Cables - one of the most taboo subjects in audio

Mather said:
The only thing I didn't upgrade was my turntable AC cable. Any of you notice a difference in doing this? It seemed the least important since it's really only powering the motor...
Click to expand...

Because mine is a D.C. motor I went full on linear and bought a power supply made bespoke by MCRU in the U.K. to replace the wall wart. All things considered it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it might be. I’m not going to lie and say there was no difference but I’m also going to say that the SBooster Linear supply for the phono stage and the PS Audio Dectet conditioner went in at the same time so whilst I had a huge step up I don’t know how much of that was down to the new power supply for the table lol.
 
Joe Mac said:
Because mine is a D.C. motor I went full on linear and bought a power supply made bespoke by MCRU in the U.K. to replace the wall wart. All things considered it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it might be. I’m not going to lie and say there was no difference but I’m also going to say that the SBooster Linear supply for the phono stage and the PS Audio Dectet conditioner went in at the same time so whilst I had a huge step up I don’t know how much of that was down to the new power supply for the table lol.
Click to expand...
Yeah Bis doesn't make TT AC adaptor cables so I'll have to go elsewhere if I want to grab one of those.
 
dansomeone said:
Sadly, Zu appears to have sold almost all of their old stock. Only five items up for auction, no power cables and no Mission speaker cables.
www.ebay.com

ZuAudio | eBay Stores

Loudspeakers | Cables | Phono Pickups // Designed and Made by Us in Ogden, Utah—USA | 801-452-5578 | www.ZuAudio.com
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
I had seen that they were adding something to listings to the effect of "our stock is limited" and that they were down to the last ones to sell on ebay for certain products. I've been happy with all the stuff I bought from them. Got 2 sets of speaker cables and the Ibis jumpers all for good deals. I do wish I had gotten a power cable from them but a Pangea will probably do!
 
MikeH said:
I had seen that they were adding something to listings to the effect of "our stock is limited" and that they were down to the last ones to sell on ebay for certain products. I've been happy with all the stuff I bought from them. Got 2 sets of speaker cables and the Ibis jumpers all for good deals. I do wish I had gotten a power cable from them but a Pangea will probably do!
Click to expand...

The Pangea are really nice quality cables tbf. Really solid and well made and they did make a difference to my two power amps.
 
I could TRY to upgrade cables for my preamp and amp, I know the data train on a usb line can be tweaked

But the schiit Mani and magni AND the uturn orbit need an ac adapter (and for the schiit products they use barrel plugs)

I probably should get a decent enough surge protector/power conditioner/power step b first
 
Joe Mac said:
Because mine is a D.C. motor I went full on linear and bought a power supply made bespoke by MCRU in the U.K. to replace the wall wart. All things considered it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it might be. I’m not going to lie and say there was no difference but I’m also going to say that the SBooster Linear supply for the phono stage and the PS Audio Dectet conditioner went in at the same time so whilst I had a huge step up I don’t know how much of that was down to the new power supply for the table lol.
Click to expand...
Do you happen to know if these guys do AC supplies as well? Or just DC?
 
Joe Mac said:
MCRU stands for mains cables are us so they actually sell tonnes of power supplies and cables and they do make bespoke. Being in England I don’t know if they operate outside of 230/240V but you could always ask!

www.mcru.co.uk
Click to expand...
If anyone knows of a North American spot that do similar things or somewhere on this side of the pond that sells Pro Ject TT AC cables hit me up...
 
MikeH said:
I had seen that they were adding something to listings to the effect of "our stock is limited" and that they were down to the last ones to sell on ebay for certain products. I've been happy with all the stuff I bought from them. Got 2 sets of speaker cables and the Ibis jumpers all for good deals. I do wish I had gotten a power cable from them but a Pangea will probably do!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I got a Mission power cable for the Decware tube amp I have on order, and I also got two Mission interconnects for TT-preamp and preamp-amp.
Mather said:
The only thing I didn't upgrade was my turntable AC cable. Any of you notice a difference in doing this? It seemed the least important since it's really only powering the motor...
Click to expand...
Since I don't have the Decware amp yet, I replaced the stock power cable on my TT with the Mission power cable. I immediately noticed the noise floor was lowered for the system. So, I ordered a basic Pangea AC 14 power cable for the TT, which provides the same reduction in noise over the stock cable.
 
MikeH said:
Is there a recommended power cable that doesn't break the bank around here? That's probably my next small-ish upgrade...a new power cable for my Rotel.
Click to expand...
I'm still happy with my Zu Mission power cables. I've considered picking up more to move towards the entire system being 100% Zu Mission loom minus the speaker cables.

Mather said:
I'll say it before and I'll say it again. I was a denier (to a degree) until I went from standard everything (speaker/RCA/AC cables) to all top end everything and the difference was staggering. Now granted I went WAY above what is probably necessary, my cables cost more at retail than my turnable and my speakers combined BUT... yeah big big difference.
Click to expand...
I think this is the BEST way to approach cables. I think if more people treated a full cable loom like a component, more people might feel differently about it. But when people change one interconnect and nothing else, it's not really shocking they don't hear much.

MikeH said:
I'm guessing I would notice more of an effect if I upgraded all cables and power at once. Power is definitely the worst offender for me currently (no pun intended). My apartment now has nearly everything on one breaker including our fridge. We're moving shortly so I haven't invested much time or money into the power situation now since we were renting. I have a Panamax and my Aries Mini came with a linear power supply. Outside of that, haven't done much at all but I definitely hear some noise in my speakers when everything is powered up but nothing is playing. But once I move into the new place, I'll reassess and probably be back here asking for some recommendations!
Click to expand...
You might look into changing out outlets when you move too. Certainly not night and day, but ever little bit helps and they can move with you down the road. I didn't go full audiophile, but I'm glad I went up to industrial grade in the new room.

