SPECIALIST POWER CORDS: Howard Popeck expresses a point of view

“Blown away” for a 3.27% investment: A cursory look at some audio forums will show that a great number of contributors don’t buy the idea that power cables make a difference in a high end audio system. Some of them claim to be engineers and a proportion of them might be. Some write with what […]

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OXYMORON? Audiophile power cords?

In your experience, do mains leads really make a difference, and are the expensive ones really capable of offering value? Mains cables do change the sound of audio equipment. Unfortunately there’s a lot claims made about mains cables that are exaggerated. I suggest that the effect of a mains cable is not as important as […]

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Long interconnects and short speaker cables versus the opposite. Howard Popeck expresses a view

My opinion is consistent and contrary to the prevailing view. These days I use long speakers cables and short interconnects. This is because as far as I can tell, based on my own experiences and the writings of others with genuine expertise most modern power amps have a better ability to drive a complex load […]

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Quill

LAT Power distribution strips

The idea that a power distribution strip, even a heavily built one like the LAT can make a difference to the sound, let alone an improvement is ridiculous. Where’s the science behind the claims? LAT power distribution block have in my experience always made a positive difference. The degree of improvement, in terms of background […]

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ARGENTUN: Howard Popeck speaks at length to people with interesting things to say: Mr. Richard Szafraniec of newly emergent Polish audiophile company Argentum

Preliminary note: We’ve been both amazed and delighted by our readership’s positive response to our series of interviews with innovative small, intellectually agile makers from outside of the traditional countries associated with state-of-the-art audio / stereo. In particular our series on newly emergent French makers. Today we turn our attention to Polish organisations you might […]

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CHORD COMPANY: News

 Chord Company has introduced a new streaming cable into its award-winning Clearway range, that offers remarkable value for money, class-leading performance and the renowned Chord Company quality. Purpose built for today’s streaming age and keenly priced from just £80 to suit a wide range of partnering hardware, the new Clearway Streaming cable offers a noticeable step up in […]

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SHADOW CORP: What happened?

Hi guys. What can you tell me about Xhadow Corp please. I ask ‘cos I think it was involved with Chris Sommigovio who designed and/or built Stereovox interconnects which I still admire and use. Thanks. First, please note the correct spelling of the name of the joint founder. Information is sketchy. As far as we […]

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CHORD COMPANY: News

Major new ARAY technology breakthrough heralds the launch of the GroundARAY family  Chord Company has announced a major new development of its proprietary ARAY noise-reduction technology with the introduction of its GroundARAY family of grounding devices. The GroundARAY is a next-generation high-frequency-noise-reduction device that connects to unused sockets on A/V equipment providing a low-impedance route for HF noise to […]

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PS AUDIO: Balanced is better

Paul McGowan writes … In my mind, there’s no question that between components the best connection is balanced. Balanced cables offer lower noise and better sound. I understand there are single-ended holdouts (wait, we disagree on something in audio?). Perhaps their equipment doesn’t support balanced. Perhaps their cable collection doesn’t include balanced. Or maybe they […]

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YAMAMURA SYSTEMS (US) INC: WHAT HAPPENED?

L. Sutherland tells us … Company founded in 1999 by Bé Yamamura and based in Lecanto, Florida, USA. The company continued making and selling the same cables and accessories as its predecessor Yamamura Systems S.R.L. had done in Italy but in addition handled the North American distribution of a number of exotic Japanese hi-fi brands […]

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CHORD COMPANY: News

Noise-reducing PowerARAYs leave more space for music Chord Company has launched two new noise- suppression devices which have been painstakingly designed to reduce the amount of noise entering hi-fi systems, leaving more space for the music. The next-generation PowerARAY and PowerARAY Professional devices expand Chord Company’s range of expertly designed power products, which draws on the A/V cable specialist’s […]

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DIY INTERCONNECTS: Using Teflon braided hose

Hi Colin. I love your ‘clinic’. Neil promised that you might be offering education for us novices. So may I ask – have you ever thought about using braided hose to run your interconnects. I am talking about type usually found as brake lines on motorbikes and car braking systems, i was messing around with […]

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BIAMPING: I remember my delight the first time biamping speakers was explained to me

Paul McGowan The notion of using one amplifier perfectly matched to the tweeter and another to the woofer made such elegant sense. Tubes for the top end, solid state grunt for the bottom. Brilliant. That was at a time when the choices in amplifiers were limited. Big, powerful solid state amps sounded pretty poor reproducing […]

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ARGENTUM: Wiring of audio and video systems

THEY SAY: Argentum company produces and distributes audiovisual cabling systems. Argentum’s wiring is a spectrum of knowledge in the field of empirical and universal principles of physics, chemistry and engineering, and technology of their own. Developed and implemented innovative technologies and maintaining technological regimes are a guarantee for the products Argentum high quality standards of […]

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BS – MAYBE: Power cord optimum length … a scientific basis or merely hype?

Here’s one for you electric wizards to kick around. Whilst attending a recent hifi exhibition I was doing some power cord shopping. At one particular display I was being told by a very well known cable company representative, I’ll not mention the name so it doesn’t influence any responses, that the rule of thumb is […]

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CROSSOVERS: Types of resistors for crossovers?

Dear Colin, I have just fitted stock 2R7 Panasonic 0.1% metal film resistors to replace the “green” 2R2 wirewounds in series with the Millennium tweeters in my WD25Tex speakers. I expected a change ( a bit warmer) but was not prepared for such a drastic change – is this due to the 0,5R increase or […]

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INTERCONNECT: Balanced vs. unbalanced audio

Which is the better interconnect for home audio systems? Balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA? Paul voices his opinion and explains the differences between the two and their reason for existence. Have a question you’d like Paul to answer for you? Go to https://www.psaudio.com/ask-paul/ and post it. Watch Now Paul McGowan

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READERS’ LETTERS: Long interconnects or speaker cables?

A member writes: My speaker cables are 2.5m and XLR interconnects are 1m. With a minimal stacked “two component” floor height of 12″ (set between the speakers-CD source variable outputs driving power amp inputs) and wide dispersion stand monitor baffles centered at 40″ listening height, there is no sonic deterioration of imaging or soundstage holographics […]

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