Pangea. Wow!
ROHfan
Posts: 1,014
So, I'm gonna have to blame Polrbehr for getting me started on Pangea power cords, with an honorable mention to voltz for sending me over some nice Kimber cables and ICs.
Me and wifey had just received our Christmas present to ourselves (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007NVFNT2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) so I set about to upgrading the power cords as long as I had to unhook everything and switch the equipment over into the new entertainment center.
I put AC-9's on the amp and the sub, an AC-14SE on the AVR, and an AC-14 on the Oppo. I can't believe the difference. There seems to be a lot more "room" between the instruments now and the soundstage is much wider. I'm really in disbelief as I never expected to hear this much of a difference.
Or maybe it's the result of the new entertainment center which has calibrated media compartments and cryo'd knobs.
Me and wifey had just received our Christmas present to ourselves (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007NVFNT2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) so I set about to upgrading the power cords as long as I had to unhook everything and switch the equipment over into the new entertainment center.
I put AC-9's on the amp and the sub, an AC-14SE on the AVR, and an AC-14 on the Oppo. I can't believe the difference. There seems to be a lot more "room" between the instruments now and the soundstage is much wider. I'm really in disbelief as I never expected to hear this much of a difference.
Or maybe it's the result of the new entertainment center which has calibrated media compartments and cryo'd knobs.
TV: 65" Samsung QLED 4K
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier
Comments
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Yeah, that fairy dust sprinkled on at the factory really improves the sq of media centers.
Glad you like the cables bro. Hearing is believing, don't let anyone tell you different.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
I started with Pangea cables, and I realized that a power cord does make a difference. However, think of the Pangea as just being a step above stock cables. Believe me, you are just hearing a tiny bit of the musical detail that is there with Pangea. Other, more expensive, cables will bring even more detail and clarity to the table. At this point you need to go all out and get dedicated 20 amp circuits, decent power conditioners, and better cables all around. Also, don't overlook vibration control, since that is another area that will clean up the sound.
Those d a m n Pangea cables have cost me a lot of money.
Enjoy.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Jesus Fox, slow down on the poor guy. lol
Everything is relative, you don't need a 500 buck power cord on a 200 buck cdp.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Well, I've already got a 20 amp dedicated circuit for the HT, so I'm good there. And, as tonyb stated, I don't want to go totally overboard. I have another thread going about media servers so that's gonna cost me some coin. I feel that right now my speaker cables and power cords are kind of up to par with the rest of my system. Everything's cohesive and there isn't one piece of equipment that's either much lower quality or much higher quality than the rest.TV: 65" Samsung QLED 4K
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier -
Happy to hear your sound has improved, and I think you're on the right track in matching gear.
I use Pangea power cords on my home theater gear. Does a great job on that in a cost effective way, and I can't really justify spending more. For two channel systems I use PS Audio power cords. There is definitely a difference between the two brands, both in materials, construction, and performance. To me though, the difference created is one of personal preference in how the systems sound with the power cords being used. I haven't tried other brands of aftermarket power cords because of the cost and time involved in switching everything around though. -
Emlyn, can you dig deeper and provide the models of the cables you use?
I use the PS Audio Statement and Plus power cords. Statement on high current devices, and Plus on source gear. These are the version with ferrite in the jackets. To my ears, they seem to make music sound both more powerful and smooth. Not the power cords to use if looking to get a neutral or extreme resolution sound.
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These are the version with ferrite in the jackets. To my ears, they seem to make music sound both more powerful and smooth.
I use PS Audio Statement cords......powerful and smooth sums it up perfectly.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
These are the version with ferrite in the jackets. To my ears, they seem to make music sound both more powerful and smooth.
I use PS Audio Statement cords......powerful and smooth sums it up perfectly.
15 or 20 amp? -
The pangea cords are great and perform better than the likes of the Wireworld Aurora that costs more. Not as good as the Electra but the ac9se is pretty close, I loved the bass from the pangea cords. If going the media sever or digital I strongly recomend the top of the line pangea usb cord as its the best value giant killing usb cable out there and I tried it against some top of the line usb's.
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I only showed you the door; you had to walk through it... But OK, I will own that.So, I'm gonna have to blame Polrbehr for getting me started on Pangea power cords, with an honorable mention to voltz for sending me over some nice Kimber cables and ICs.
And I'm gonna have to blame you since I am now hip-deep in Oppo 103 bliss after seeing yours in action, so turnabout is fair play! lol
So, are you willing to put forth a little effort or are you happy sitting in your skeptical poo pile?
http://audiomilitia.proboards.com/ -
I have Pangea on my Jolida CDP, pre and amp.
I noticed the biggest difference on the CDP.
Money well spent IMHO. -
Emlyn, can you dig deeper and provide the models of the cables you use?
I use the PS Audio Statement and Plus power cords. Statement on high current devices, and Plus on source gear. These are the version with ferrite in the jackets. To my ears, they seem to make music sound both more powerful and smooth. Not the power cords to use if looking to get a neutral or extreme resolution sound.
I decided to revisit this subject this evening by swapping out my PS Audio Statement and Plus power cords for brand new generic 14 AWG power cords on my two channel system. My objective was to remind myself of the difference I had consistently heard before, consider any differences between gear I was using a few years back compared to newer and better gear in use now, and to consider upgrading power cords again. I also wanted to test out if running gear through an AC regenerator was more or less sensitve to using generic power cords vs aftermarket ones. I was hoping I wouldn't hear a positive difference!
Test system:
PS Audio P500 AC regenerator
Parasound JC5 amplifier
Sonic Frontiers Line 3 SE+
Sony HAP-Z1ES running DSD files
JM Lab Electra 920.1 speakers
MIT S1 interconnects and speaker cables
PS Audio Statement cords ran from the wall to the P500 and from the P500 to the preamp with regenerated AC and to the JC5 without regeneration. A Plus power cord went from the P500 to the HAP-Z1ES.
The regenerated wattage reading on the P500 was around 220 to 224 watts with the generic cords and dropped just a little to 218 to 220 with the PS Audio cords. The balanced preamp with ten tubes draws a fair amount of power when it's on. The gear in standby was regenerating 88 to 90 watts with either set of cords. The 14 AWG cords will handle 15 amp loads so I had no concerns about using them for all of the connections above including the amp. Not one of them got the slightest bit warm during use with the system at high volumes.
The music was certainly listenable with the generic power cords but sounded "thin" and bland for lack of better words. I could certainly live with it and think it sounded very good even if the sound was comparatively sterile compared to what I'm used to hearing. BUT, when I put the PS Audio cords back in there was a very noticeable difference in smooth bass output and the treble was not as bright. Everything sounded more musical and engaging with better instrument and vocal separation at high volume levels. Dimensionality improved. The JM Lab speakers with the inverted dome tweeters are naturally quite bright but the old power cords still help to take the edge off them.
If the generic cords didn't make a difference I would have been happy to take the PS Audio cords out and sell them off. Not going to happen. Next step will be to look for a couple new power cords to try out.
I'm still using Pangea power cords on home theater gear.
