The Official Club Polk - Snake River Power Cord Demo

Snake River component power cable review
Gear:
Pre- Parasound P5
Amp- Parasound A23
CDP- Pioneer DV-563a
HD Tuner- POS HDT-1
Speakers- PolkAudio LSi9 modded with VR3 crossovers
Subwoofer- MAudio BX1

Cables:
Pre power cables- AudioQuest NRGX, SnakeRiver component cable;
Pre/Amp ICs- WireWorld Equinox 7 balanced XLR
USB- WireWorld Ultraviolet 7
CPD- MIT Coax (model unknown)
HDTuner ICs- Monster Standard
Speakers- AudioQuest Q2
Sub- standard PC and a standard Shure balanced XLR

Room:
Living room (shared space)- Half the space is for the Hifi rig and the other is for relaxation and tv/gaming HT experiences. ~14’X~23’. The stereo side (left) is located on the 14’ wall. The HT half (right side) fully opens to the kitchen area. The speakers are 35” from the rear wall, 64” apart from center to center, the listening position is ~ 100” and they are about 32” from the right side wall and 50” from the left side wall. There is an area rug between the speakers to tame the first reflections from the hardwood flooring.

Prequel:
I know my cable selection is all over the place, but I’m also just at the beginning of my cable journey. Most of the cables in the list are what were available on the second hand market and in my price range at the time of purchase. Purchasing cables this way has allowed me to start going down this “rabbit hole”.

The pre and the amp are on a single dedicated 20 amp circuit. All the other gear is on a shared 15 amp circuit.

I mostly spent time listening to SACDs and standard CDs. There were some listening sessions in HiRez via my laptop using the USB cable mentioned above, running JRiver.

The subwoofer at it’s amp was set to just above 50Hz and the volume 0dB. The sub level on the pre was set between 9 and 10 o’clock.

All listening sessions were kept at an 88dB peak limit. This was monitored by my decibel meter, the RadioShack 33-4050.

Running in the cables and gear:
For starters the Pre still had the AQ PC connected. All the gear was switched on and music was played using the HD tuner set to an HD station. This was done for an hour before switching to the CDP and starting to listen to what was already familiar to me.

Then after switching off the gear to change out the AQ PC for the SR PC I started the same run in process as mentioned above. The Snake River PC stayed connected to my pre for the rest of the time it spent in my possession.(Because it could be a long time before another cable of this caliber is introduced into this system.) I also found the sound signature stated below was pleasantly consistent throughout all my listening sessions no matter what the source I was using at the time.

Short Review:
I was pleasantly surprised by the changes this cable had offered. The first thing I noticed was a more spatial and 3D sound stage. This lead to there being more space between the musicians and more of a 3D presentation of the effects (decay, reverb, distortion etc) they may have used during certain selections of music. A good representation of what I mean is When listening to live recordings I’ve listen to a lot; I’ve felt for the first time that I had an idea of the venue size!

I’d like to break down a little more what I mean by “more spatial and 3D sound stage”: Starters the AQ was an upgrade over the stock PC. It allowed the sound to expand out from the boxes(speakers) that were reproducing them about a foot or two creating a sound stage. This was a nice upgrade over the stock PC! The SR PC further expanded upon what was already there PLUS another five or so feet! Along with all the sound characteristics that were mentioned before and after this statement. Finally I felt like I could actually walk around the musicians.

Acoustic instruments had more body and sounded more musical. This was evident while listening to acoustic guitar and piano. They had more weight and presence. Meaning they were no longer at the back of the stage.

Singers are better positioned towards the center of the stage and better separated from the instruments.

Short conclusion:
Bass- Tight, less bloated. This gave a more accurate presentation of what these small bookies are capable of producing.

Mids- Cleaner, clearer. Coupled with the tight bass this allowed the sound to be more spatial.

Highs- Elevated, more forward. The sound signature of my rig tends to be more on the laid back side. So this help give the sound stage a more 3D presentation.


I would like to extend an appreciative Thanks to @treitz3 a.k.a Tom for giving me this opportunity to demo this cable.

Received the cable today. I will hook it up tonight and let the system run for a few days prior to any serious review.

John

Is the demo tour back on track?

I’ll be posting my review by tomorrow night at the latest.

John

I’ll get this out to jdjohn in the next couple days. Working on review now.

II.
There has been a previous demand for a 10-page peer reviewed essay proof read by Doc Hardy. To that I say, please see Appendix III, Sec. 309(c), infra. For those whose attention spans are shorter than a Wisconsin summer, however, here's the lowdown - this cable is no throwaway stocking stuffer. Oh no. I've never heard a power cable make this big of a difference in my rig.

I confess at the outset of this evaluation that I felt like a Little League batboy with my modest old school system - (he's not even streaming!!) - buy hey, the only characters that could utter a complaint in my smallish listening room were some descending guitar lines, Dylan's fatalistic lyrics, a few keyboard waves, and some North Pole wind effects. And Dylan's not even mumbling anymore.

