Call it serendipity, a strange coincidence, or just plain chance, but when the power cords arrived from Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative for me to review, I was watching a video on YouTube from none other than Audioholics. Those familiar with that organization will know they are not supporters of high-end, high-priced audio cables whatsoever. One might ask why I, a subjective audio reviewer, was watching an Audioholics video in the first place. Let's just say I like to get a well-rounded view of all things audio. And I respect the education and experience of the hosts. I have reviewed audio cables in the past, and I have heard differences between the various cables I have reviewed. Admittedly, most of the time those differences were small, and the price was often out of proportion to the improvement in sound. To add to the mix, a few days ago I was reading about a cable manufacturer selling one of his power cords for, wait for it, $90,000! Words escape me. I wonder if NASA, Starlink, or Blue Origin know about these power cords?
The two power cords I received from Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative are their own Custom Made Furutech Power Cord. And believe me, they are priced a Hell of a lot less expensive than the cord mentioned in the bottom of the last paragraph. I was a bit surprised when I first took them out of the box because they didn't look quite finished. There was no sheathing on the two cords that I received, just loose cables and some mighty fine cryogenically treated Furutech connectors on each end of the cable. In fact on the 3-conductor cord, as with the 2-conductor cord, two cables are held together by the factory insulation cover. And if I am not mistaken, the ground cable is loose on the 3-conductor cord. It turns out that in the design process several types of sheathing were tried, all of which turned out to be detrimental to the sound to some degree or another according to Sean Scoggin of Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative. So these babies are sold naked to the world as far as any kind of sheathing is concerned in the name of sound quality. The wire used in their construction is "an ultra-high strand count very pure oxygen free copper speaker wire, hand-picked imported solder" is used in their construction, along with the Furutech connectors. All this for a very reasonable price. One seven foot, 2-conductor cord that I received was to be used in my little Marantz PM 5004 due to its different grounding scheme, and the second seven foot 3-conductor cord was to be used in the more sophisticated Marantz PM15S1 amp. These power cords are very flexible and can tuck under a gear rack nicely. (I'll take flexible and easy to install over stiff and unwieldy wire any day.)
My testing method was simple. Instead of yours truly doing all the switching out of cords, changing disks and taking notes, I got a little help. Why don't I just sit there and let my son do all the switching out of cords and music, and I just take notes? I wanted to create as close as I could a blind test to see if I really could hear what each cord was doing to the sound, if anything without anything creating confirmation bias as much as possible. You could call it a backyard blind test. I installed the two Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative cords, and two more cords from my stash from different manufacturers behind my stereo rack in close proximity to my amps, which made it easy to switch out the cords first from the PM5004 then to the PM15S1. For the comparisons I had my son switch them in and out from the back of the amplifiers at his discretion and change the CDs. The cords were labeled 1, 2, 3, 4. The amplifiers were marked A and B. The cords were all connected on the other end to my Pangea passive power strip. So all the action was behind both amplifiers, and I couldn't see which cord was being switched out. This way, I didn't know which cord was installed in either amp. I only knew the number. I was also instructed to close my eyes when the actual switching was taking place for some extra caution. I told you, backyard blind testing.
Concerning the modification to my modest Marantz PM5004, Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative took this amp that sounded thin with a sheen and glare coloration from top to bottom with so-so bass to a level of sound quality I couldn't believe. Gone were those colorations replaced by greatly improved natural tone, a considerably more clean and open sound with solid bass and improved dynamics. With the modification, this amp now competes with amplifiers many times the price. Honestly I didn't think this amp could be improved after the modification. But according to the SDAA website, their power cords "magnify the effects of our modifications by 3-fold." Let's find out if we could pick the SDAA cords out of an aural line up or not, and hear if they made a difference in performance.
For simplicity's sake we played mostly CDs in the testing of these power cords. Sure we spun some wax which was mostly done at the end of the CD sessions. My son is also a big-time vinyl fan. We even hooked up my Samsung phone to my rig one time. But for the most part we used CDs for the evaluations. When you are switching out two different amplifiers and four power cords, you want speed and simplicity where you can get it. Besides my son is only getting paid in cheeseburgers and craft beer for all of that switching.
Coming into this test I thought it would be a little difficult to hear the differences between these power cords. Especially hidden from view as they were. But it was easier than I thought to hear the differences. Cord 1 and 3 sounded similar in their sonics. They sounded slightly less open and a bit less dynamic overall with slightly darker, softer, and rounded off edges with a slightly less open soundstage. Cord 1 sounded slightly cleaner than cord 3, but cord 2 sounded cleaner and overall more musical than cord 1 and 3. Cord 4 also sounded very clean and more open with better dynamics and a cleaner sound overall than cord 1 and 3. In fact all the negative anomalies heard in cord 1 and 3 were improved on by cord 2 and cord 4. This was easily heard on the CD, The Notting Hillbilly's… Missing Presumed Having a Good Time. With cord 2, this CD sounded more clear and distinct with natural sounding vocals that sounded more fleshed out reproducing one of the most realistic soundstages I have heard from this disk to date. Cord 4 reproduced a similar soundstage with more overall clarity, spaciousness, and natural tonality than cords 1 and 3. Cord 4 was neck and neck to cord 2 in sonic qualities. Both amplifiers sounded so similar it was hard to tell them apart.
