question about MIT cables

[mililanihawaii]

I'm about to purchase a MIT Shotgun AC1 power cord for $550.00 should I go for the best and settle for the Shotgun AC2 power cord which is double the cost at 1000.00 . Has anyone know if the additional network box is worth a extra 500.00 bucks?

[mililanihawaii]

Should I wait and invest on the Magnum AC-1 or AC-2 instead

[elapsed]

Have you considered for one moment to audition the cables and hear the results for yourself? I'd be hard pressed to purchase a $1,000 power cable based on reviews or advise, I'd have to hear the results for myself, and would certainly perform a home audition with my own equipment.

Also, please describe your current system - speakers, pre-amp, poweramp, sources. In many instances that $1,000 could offer better value for money if applied elsewhere in your system. Keep in mind that I do believe that power cables can make a difference in the sonic qualities of a system.

cheers,
elapsed

[blackraven]

Save your money and skip the power cord. I have yet to see a power cord make a difference in sound. And if there is a difference it certainly be small. I would not spend more that $50-100 on a power cord. Save the money and upgrade some other component. Some may disagree with me but dont you think that if power cords made a big difference in sound quality that Manufacturers would supply better power cords.

[Mr Peabody]

I respectfully disagree with Blackraven on this one. That's why Elapsed suggestion to try the cable is the best way to go. I brought a Transparent power cable home for an audition, believeing as Blackraven does now, I first tried it on my Krell CD player and was amazed by the improvement. The background became darker do to reduced noise and detail was more apparent and a seemingly smoother sound overall, less digital. So I began circulating the cable around my system. I ended up replacing every single detachable cord in my system. The largest improvement was in my CD players and phono stage though. Coincidently later down the road I bought a Linn 5 channel power amp and did not have an upgraded power cable on hand for it. I picked up a MIT Z cord. It was either used or demo from a shop so I'm not sure what the original retail was. I noticed a big improvement in the Linn amp, as big as in my CD player. I'm not sure why unless it was because the Linn is a digital amp or the MIT was better than the Transparent. If you have multi thousand dollar equipment the $1k could be the way to go but I'd bet the $550.00 one would be enough for you to know if it helps. If the hi fi shop is worth it's salt they won't mind lending you the cables to audition. In fact, a lot of manufacturers have kits they sell or give dealers for such auditions.

Blackraven I don't think your analogy is accurate. That's like saying if a turntable benefited from a better platter cover or even platter they would include it. Products are put ont the market to meet a certain price point. So most do not include better cords, tubes, tonearms etc. Some one mentioned on another thread that a hand full of manufacturers no longer provide a power cord.

With all this being said, if you didn't hear the difference then by all means it certainly wasn't worth the expense to you. Keep an open mind though and maybe try one again on your CD player some day. I'd recommend a quality cord like MIT, Transparent or PS Audio.

[mililanihawaii]

Hi: elapsed to answer your question I definitely indeed audition the MIT AC-1 shotgun cables that I put money down for. Audio Lab which to me the only store that carries top notch stereo equipment also is the freindly place to be, owner Tom Choy gladly offer me the chance to purchase the higher grade model the Shotgun AC-2 I beleive and to test this higher grade cables at home and hear if any difference and make a choice then, well hears the problem, I also bought a Rotel 1095 amp from Audio Lab and this mammoth amp did not arrive yet I have no chance to hear any test now . Maybe I could here from different people with different opinion on this topic. To answer many people question I am a true beleiver in MIT cables but trying too see if the better or the best should not be over looked. My system. Denon 3805 (will run as a pre-amp with the Rotel 1095
Oppo DV-981 dvd player
HSU research MK-3 subwoofer
PSB C-9 for my left and right fronts speakers
PSB C-60 center speaker
Rotel 1095 muti-power amp
Polk Audio RC- 85i rear ceiling speakers(3)
Speaker wire from Audio Lab can't remember the name but paid nine
dollars a foot. Trust me its a good quality if Audio Lab using it with
their very expensive amp.
Cables will be probably fom MIT
I hope I answered your question and I hope I didn't leave anything out... Aloha

[Mr Peabody]

Seeing your system I personally feel a $1k power cable would be overkill. Not knocking your system just saying the expense is a bit out of line with the rest of your system. If I were you I'd be looking for a dedicated CD player or move to a separate preamp/processor. These would be a more beneficial item to increase sound quality than a ultra high end power cord.