Allow me a moment at this point to descend to my default infantile mentality and say initially that this cable has a very snug fit. (In unison now: "That's what she said!") Out of the box, it gives Snake Pliskken norwegian wood. It looks the part. Gorgeous. Well presented, very attractive all-around. Ok, now we can move out of the gutter. (If you say so, Pinocchio)

IV.
Immediately, upon dropping the needle on Privateering, I noticed the low end on the Snake River was more impactful, tighter and deeper. The harmonica and keyboards were nothing short of excellent. Knopfler's vocals and the harmonies had a smoothness to them that I'd never heard before. The acoustic instruments were more present. The same was true of Brothers In Arms. (It's funny, when that album first came out I thought it was close to a perfect album, but I hated Money For Nothing. Then it hits early MTV and suddenly its in rock and roll heaven right next to Start Me Up. Coincidentally, when Tattoo You first came out I thought side two of the vinyl was near perfection but I hated Start Me Up which started side one.) Anyway, when I put BIA on the turntable, I immediately noticed a more spatial sound to the instruments. Not overly analytical, not overly forward. A depth to the instruments and the vocals that I'd never heard before. When I put the Sam Lee album on, the stringed instruments and the textured vocals also had a depth and spatial quality that was unprecedented in my system.

Dylan's Rough And Rowdy Ways is another somewhat recent double LP that is in my frequent rotation. While it lacks the heights of production that Knopfler's recordings uncompromisingly bring, it is one of Dylan's best for sound quality. Crossing The Rubicom is a song that I have especially come to utilize when evaluating gear. With the Snake River cable, I immediately noticed more sustained cymbals the guitars were more clear, and the vocals were also cleaner and more separated.

Snake River Component Power Cable
Gear used:
Polk L-600
Preamp - Marantz 7706
Amp - Sunfire Theater Grand
Subs - Sunfire HRS-10’s (not used)
Phono stage - Parasound Zphono XRM
Turntable - Music Hall Stealth w Ortofon 2m Bronze
Blu-ray player - Sony UDP x800m2
Interconnects - Kimber Kable PBJ balanced and PBJ RCA for the phono stage, HDMI audio quest Pearl 48, power cables Tributaries C8, home made pure silver braid, and stock.
Noise and surge suppressor - Quantum Octave

Media varied between CD, SACD, DVD Audio, and Vinyl.

I received the cable and connected it from the Quantum Octave to the preamp using the 125 db filter. I let the system play 24-7 for about 4 days to let the cable “settle in” as suggested. After the 4 days were up I started to listen to a wide variety of music and formats. Jazz, rock, classical, etc.. I set up the system to use pure direct with no subwoofers and only use the L-600’s. I had it set up like this for all listening sessions except for watching movies on the weekends.

It’s been a while since I have listened to this much music for extended periods of time. I will say I enjoyed doing it very much and will continue to relax after work with music. I tend to use the system mainly for home theater since I have not finished my 2 channel system yet. Waiting on a musical fidelity amp and preamp which I was going to buy and use for this, but it was recommended to not do that.

Out of the box the Snake River cable looks fantastic. It is very flexible and well made. These are more flexible than my current cables. The cable uses what appear to be two ferritic chokes. The cable appears to be braided under the red and black cover. I believe they call the braid the “Eddie Twist”. The connectors appear to be well built. I forgot to look and see if they had UL or CE certification marks. I believe they make their own connectors. I could not find any information on the certification on their website. I know all my other cables use UL certified connectors. I don’t know if that’s important to anyone or not.

After a week of listening the sound stage was excellent, as was the instrument placement. It’s very difficult for me to say that this cable made a huge difference compared to my current Tributaries C8’s. There appeared to be a little more mid base if anything using the Snake River cable. I had a friend stop by one weekend and we compared the Snake River, Tributaries C8, a hand made pure silver braided cable, and the stock cable. I would say the Snake River performed as well or better than the silver cable and the C8. The silver cable seamed a little brighter, the Snake River had a little more mid base, and the C8 was a little more neutral. All seamed to have better soundstage and imaging than the stock cable. The sound stage and imaging was very good for all 3 of the aftermarket cables.

After not hearing a large difference I changed the placement of the cable to connect from the wall into the noise and surge suppressor hoping that I would be able to hear a bigger difference. I then let the cable settle for another week. I again didn’t hear a large difference. I’m not sure if my equipment is resolving enough to hear a large difference, but I believe I have pretty good mid level equipment and interconnects. Maybe my hearing is not as good as some others.

I don’t know if having all Snake River cables would have made a larger more apparent difference, but perhaps someone else will have an opportunity to do a full cable switch comparison.

Overall I was happy to have been able to participate in this demo. It’s not often an opportunity to demo a high end cable like this comes around. Would I buy these cables to replace what I have? Probably not at least with my current system.

Thanks for the opportunity to try the Snake River cable!