Mather said:
The only thing I didn't upgrade was my turntable AC cable. Any of you notice a difference in doing this? It seemed the least important since it's really only powering the motor...
Click to expand...
Let me start this statement by saying that I am NOT an engineer. Simply sharing things I've read/ heard.
With that disclaimer out of the way, it's important to remember that electrical current flows both ways, in and out. If you look at demos using the sniffer tool, you'll see some where each noise reduction cable introduced to the line lowers noise. Now how much of that actually impacts your stereo, heavily up for debate. But based on that principle, yes upgrading your TT power cord *could* improve your sound. This goes back to that full loom theory.


Do what you will with that information.
 
dansomeone said:
Sadly, Zu appears to have sold almost all of their old stock. Only five items up for auction, no power cables and no Mission speaker cables.
www.ebay.com

ZuAudio | eBay Stores

Loudspeakers | Cables | Phono Pickups // Designed and Made by Us in Ogden, Utah—USA | 801-452-5578 | www.ZuAudio.com
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
I've always assumed the ebay store was more of a loss leader than a money maker. Time to start cashing in now that they have a base enjoying those products looking for more.
 
dansomeone said:
Yeah, I got a Mission power cable for the Decware tube amp I have on order, and I also got two Mission interconnects for TT-preamp and preamp-amp.

Since I don't have the Decware amp yet, I replaced the stock power cable on my TT with the Mission power cable. I immediately noticed the noise floor was lowered for the system. So, I ordered a basic Pangea AC 14 power cable for the TT, which provides the same reduction in noise over the stock cable.
Click to expand...
Yeah, thing is the Project tables have that little AC wall wart interconnect coming out of the TT so that Pangea won't work unfortunately...
 
displayname said:
I've always assumed the ebay store was more of a loss leader than a money maker. Time to start cashing in now that they have a base enjoying those products looking for more.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it looks like they have upgraded/discontinued various cables, but still had raw materials for the older versions, which they were clearing out. From their lone Libtec speaker cable listing:
"Note: After nearly two decades of continuous fabrication, inventory to make the Libtec loudspeaker cable will be consumed; once gone Libtec will no longer be offered. [We anticipate being sold out by years end -- we did find a another spool of raw material.]"
 
Mather said:
Yeah, thing is the Project tables have that little AC wall wart interconnect coming out of the TT so that Pangea won't work unfortunately...
Click to expand...

That’s not just a cable then it’s an AC power supply. It’s doing some step up/down conversion to provide the Wattage and Amperage that the tt’s AC motor needs. If it was just a cable it’d pe a standard IEC connection and that’d likely be done onboard. You’d need to upgrade the power supply like I’ve done then too, but to a better AC power supply.
 
dansomeone said:
"Note: After nearly two decades of continuous fabrication, inventory to make the Libtec loudspeaker cable will be consumed; once gone Libtec will no longer be offered. [We anticipate being sold out by years end -- we did find a another spool of raw material.]"
Click to expand...
As someone in marketing, I take that with a HUGE grain of salt. They've been running that line for several years now. While it may be true, I think even calling this line "discontinued" is a little much. It's hardly discontinued if you have materials and continue production for 3+ years on ebay. That's a discount line, not a discontinued line.
Yeah, someday they will run out. But adding that note to their listings feels WAY more like a marketing initiative than a kind message to the people. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my personal read on the situation. Creating a false sense of urgency.
 
Yeah I noticed the other day the Zu ebay deals are dying slowly. I mainly went Zu Mission over Pangea because they ended up cheaper on ebay and I like black better than blue. I was very happy with the Pangea cable I had on my Pho8 originally.
 
displayname said:
As someone in marketing, I take that with a HUGE grain of salt. They've been running that line for several years now. While it may be true, I think even calling this line "discontinued" is a little much. It's hardly discontinued if you have materials and continue production for 3+ years on ebay. That's a discount line, not a discontinued line.
Yeah, someday they will run out. But adding that note to their listings feels WAY more like a marketing initiative than a kind message to the people. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my personal read on the situation. Creating a false sense of urgency.
Click to expand...
I see your point, but those auctions consistently attracted plenty of bids, so I don't think they needed to exaggerate to drum up business. I do think they were genuinely advising that the auctions are going to end, soon, which they appear to be.
 
@Mather so if your power brick has 16V AC written on it your upgrade is something like this. This is from the same guys I bought from. From the blurb they make them for North American voltages too. There may be a company your side of the pond that makes them too. You could get them to supply it with one of their own IEC cables or buy one of your fancy Biz ones.

www.mcru.co.uk

MCRU 16V Power Supply for Pro-Ject Turntables

16V AC output Filtered PSU Audiophile performance
www.mcru.co.uk
 
Joe Mac said:
@Mather so if your power brick has 16V AC written on it your upgrade is something like this. This is from the same guys I bought from. From the blurb they make them for North American voltages too. There may be a company your side of the pond that makes them too. You could get them to supply it with one of their own IEC cables or buy one of your fancy Biz ones.

www.mcru.co.uk

MCRU 16V Power Supply for Pro-Ject Turntables

16V AC output Filtered PSU Audiophile performance
www.mcru.co.uk
Click to expand...
Thanks! It looks like that comes with everything I need does it not? Cable for wall plug and cable for TT AC input is included, I think according to the description? It's not super clear...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top