Similar results were heard from cord 2 from the CD's Keith Richards' Talk is Cheap, the Alan Parsons Project Eye in the Sky and Vulture Culture's Vulture Culture. I heard wide open stages, more distinct instruments and vocals, and a less grainy slightly more dynamic and again a cleaner sound overall. Track 4 "Gemini" from the Alan Parson's disc Eye in the Sky sounded fabulous. Again I have never heard this track sound this good before. Similarly on track 5, "Vulture Culture" from the CD of the same name, the wooden percussion instruments were clearly anchored in space and sounded very clean and very naturally dynamic. Also with cord 2, I have never heard the Notting Hillbillies CD, especially the vocals sounding more real and more natural and rich in texture and tone. CDs sound more natural and realistic. I know that sounds like an oxymoron. On Keith Richards' Talk is Cheap, the image placement and spaciousness of instruments on this disk sounded so real and three dimensional especially on track 6 "You Don't Move Me," was almost uncanny. Cord 4 displayed similar positive results on these disks as with cord 2. It's as if these were power cord clones or my son actually didn't switch cord 2 for cord 4 on purpose to fool me. Is that Okay? Cord 1, while still sounding cleaner than cord 3, displayed less of the positive qualities described above most notably in spaciousness and clarity than both cord 2 and cord 4.
Spinning something a little different, we put on Kenny Garret's CD Pursuance. And for good measure, the soundtrack to Bladerunner 2049. On the Pursuance disc Garret's sax had a bit less space around it, and Pat Metheny's guitar had less sting and bite on individual notes with cord 3. The Bladerunner CD had a bit less space and slightly less depth. Although between cord 1 and cord 3, cord 1 sounded a bit more clean and spacious again than cord 3 on this disc. This from a mostly all-electronic instrumental recording. The overall soundstage sounded less distinct and clear with cords 1 and 3. Again with the exception of cord 1 having a bit more clarity than cord 3. And again cord 2 displayed a more spacious stage and a more noticeable more cleaner sound than both of these cords again. And again with cord 4 sounding very similar to cord 2.
The background vocals on the song "Days are Numbers" from the LP Vulture Culture reproduced a very open soundstage and a very realistic placement of instruments with cord 4. Cord 2 again showing less coloration and vocals that just drew me into this old multi-track analog recording made at Abby Road Studios that was mixed onto a Sony 1610 digital system. And again cords 1 and 3 fell short in sonics. Whew! Thanks for sitting in with us on our first backyard blind test.
At this point it was obvious that two power cords were definitely better than the other two. It's also worth mentioning that as the test went on and on my son relied on my Marantz PM 5004 amplifier only instead of using both amps. So I was listening to that amp for most of the test. I forgive him. Not only for the reason that he did me a great service for volunteering for this thankless job, but my two amplifiers are so close in performance that many times it was too close to call.
So did I actually hear an audible difference between these power cords? I would answer that by saying definitely yes. If your system is up to it, that is, able to reproduce a high degree of resolution, one can easily hear the differences between pieces of wire in one's system. I am willing to bet that systems with less resolution can easily reproduce what's being heard with these four cords good or bad. Although many times those differences might not be as big as we might think. There was enough differences to easily hear them and to influence one's opinion in this test.
Cords 1 and cord 3 turned out to be my personal cords. They are well built and from famous name wire manufacturers in high end audio. The thing that obviously stuck out in their performance was that they consistently did not sound as clean and open as cords 2 and 4. Cord 2 and cord 4 turned out to be Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative power cords. I was flabbergasted. How could these inexpensive cords with an unorthodox build sound this good and beat out cords double and triple in price with a seemingly better build quality than them. Then again, if this company can take a humble, inexpensive amplifier and make it sound like an amp many times its price, why not wire.
I do believe that all of these differences heard in this test cannot be attributed to the cords alone. The best things I have done to improve the sound of my system the last few years was to have my gear upgraded by modifications, especially from Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative, and the installation of vibration platforms. These two products lowered the noise floor and raised the resolution and improved the tone and timber of my gear to a degree I have not heard from components costing quite a bit more. I can now add the Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative power cords to my system for a sizeable degree of improved sound quality in my system. In anyone's system for that matter. They upgraded the performance of my system equal to the Mods and the vibration platform products. Their performance was easily heard in the test. But did they magnify the effects of the modifications by three-fold? That one is hard to say. Let me put it this way. These cords are some of the best performing power cords I have ever had in my system regardless of price. I found no negative qualities when they were installed in my system. For their price and performance level they are going to be very hard to beat.
Custom Made Furutech Power Cord
Retail: $295 Plus Shipping and Handling for a 5 Ft cord
Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative
909 N Sitka Ave
Newberg, Or USA 91732
971.221.7317
