 by PaisleyUnderground).
Let us know if you find something that improves your a&s. I have never tried anything but a stock AC cable, but it appears there are plenty of folks who have with positive results, some insist it is not subtle. Of course, some insist it is imagined. I have no informed opinion and try to avoid reading the subjectivist/objectivist arguments for and against. But definitely curious if you find anythingā¦
Nice, I would like that but also right angle RCA and speaker cables too! I know the RCA cables are made, but my Blue Jean speaker cables are really rigid and stick up like a bad hair day. If the amp didnāt sound so damn good Iād give up just for the cable clutterā¦
I searched everywhere for decently priced right-angled interconnect cables (including Blue Jeans) and I ended up ordering from Douglas Connection. He can put Cardas right-angle connectors on the end of any cable he sells, from budget to mega-expensive. Really nice guy.
very, very nice. Some dayā¦
@PaisleyUnderground that cable looks really great.
@MokhaMark I believe the power cable improvements obviously are very environmentally dependent, and definitely way beyond my understanding. In my setup I have the audio stack all plugged into 1 conditioner, but in the same office there is a nearby power strip with 2 monitors, 2 network switches, 1 PC and another switching PS that probably injects a bunch of noise. And thereās probably a bit of nearby EMI/RFI.
Hereās a pretty nuts video to show what power cables can do, obviously Shunyata is pricey but this is a pretty āloud statementā (pun intended)⦠I can imagine what that sort of noise reduction would do to a headphone amplifier!!
Yeah, that is not subtle. I wonder if it would translate to lower noise in a device on the other end of the cable, and what difference a standard cable may have made in the same test. Makes me curious, I live with very low transformer hum at certain times of the day (I am convinced that the city does something to the grid or someone nearby does something that introduces offset) and wonder if a cable might help. Great, something else to spend money on in this hobby.
Hi @ampsandsound Justin,
I hope you are well and enjoying the end of a weekend.
Last week I used a 1/4 inch to RCA splitter out of my Ovation into Jotunheim R to see what it would sound like listening into the RAAL SR1a. I was really shocked how good even this sounded out of various different impedances.
My question is, how much better could I expect a proper RCA pre-out to sound vs. the 1/4 inch jacks? Is it only a difference in gain, or is there something in the circuitry that would make RCA better?
Thanks for the info!
Mark
FWIW I just compared 3 power cables on my Woo WA33, a $9 hospital grade cable, a wire world Aurora 7 and a Viborg 1501.
Now I am plugged into a PSAudio regenerator, which IME makes the differences more noticeable.
The difference between the WireWorld and $9 cable was not subtle, the former was blacker more open, more resolving and obviously so. The Viborg was also a lot better than the $9 cable, darker than the WireWorld cable, more Bass emphasis, not as black similarly resolving.
Iām leaving the WireWorld plugged in,
Honestly was surprised how much difference there was.
Thanks for sharing @Polygonhell, good to know. Iāll look into those.
Thatās great @Polygonhell , you went the extra step that I was too lazy to take by comparing the cables.
Like you, Iām plugged into a PSAudio regenerator, and my Cullen Crossover has similar specs to your Wire World cable (12awg silver-plated OFC copper and shielded), so Iām hoping that Iām getting some benefit over stock, irrespective of whether itās as good as yours. I use the Cullen cables on both my ampsandsound amps and my BF2 DAC am very happy with the sound.
I also plug the PSAudio device into the wall using a 10awg BAV power cable made by Iconoclast (the premium side of Blue Jeans Cable). Thereās a very long thread on the PSAudio forum, where the guy who worked for Belden Cable for several decades describes the engineering behind the Iconoclast cables, and offers white papers to explain how they work, rather than making claims of magic pixie dust, so I thought Iād give their power cable a try.
mark
Can you give me a call easier to provide more full and complete answer.
In short, there should be no difference. Im glad youre enjoying.