Bass, Bass, did I say bass? price, overall sound, what it does to your amp

no weaknesses

I went crazy one month and decided to upgrade all of my interconnects, speaker wire, subs and power cables. I used to have PS Audio's Lab Cable on my Enlightend Audio Design Powermaster 1000 Amplifier, but I've since replaced it with the JPS PowerAC+. The one major reason I bought the JPS over, let's say the Synergistic, was that the JPS gave my amp more bass. Everything sounds rock solid. My PSB Goldi speakers had more dynamics in the bass and better midrange. I've tried the Synergistic Master Coupler and it didn't impress me as much as the JPS did. If you're looking for better bass and mid bass presence for your amp, I'd definitely look at the JPS Power AC+ cables.

Similar Products Used:

PS Audio Lab Cable, Synergistic Master Coupler

soundstage, bass, liveliness

unwieldy in narrow places

It is hard to exxagerate what this JPS Labs Power AC+ powercable does for any amp (my audiophile friends all have their own now..), especially when having no experience with after market powercables at all. Using this one makes you a cable believer for ever. Every sceptic can only say wow after having heard this cable compared to what they dare to deliver with even the very best equipment. 500 bucks is not much for the best single upgrade you can give your amp and boost your system with! The depth of the soundstage; deep; the power and quality of bass; low. You don't want to hear your system without again, I can assure you. This is a very good cable for the money! No upgrade in price versus quality can beat this one. Really brings your system in a new dimension. Stop, try this first.. I recently extended this Power AC+ cable with its matching outlet center of JPSLabs. It uses the same cable, running now from my wall outlet to my system. Bass comes even easier, background is more quiet (blacker), just a stronger image all together. Before upgrading any equipment, I would go for this combination first. I'm surprised. Be aware, it is a little unwieldy in narrow places. No problem, for me it is sound first, looks later, and it looks are good and serious.

Similar Products Used:

stock powercords

Smooth, detailed and dymanic. You will notice better bass not just louder, better dynamics and detials and a smooth mid-range that just sounds more real (5% better than the other cables). Also, Joe at JPS Labs is a great guy and loves to talk with you and about cords, equipment and the industry. We even discussed equipment grounding topics, etc. which I know very little about but beginning to look into now.

Very competitive in this price range and probably with some cords priced a little higher. Probably not better than some of the mega buck cords. So overall rating 4 stars. JPS makes some of these also.

I compared the JPS Labs Power AC (not the new plus) to TG Audio Silver, Analysis Plus Power Oval and Customer Power Cord Model 11. I experimented with each cord on my Sony SCD-777 ES, BAT VK-30SE tube preamp and Kinergetics KBA-75 SS class A amp into B&W matrix series II speakers. Here is what I heard on my sytem. First, each cord was way better than the stock cords. Better dynamics, better bass, more detail etc. No question about hearing a difference. I read reviews of the Analysis Plus and JPS cords in Sound Stage. What one reviewer heard is what I heard. The Analysis Plus seem to emphasize the upper and lower frequencies. At first I liked this sound (extended, open with lots of details) but then it wore on me a bit, maybe to much information but it seemed a little fake after some time. For certain sytems the matching may be just right for you. The Custom Power Cord Model 11 sounded dark and muddy on my system so out it went. The TG Audio was a very nice sounding cord without any emphasis on any frequency (balanced), open, dymanic, etc. The JPS Labs cord just seem to make instruments sound more real to my ears, very smooth but with details and dymanics. It does hold onto notes just a little longer that the other cords and may make some feel it is a bit slower, but I liked this effect very much. When Pat Barber takes a breath, you seem to hear the air going in and out of her throat/lungs, like the mic was in there versus just hanging around her. Cymbals on Pat Barber''s Cafe Blue CD just sounded more real (like someone hitting a metal cymbal or that the mic was located in a different place. Just more real. Same with the guitar solo. I have been playing guitar for over thirty years and still have never heard a recording that could match the sound I hear when I''m plugged in. But the guitar sounded as real as I beleive possible from a reproduction. I would have selected the TG Audio cord if not for the JPS cord. The JPS just had a little more magic in the mid-range to my ears and I think that my system needed that (SS amp versus tube amp). Anyway that is my two cents worth. The cables run in the price range of $350 -$500 (TG Audio the most expensive here).

Similar Products Used:

TG Audio Silver, Analysis Plus Power Oval, Custom Power Cord Model 11.

When plugged into an amp, bass impact, sweetness, soundstaging, preserves dynamics.

