March 2002

AudioPrism Super Natural 9.5 Power Cord

by Doug Blackburn

Review Summary Sound "Consistent in its sound" -- "the 9.5 was notable for the natural sound of each instrument, no matter what frequency range it might cover." Features "9.5AWG conductors are made up of small-gauge TFE Teflon-insulated wires; the design is "intended to eliminate electrostatic noise in two ways," via "a proprietary electrostatic-dissipating coating...applied directly to the TFE Teflon insulation, and conductor bundles...wrapped with electrostatic-dissipating material." Use "You’ll want to use it when you have a component that sounds just as you want it to sound, without being influenced by the power cord in any obvious way." Value "The power cord for people who seek that difficult plateau in high-end audio: the uneditorialized sound of music."

There are those who believe that a power cord review need not be any longer than this: "It conducts electricity with a minimum of resistance, capacitance or inductance. It's well made and durable, so there is little chance of it bursting into flames under load."

In the real world, every power cord sounds a little different. The subject of this review is AudioPrism’s first power cord, the $495 USD Super Natural 9.5. The design of this power cord is intended to eliminate electrostatic noise in two ways. A proprietary electrostatic-dissipating coating is applied directly to the TFE Teflon insulation, and conductor bundles are wrapped with electrostatic-dissipating material. The 9.5's 9.5AWG conductors are made up of small-gauge TFE Teflon-insulated wires, which keeps this power cord supple and flexible. The small-gauge wires are bundled to create each 9.5AWG conductor. The conductors are carefully layered in a parallel geometry. Solderless copper-to-copper connections are made at both ends of the power cord. Only premium-quality plugs and IEC connectors from Hubbell, Marinco and/or Kimber are used -- buyer's choice.

Sound

Listening to Alan Parsons On Air [River North Records/Polygram, 51416 1237 2] using the 9.5 on either my preamp or amp produced a very large soundscape with nothing attracting my attention to specific performance parameters, as experienced with many other power cords. Parsons’ studio work comes through as pristine, low in distortion, and spacious. This may be noticeable with other power cords, but you have to force yourself to forget about certain up-front characteristics of those other cords in order to hear the underlying goodness of the production on this recording. This recording, while not a sonic spectacular, does demand a neutral system to be able to hear just how delicate and correct Parsons’ balance is on many tracks. Even when the mix is very dense, with instruments covering the entire frequency spectrum, the 9.5 was unflappable and consistent in its sound.

John McEuen’s String Wizards [Vanguard VCD79462], a tour de force of jazzy, progressive bluegrass with mostly acoustic instruments, provides the opportunity to trip up a power cord that alters the tonality of familiar-sounding instruments. The 9.5 delivers a consistent balance that gives each acoustic instrument a consistent personality from the top of its range to the bottom. Having heard this recording many times on my system and with a wide variety of equipment has made me quite aware of the subtle changes in tonality of the various instruments that can arise from subtle to significant system changes. The 9.5 was notable for the natural sound of each instrument, no matter what frequency range it might cover. Other power cords would invariably spike one instrument or another in some identifiable way.

Extensive listening tests over a fairly lengthy review period revealed that the JPS Labs Power AC was more dynamic with more powerful bass than the Super Natural 9.5. ESP’s The Essence power cord had a more layered soundfield. The Audio Power Industries 313, at $169, packed a better bang for the bucks. The Analysis Plus Power Oval had highs that sounded faster and more extended. This all may sound like the Super Natural 9.5 isn’t much of a power cord. But let me describe how it ends up being the easiest to listen to of the bunch.

The Super Natural 9.5 was more linear and cohesive top to bottom. It sounded more balanced and, well, natural. The Super Natural 9.5 had no frequency ranges where it would clog up during complex, high-volume passages. Only the JPS Labs Power AC could match this. The highs were the prettiest of the bunch, carrying a lot of harmonic richness that the other power cords hint at but didn’t quite deliver. Spatially, the soundstage with the Super Natural 9.5 was deep, wide, well defined, and convincing. Detail from bass to treble was always excellent. Even though some of the other power cords seemed to have more detail in some frequency ranges, the 9.5 had a top-to-bottom consistency that made it quite convincing and enjoyable. Midrange performance was clean, clear and capable. Highs were neither ultra fast, slow, bright, rolled off, obviously identifiable as liquid, nor were they emphasized, de-emphasized, distant or in your face. In fact, the highs sounded just about right, a good thing since highs that are noticeable right away always become a distraction later, and indicate a fault in the product.

Occasionally you find a combination of power cord and component that has remarkable synergy. That's exactly what happened when the Super Natural 9.5 was combined with MSB's P1000 power supply and original Link DAC. Other power cords give the MSB setup various versions of "very good for the money" sound, but you still hear small amounts of thickness and slowness. Transients also aren't the last word in speed, and transparency is not all it could be. Listening to the MSB components powered through the Super Natural 9.5 was something else altogether. Pink Floyd's Division Bell [Columbia CK64200] was improved in every way. Bass was more powerful with much better sense of slam on transients. The midrange was much more open, transparent and harmonically rich. The highs had more sparkle, better sustain and harmonic richness. The soundstage expanded in all directions, and the sense of air was much better. The slowness and thickness was completely gone, replaced by a much more inviting and absorbing presentation.

Once the novelty of the transformed MSB setup's sound wore off, listening to both Division Bell and Mannheim Steamroller's Fresh Aire 8 [American Gramaphone AG988-7] revealed the same rightness of sound experienced when the Super Natural 9.5 was used with other components. Both of these recordings combine synthesized instruments, electric instruments and acoustic instruments covering all of the audible frequency spectrum. The small unevenness in response heard with other power cords was gone, replaced by that elusive sense of everything being in precisely the right proportions, as intended by the artists. The nuance, attention to detail, and very specific levels used for each instrument or sound in recordings like these are challenging and quite exciting to experience when the system is up to the task. It isn't the artificial excitement produced by a power cord, cable or component that highlights certain things at the expense of others, but the excitement of perfect placement -- everything as it should be.

You like-a da juice?

Most power cords, even very expensive ones, force a sonic signature on a system. This may scare people away from the Super Natural 9.5 because they may think that it is boring, slow, not very dynamic or any number of other maladies. But the Super Natural 9.5 is the power cord for people who seek that difficult plateau in high-end audio: the uneditorialized sound of music.

So would I now call the Super Natural 9.5 my favorite power cord? You’re not going to get me to fall into that trap. There may be better power cords for specific uses in your system. Even in my system I wouldn’t use the Super Natural 9.5 with every component. My high-powered solid-state amp, for example: I enjoy it just a little more with a Magnan Signature (rich and powerful) or JPS Labs Power AC (dynamic dynamo with basso profundo). Sometimes you just need something that only a specific power cord can give a component. Since there are no hyped performance parameters that go along with the Super Natural 9.5, you’ll want to use it when you have a component that sounds just as you want it to sound, without being influenced by the power cord in any obvious way.

...Doug Blackburn
db@soundstage.com

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