John

The Snake River PC arrived safe & sound, thanks John.

treitz3 wrote: »

Hey guys, I have fired off a couple of PM's this morning. Please check to see if you have rec'd a message from me. Thanks.

Tom

yes indeed.

I have accumulated my thoughts on the Snake River Power Amp Cord, and am ready to send it on the next recipient.

I received the Snake River Audio power amp cord for demo and testing, and this is my review.

Initial setup was a First Watt Aleph J DIY power amp (25WPC Class A) into a pair of JM Lab/Focal Mezzo Utoptia speakers, with highly modified external crossover networks, designed and built by our very own @VR3 .

Preamp is a Benchmark HPA4, feeding into the previously mentioned First Watt Aleph J power amp. The Benchmark HPA4 is a VERY versatile (and quiet) preamp, and every time I get the itch to try something different, I simply can't find a good reason to replace it...so many useful features. Anyway, for hard-core comparison listening with this project, I used strictly digital, playing FLAC and DSD files from my Innuos Zen MkIII streamer, going (via USB) into a Benchmark DAC3/HGC, which then goes into the aforementioned Benchmark HPA4 preamp, via XLR. I also did some streaming, and played some vinyl, but for comparison testing purposes, only used locally stored digital files.

Comparative power cords in the house were DIY Furutech cords (two types; from Douglas Connections), Supra LoRad Silver-Plated cord, and DH Labs Encore cord. I also have a PS Audio Statement cord, but it is too stiff and unwieldy to place into my current configuration.

My power conditioner is a Puritan Audio Labs PSM156 'purifier', with their 'Ultimate' power cord connecting the conditioner to the wall outlet. This is a non-current-limiting power purifier, so for this project, I plugged the power amp(s) into the PSM156…not directly into the wall socket.

I won’t go into detail about product packaging and build quality, since that has already been discussed in previous reviews, but suffice it to say it is a quality product.

On the first night, after letting the Snake River cord burn-in all day, my wife was feeling a bit nostalgic due to Toby Keith's recent passing, so we launched into a listening session with a few of his greatest hits (on Spotify premium). After listening to 'Beer for My Horses', (which is really a duet with TK and Willie Nelson), I decided to swap-in one of my comparison power cords, and re-play the song, for an A/B comparison. We switched back-and-forth between power cords several times, and in the end, the separation of Toby and Willie's voices in the chorus was the discerning factor. With the Snake River cord in place, my wife swore she could hear additional, backup voices in the background of the chorus - besides just TK and Willie. Honestly, my wife noticed more of a difference than me, but I did hear some difference. But again, this was via Spotify premium, so not a serious test for me, yet.

After a few more days of burn-in, everything was sounding great...I probably became accustomed to the sound presented by the Snake River cord. During the burn-in period, I listened to a good deal of classical music, via streaming, and was impressed with (in my estimation) a bigger presentation, but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. As an aside, if you have access to internet radio from a streaming device, I encourage you to seek-out the Classical 24 feed from American Public Media (APM), out of Minneapolis. They have a syndicated feed, often available through local ‘public radio’ affiliations, but their main feed can also be found through many online radio streams. I don’t know (for certain) the technical attributes of their feed, but my DAC indicates a higher sample rate, and the sound is quite impressive.

I was finally ready for some more serious comparisons, using DSD and FLAC files. Blood, Sweat & Tears 'And When I Die' and 'God Bless the Child' were my initial selections. I started with the Snake River power cord as a baseline; it sounded great. When I switched to the Furutech, things sounded a bit more restricted, but I thought it could just be a slightly lower SPL, with everything sounding just a little quieter. I consistently used -45dB on my preamp as the volume/gain setting on my preamp, for all power cords - probably not nearly as loud as some of my fellow testers. With the Furutech power cord, I was also now (perhaps) noticing a bit of graininess. The slightly quieter replay also occurred with the Supra LoRad power cord, but with no graininess. Switching back to the Snake River, a couple more dB were back in the mix. Also, a touch more reverb, echo, air, recording room effect...everything. A bit more separation was also evident around each instrument and/or voice, which is really saying something with those tracks from BST. Between the horns, harmonica, piano, electric guitars/bass, vocals - there is a lot going on in those songs. With the Snake River cord, the sound was more engaging, and kept me listening longer...more realism in the reproduction, and more distinguishable timbre in instruments and voices. Some guys use the term ‘tone’, or ‘tonality’, but for me, tone reminds me of a ‘tone generator’, simply producing a certain frequency. ‘Timbre’ incorporates more distinguishable characteristics, like the sound of the resonance chamber in an acoustic guitar, maybe the difference between a Fender electric bass vs a Rickenbacker, or the gravelly sound of a vocalist. The list goes on, but a really good reproduction of ‘timbre’ sounds more realistic, and the Snake River cord exhibited that, for me.

[cont’d]

Great write up!

Where we be in the line of participants...