Thick and a bit unwieldy

Once I tried a Mark Levinson amp, and had such a hard time getting down to my basement, that I decided I''d never buy a heavy amp. I got a Bryston B-60 instead. Very nice integrated but ... Dynamics and bass are a bit borderline, so you find you need to tweak to keep all the bass and dynamics you can. Even slight system alterations can impact these areas. That is when I began experimenting with power conditioning. I''ve tried basically 4 hi-end PCs: a Transparent something (c. $200?), an HT AC11, and finally the JPS Labs Power AC. The Transparent did some good things, but it also had a ''capacitor'' effect, making the music sound sluggish to my ears. The HT was like I just turned up the treble all the way, giving 2 more octaves of treble, but also much less bass impact, and the HT also seemed to overlay the sound with some grain, some aural irritation. Finally (and it wasn''t easy) I scored a JPS Labs discounted. My first configuration was to plug the JPS into my PS Audio P300, reasoning that the more purfying the better. Took about 2 wks for break-in, but my judgement was that the sound had lost a bit of dynamics, and further that the bass although deep, was not so impactful as I thought it should be (based on reviews). So now with it fairly broken in, I plugged it from my amp to the wall. Right away, the areas of weakness improved, and treble also sounded more likeable this way. So the P300, much as I love it for my source components, was not quite right for the amp. Guess that''s why PS Audio says it won''t handle amps, although seems like everyone uses it for amps. But even the modest 70wpc Bryston does lose a margin of dynamics into the P300 at the 60hz setting (maybe I will try some higher settings some day). The JPS also helped to sweeten up the upper ranges compared to stock power cords. It has a good balance of virtues.

Similar Products Used:

HT AC11, Tranparent, KimberKable

Everything

BIGGGGGGGGGGG

I recently installed 3 JPS power cords to my system, 2 GPAs
for CD and Pre amp and the Power AC to my amp, the review below says it all. The GPAs made a nice improvement, however I was not prepared for what I got with the Power AC.
AWESOME.

Similar Products Used:

none

I've always believed that power cords do make some difference to sound so I've been using a self-terminated XLO pro power cord (green) for the last few years. It made some good improvements from the stock cords on my Classe CAP-80 amp and Audiomeca CD player. Then, I was given a demo in a cable shop between a factory terminated XLO cord and the JPS PowerAC. They were A/B'ed on a Sonic Frontiers preamp as I didn't want to prejudice the results by plugging them into a power-hungry Krell amp (Afterall, the JPS is a much bigger cord). The JPS was better in all regards. However, I didn't buy it outright cos' 1. It's very pricey (for my budget) and 2. I wasn't sure if it was the psychological effects of the combination of big price, big cord, huge AC plug playing tricks on me. Tempting, but I manage to resist. The turning point came when a friend gave me one as a gift. I tried it on my Classe. Wow! What a difference! This time, I'm sure it's not my imagination or just a poor justification of money ill-spent. After running in for about a week, everything seems better, as if I just upgraded my amp. Bass is tighter and deeper, highs are airier and the midrange is ever more natural and communicative. Absurd as it seems, this power cord does work! The best part is that the improvements are presented in the most natural way, not the tiring ultra-fi so-called improvements some other tweaks bring. OTOH, plugging it into a relatively cheap integrated amp seems like overkill. So, if you have a good power amp and you want to optimise your system, I think it's worth giving this power cord a try. It might be just the thing you're looking for.
Since then, I've upgraded to bi-amping with the CAP-80 driving the tweeters and a Classe CA-100 driving the bass. The JPS is now plugged into the CA-100. The system sounds even better now but I always wonder how far I can go if I get anther PowerAC for the CAP-80. Only if I have the money…

Like the ad says "Will set your amp free"

No fancy wrapping here

I have used the Power AC on three different amps, 2 SS and one tube, all with supurb results.

I have no Idea why it works, It just does. I have added an Analog AC to pre- amp and Digital AC to source. Results proved slightly better on Digital.

I removed all three cords and replaced with stock ones and had wife listen, stating that I made some changes to system.
After about 10 minutes of listening she held her nose and said, " The beautiful music is gone" I agreed.

Similar Products Used:

Whale Elite, Stealth HAC, and a few snakes

Excellent construction and materials; improves music in
terms of clarity, imaging, bass impact and definition, and
more refined higher frequency production.

How does one explain a 2-m JPS AC power cord improves
quite significantly the sound of a Bryston 4B-ST amp?
I do not know and I have yet find any convincing technical
explanation as to how power cords can improve the sound
of a stereo system. But it does!!
The improvement (over another audiophile PC - do not want
to name the brand here) is immediate even straight from
the box, brand new. And the improvement is NOT subtle
either. Suddenly, the piano upper registers sound much
cleaner and each note is clearly heard. My sound system
is quieter when playing music, and I hear much more details.
I also hear some 'unusual' background noise in some CDs
recording which I was not aware of previously. The bass is
more excellent now - tighter and more definition.
The folks at Bryston will probably think I am nuts since
Bryston electronics do come with quite decent power
regulation/filtering and they do not advocate power filtering or conditioning.
Or is it that my house power supply is really that bad? Whatever the case, I'm keeping this
AC power cord (it is quite big but reasonably flexible)
for my amp. It is like upgrading to a new component -
quite unexpected and pleasantly so.
So, give this one an audition if you are upgrading or
trying out power cords (specifically for amplifier and
high-current component). You might just have a similar
'WOW!' experience as me. I'm not surprised fellow reviewers
before me (see below) wrote so well of this power cord.