Need a power cord for my amp

DaveHo

Have kind of narrowed it down to a Signal Magic Power or a Pangea AC-9. My current cord is about 5ft, but I figure with the stiffness of these I'll need a 6' or 2m length. I'm open to other suggestions as well, but would like to keep the cost under $100. AA no longer seems to have the 2m Pangea, so before I call up Frank & order the Magic Power whatcha got?

-Dave

polkfarmboy

I have a wireworld Aurora 7 in a 1.5 for $150

marvda1

give these a look/see.
http://www.cullencable.com/

EndersShadow

The AC-9 will be back in stock shortly.

They had to find a new cooper source as their original ran out.

They are in transit currently according to the distribution company as of a week ago.

I have a AC-9 2m for my B&K and you will need extra length as its a THICK cable. Personally that's what I would go with.

DaveHo

Unless the Wireworld is very flexible, I don't think 1.5m will be long enough, plus over budget.

Thanks for the link marvda1. The red copper power cable looks interesting. Any direct experience with their products?

I've been trying to wrap my head around just how stiff the AC-9 will be. If my current cable, which is a home built & pretty flexible Asylum 5ft cord, just how much longer will the AC-9 need to be? Is an extra ~1.5ft going to be enough? My amp, an Aragon 8008x3 plugged directly into the wall, is in a rack to the right of the outlet. So, I'll need to bend the cord 90deg left out the back of the amp, then another 90 deg into the outlet. Is that doable? My outlets are upgraded Pass & Seymour 5362's which have very good plug grip.

polkfarmboy

I know the WW is over budget but its brand new and wish I had a used one for ya. On the flexin the WW is super flexible as it can do a 90 degree bend in under an inch where as my pangea takes about 6 to7 inches to get a 90 degree bend and I can use the pangeas.

marvda1

i have the cullen gold and it has a lively sound with great detail and a clear midrange. he may send me some new crossover II that they are coming out with for a review.
if you buy from the audiogon add use the make an offer button and that might save you a few bucks.

DaveHo

DSkip, do you recall which Cullen? I would have no problem springing the extra for the Cullen Gold series, but the Crossover is more than I care to spend. Plus the idea of a 10awg cable for the amp is attractive. The 8008x3 has a 2KVA transformer (the 14awg Asylum cord I'm using now is probably choking the amp).

I've been reading up on Cullen Cable for the last hour or so, & am starting to lean toward giving one of their offerings a try. Not sure I really want to wrestle with the Pangea, plus they're not currently available in the length I'd need anyway.

DaveHo

Slow typer I am. Thanks Marvin! Going to give the gold a try.

EndersShadow

Cool. I was just about to tell you that the AC-9 would be likely fine in a 2m length. But I think the cullen will be more flexible by far.

If you've never seen the AC-9 here are a couple pics to get an idea:

EndersShadow

DSkip wrote: »

I can't recommend the AC-9 to anyone anymore. It's big, its bulky, its stubborn, it likes to work its way out of the IEC socket, it puts a lot of stress ON the IEC socket...

I'd go Cullen over the AC-9 any day.

That hasn't been my experience, but I agree that its bulky and not super flexible. I'm likely getting some 90 degree adapters for my B&K and Dayton sub amp so that the connection faces down or up rather than straight back.

My AC-14 isnt super tight in my Integra 5.9 but I think thats because its only got 2 prongs to hold onto rather than 3.

marvda1

EndersShadow wrote: »

Cool. I was just about to tell you that the AC-9 would be likely fine in a 2m length. But I think the cullen will be more flexible by far.

If you've never seen the AC-9 here are a couple pics to get an idea:

glad that turned out to be candy, thought it was something else for a while

EndersShadow

marvda1 wrote: »

glad that turned out to be candy, thought it was something else for a while

HA! Didn't think about that when I took that pic, just happened to have that candy cane left from Christmas and it worked good for scale lol.

Polkie2009

Those AC-9's are massive, hard to bend , won't work in tight spots. One thing's for sure, they'd probably put the hurt on someone trying to steal your system,lol.

