The run-in period for my DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA tinned-copper power cable is just getting started, but I thought I'd share some more early impressions with you, with more detailed impressions to come as more run-in hours accumulate.

600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable

On Friday a couple of audio pals - Ron and Leo - stopped by for a little hifi fun & games. 

Pioneer Series 20 M-22 Class A power amplifier

First we listened to the vintage Pioneer Series 20 M-22 Class A power amplifier in combination with my vintage McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier on the "Stokowski" Altec's, both with the digital stream from Jazz24 in Seattle, as well as with vinyl from my CTC Garrard 301 turntable.

Vintage Pioneer Series 20 M-22 Class A power amplifier in combination with the vintage McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier.

The combination of the vintage solid-state Pioneer Series 20 M-22 Class A power amplifier in combination with my vintage vacuum tube McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier sounded great on the Altec's, and I think we were all impressed with they synergy of the combination.

When you consider that a hifi enthusiast in the mid-1970's could have rather easily assembled a similar system - sans digital, of course - it makes one wonder how much progress has been made in high-performance hifi gear since that time.

This combination of equipment sounds very compelling. and I don't think it's a stretch at all to say that it musically & sonically outperformed about 95% of the audio systems I've heard displayed at audio shows in recent years. 

Ok, I got off track there, so back on topic.

Given the Pioneer Series 20 M-22 Class A power amplifier has a captive power cable, I took it out of the system and replaced it with the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier so we could do a power cable comparison with the DIY Duelund 600V DCA12GA power cable and the exotic Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cable.

In my How to: A DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA Power Cable Project! post I mentioned that "My first impressions were extremely positive as I listened to Jazz24, and the good news is that the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA tinned-copper power cable was not embarrassed in comparison to the spendy Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cable."

Vintage McIntosh MX110Z pre with SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier

I wanted to get Ron's and Leo's impressions of the two power cables, so I first fitted the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable to the SPEC amplifier, to be followed by the Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cable.

With the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier run as an integrated amplifier, I had very positive impressions of the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable's performance, but with the combination of my vintage McIntosh MX110Z pre with SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier, the $12K USD Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cable rather easily outperformed the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable.

Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cable

The Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cable sounded rich, natural, vivid, and very expressive, and while the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable showed promise, it sounded somewhat shut-in and thin by comparison.

To be fair, the $12K USD Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cable is easily the best power cable I've ever heard, and its lofty level of performance serves as my reference that all others must compare to, but it is not likely to be an option for someone who enjoys building cost-effective high-performance DIY power cables.

600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable

I was completely caught off guard by the difference I heard from the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier as an integrated amplifier with the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable, which sounded quite good, from what Ron, Leo, and I heard when the SPEC was used as an amplifier combined with the MX110 preamp (there's a switch on the back of the SPEC that allows the owner to run it either as a dedicated amplifier or an integrated amplifier).

The initial reports from the field about others' DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable projects were very positive, so I was a bit puzzled by what we heard on Friday.  

Was the difference I/we heard an anomaly due to an equipment synergy mismatch? Does the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable just need more run-in time? I suspect the answer to the first question is "possibly", and the answer to the second question is "yes". 

I'm going to put the DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cable on the Cable Cooker and give it some accelerated run-in time, and Ron is going to build a couple of DIY 600V Duelund DCA12GA power cables of his own so we can get a couple of other data points, and I'll report back on Ron's results along with my own.

By analogy, the Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers on the Altec's sounded very good from the get-go, but they did go through a significant change in performance as they accumulated more run-in time, becoming richer, warmer, more relaxed and musical sounding, to the extent that I was able to eliminate the L-pads for the high-frequency circuits and run them wide open, with a result of what can only be described as achieving a rather astonishing level of musical & sonic performance.

I mention the aural changes in performance I've heard with the Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers as they've accumulated run-in time (expect another update on them soon), as I suspect that the CAST-like insulator used for the 600V Duelund DCA12GA cables will follow a similar trajectory in performance as run-in time accumulates. Time will tell.

Lots more to come on this developing story! 

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!