It seems like you trust that Audio Labs know their stuff but remember they are a retailer first, there to make money. You ALWAYS have to trust yourself, your own ears, to make an objective decision. As much as I like my favorite hi fi shop and found them to usually be correct I have auditioned products that I did not decide to buy. I frankly would have to question the motives of a sales rep who would suggest a $1k power cable for a receiver connected to a power amp.

Another avenue you might consider is the power conditioner. These usually have multiple outlets and filtering of the electric signal. This way all your components could benefit, even the ones that don't have detachable cords. You just have to be sure the unit you try allows enough current flow to feed your Rotel power amp. There are a wide variety of these products that do various things, so it will require a bit of research. You could still upgrade the power cord where possible just use more of an entry priced cable opposed to the top end.

I hope you understand what I mean. A $1k power cord in a system such as yours is like wearing a tailored Italian suit to the beach. No law against it, it is just a bit out of place.

[elapsed]

I'll have to agree with Mr Peabody on this one.. a $1,000 powercable is likely to be overkill in your system, instead I'd consider spending the money on a CD Player, or a new pre-pro (for instance, the new Rotel RSP-1570 that was announced this week at CEDIA, a great match for your poweramp).

Typically the source would benefit the most from a powercable, but it wouldn't make sense to spend $500 or more on a cable for a $250 DVD Player. In my own system I've been considering $750 Naim Power-Line for my CD Player, but to keep things in perspective most Naim owners wouldn't consider this upgrade until they reach a point that they have spent over $10,000 on their cd player and pre-amp. Up until this point there are far more significant upgrades for the money, such as upgrading the cd player, turntable, power supply, pre-amp and interconnects.

cheers,
elapsed

[blackraven]

I've tried upgraded cables and have friends that have tried them with no apparent improvement in sound. Maybe my power is cleaner and my power conditioner is better than yours.

[mililanihawaii]

Mr. Peaboby i've read your coments and you really made me think about having a receiver hook up to a power amp. What brand of preamp/processor you would suggest that I would benifit having let say i'm keeping the $550.00 MIT shotgun cables to hear any difference. Would you consider buying the same Rotel brand to make things easier. Would that make a difference in the dac in the Denon 3805 receiver? I thought the denon receiver had a remarkable 16 burr-brown pcm-1791 24 bit,192 khz high resolution DAC. Lets consider that my price range would be in the no higher than $2500.00 price range well if something that is so impressive most i'll spend is tops $3000.00 no more what really would you or anyone in this case spend and what brand would it be . Remember i'm getting a Rotel 1095 amp with the MIT shotgun AC-1 already. You guys got to remember this isn't great stuff but it beat my neighbor Bose sysem.

[Mr Peabody]

I'm not sure the price but Rotel is coming out with the RSP-1570 preamp processor. I believe I saw a MSRP of $2,199.00 I am also really impressed with my Marantz AV8003 for $2,500.00 MSRP. Both of these will include the latest HDMI switching and HD audio decoding if you are into HT as well as music.

The thing about digital playback is how the signal is handled after it's decoded by the DAC. So the better the analog circuits, such as in better preamps and higher quality CD players the better the sound.

Ah, Blackraven, you already had a power conditioner. If it is good I could maybe see not much difference. I did things backwards, I had nothing and started with the power cords. At the time I had a Krell amp and the power conditioner I tried just didn't allow the amp enough current, so I never tried any more until the PS Audio Quintessence which says no current limiting. When I added the power conditioner though it did help even more. Maybe not as big as the power cords in the beginning but enough to convince me to keep it.

[basite]

I wouldn't spend 1k on a power cord with your system, not that it's bad, but a 1k powercord is something for with really exotic audio gear.

If you really want a good powercord for your system, look at Furutech, you can buy their cables and connectors seperately and put them together yourself, which saves costs and makes custom lengths easily available...

spend the money on something else first, like a better preamp, or a better cd player or the like...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.