DaveHo

Thanks for all the input guys. That AC-9 is massive. Contacted Patrick from Cullen Cable last night & I have a 6ft Gold Series PC on the way in a few days.

polkfarmboy

Congrats, let us know how it sounds when you burn it. Never heard of these ac's until this thread so I am all ears.

EndersShadow

DaveHo wrote: »

Thanks for all the input guys. That AC-9 is massive. Contacted Patrick from Cullen Cable last night & I have a 6ft Gold Series PC on the way in a few days.

Cool!

Yes it is. But I like it lol...

I may try a Cullen cable for giggles at some point as they are not super expensive for 2m cables, just to compare the two as I will admit the AC-9 is like wrestling a snake trying to get it to bend, thankfully I dont have super hard right angles anywhere....

I was more looking for something of the appropriate gauge and since I like to use the same brand of cables for stuff since I got a AC-14SE, I wanted to go with all Pangea. Plus their stuff is supposed to be somewhat similar to PS Audio, or at least the XL stuff looks very similar in design.

pitdogg2

wondering about the painters tape......Dan? afraid to share a ground?:)

EndersShadow

pitdogg2 wrote: »

wondering about the painters tape......Dan? afraid to share a ground?:)

Glenn sent them to me like that to protect them in transit....

So I left em on since they are demos lol

marvda1

DaveHo wrote: »

Thanks for all the input guys. That AC-9 is massive. Contacted Patrick from Cullen Cable last night & I have a 6ft Gold Series PC on the way in a few days.

let us know what you think when you get the cullen in.
got my second one in so now i can put them on my mono blocks and lets just say i'm happy. thought i would have to spend a lot to replace $1600 worth of cables.
now how do i recoup some of my money.

marvda1

DaveHo wrote: »

Thanks for all the input guys. That AC-9 is massive. Contacted Patrick from Cullen Cable last night & I have a 6ft Gold Series PC on the way in a few days.

what do you think about the power cord?

DaveHo

Got the cord into my system on Monday, so I don't have much time on it yet. Construction quality is excellent. I really dig the SonarQuest connectors he uses. The IEC plug's body is clear near the contacts & has a very large contact area. Makes a solid connection to the IEC jack on my amp without being ridiculously tight. Figuring it was going to be a bit stiffer than my current 14awg power cord, I ordered the cable a foot longer than my old one, & probably could have gotten away with the same length or maybe 6" longer. For a 10awg cable, it's very flexible. No worries about stressing the jack on the amp or trying to pull itself out of the wall.

Sound wise, I like what I hear. Going into this I wasn't convinced I'd actually hear a difference, but things do sound different. Music seems to have more depth & punch to it. Things just sound cleaner if that makes sense. Is that due to the cable's materials & construction or the fact that the 14awg cable was just undersized for the amp? Don't know, but I'm happy.

The service I got from Patrick was outstanding. I contacted him late on Tuesday night & had the cable in my possession on Saturday. Ever since I bought this amp, I've had an unresolvable hum issue. He had no problem accommodating my request to construct the power cord with the ground lifted. Will definitely be trying more of his offerings in the future.

-Dave

BlueFox

DaveHo wrote: »

Sound wise, I like what I hear. Going into this I wasn't convinced I'd actually hear a difference, but things do sound different. Music seems to have more depth & punch to it. Things just sound cleaner if that makes sense. Is that due to the cable's materials & construction or the fact that the 14awg cable was just undersized for the amp? Don't know, but I'm happy.

Most likely, the cable has better DTCD. Probably not as good as a power cord specifically designed toward lower DTCD, but certainly better than a stock cord.

http://www.shunyata.com/technical-feat/78-dtcd/288-dtcd

polkfarmboy

Thats my take on the Pangea is that they sound awesome because they are thick. My MIT Oracle AC though is the same thickness but its really really good! I challenge you to an ac dual BlueF.

BlueFox

Duel, smuell. What I currently have for power and cables is working fine. I haven't bought anything for months, and don't want to start now.

polkfarmboy

I am just jesting Blue as you have the most insane plethora of Shunyata ac cables on the forum and would destroy me.