Hi All,

The first thing I noticed when I got my 950 last year was that the power cord had only 2 prongs. First, anyone know why the ground prong was left off and second, has anyone upgraded to a higher quality power cord and noticed and differences.

thanks - didjdude

Unlike some, I have seen the benefit of interconnects and speaker cable upgrades, both on purchased and my own home made silver cables. I have been skeptical about power cords. I have been tempted to try, but it will probably be with a cable I build before I sink any money in it. I do know that parts Connexion has some DH Labs cable they wil build on sale and also the the people that made the highly rated Ah! TJoeb CD player are now selling cables through Upscale Audio who is a good guy to do business with. Those are lower cost options, I would not throw a lot of bucks at this until you experimented.

I doubt the absence of the extra prong suggest there is a problem.
The chassis actually does connect with other 'grounds' through various coaxial connections. I am sure the engineers analyzed all possible return paths (analog and digital), the potential for ground loops, and came up a solution that meets all UL requirements as well as maintaining a low noise floor.

As far as a 'better' power cord, it would not be that difficult to build your own with a good quality Belden cord, of 14 or 12 gauge conductors, and hospital grade AC connector. You can always terminate the other end with a standard or HD IEC connector. What improvement you will realize, is anybody's guess.


[This message has been edited by DaleB (edited August 20, 2003).]

I replaced the power-pole stepdown transformer feeding my house with the Monster "Super Viper X" transformer that has pure silver windings and nitrogen cooling. It made a huge difference in the sound of my system, at least until the police arrived and arrested me for tampering with electrical utility property. If I get bail, I look forward to many more hours of listening bliss

I actually did replace the 950's power cord, with a Belden 14x3, shielded, SJT, 15A/1800W rated cord. Heavier duty. $12 at mcmelectronics.com. Any benefit? Probably not, but I ordered a bunch of them at once, so what the heck...


[This message has been edited by Kevin C Brown (edited August 21, 2003).]

Thanks all for your replies. I think I'll stay with the default power cable for the time being (Soundhound, hope they let you out soon).

Regards,
didjdude

I hope they lock up Soundhound and throw away the key.

We have enough problems here in Southern California without gang-inspired audiophiles running around attaching renegade filtering devices to the public power grid. Just look what happened on the East Coast. Millions of dollars of damage and inconvenience just because a small group of well-organized audio vandals wanted to lift another veil from their soundstage.

Soundhound has also proven to be a serious drain on our natural margarita resources here.

[This message has been edited by boblinds (edited August 21, 2003).]