The Core Power Diamond Power Cord Come on, try one...
By Jeff dorgay
Do any of you remember the famous Dr. Seuss story Green Eggs and Ham? It’s about a guy who doesn’t want to eat green eggs and ham, no matter what. “Not on a boat, not on a goat,” he says.
But Sam keeps pestering him, all the way through to the end of the story, his boundless enthusiasm, finally getting the man to cave in and try them. Much to his surprise, he loves green eggs and ham. That’s kind of how it is convincing some audio enthusiasts to try an upgraded power cord.
Power cords are always a point of contention, and often one of the last things I suggest to improve your system. Notice the word system. If you look at your audio system with a holistic approach, no aspect should be ignored. Even audio buddies that take the “power comes from a hundred miles away, so the last 6 feet don’t matter” perspective have been able to hear the sonic differences in a power cord. I share the opposing view that the power coming from your wall is like a giant well that you tap into, flawed or not. So improved power cords and power conditioning is more like putting a PUR water filter on the end of the water spout on the kitchen sink.
I suggest upgrading your cables close to last, and concentrate on the other system parameters first. If you have a turntable, make sure it’s perfectly level and set up to the best of your ability. Then, spend a good day, or at least an afternoon on speaker setup. Once you’ve moved the hour hand, you can move the minute hand. As cable changes tend to be more subtle, the more your system can resolve, the easier it will be to hear the changes a cable or power cord makes.
Finally, if you can afford it, especially if you are running stock power cords – try and replace them all at once if you can. This is a lot easier when you only have a couple of components, and the power cords in question don’t cost a zillion dollars. Which brings us to the Core Power Diamond power cord we have here. Even the most die-hard anti-cable audiophiles I know, usually cave, when swapping between a pair of stock power cords on an integrated amp and DAC, to something better.
As I only had one Diamond to work with, I used it with integrated amplifiers from VAC, PrimaLuna, Octave, McIntosh, and Luxman. All reasonably high current draw components, and with a little help, was able to make some pretty quick swaps between the stock power cord and the CPDPC (as it will be called from here on in…). A 6-foot power cord will set you back $1,000, but they are currently running a COVID-19 discount – $599. Nice. Check their website for quantity pricing and longer lengths.
The results were uniformly good with both the solid-state and tube amps: bass tightened up a bit, along with a modest increase in soundstage depth and width, along with an improvement in top-end smoothness. The change on the top end was more noticeable with the three tube amplifiers than it was with the solid-state choices. Fortunately, this cord offers enough of a delta, that you shouldn’t be freaking out with expectation bias, wondering if there is a difference.
Swapping cables often requires time beyond the initial switch to “settle in,” and the CPDPC is no exception. After the initial switch, about an hour into the listening sessions, the music presented took another click towards the more relaxing/less fatiguing side of the equation.
Tracking through acoustic and sparsely miked vocal selections quickly reveals the newfound ease delivered with the CPDPC. As I’ve experienced with other power cords, I’m sure if I’d had three on hand to replace the one in the Gold Note CD player and phonostage, the effect would be more pronounced. To cheat this a little bit, I used our Core Power 1200w power conditioner (with the CPDPC as the cord from the AC line to the conditioner) to cheat a bit and again, heard decent improvement. There is an unmistakable clarity that the CPDPC brings to the overall sound, and it’s even easier to hear the difference swapping back to a stock power cord after you’ve been listening to familiar tracks for a while. An edge comes back that wasn’t there before.
The CPDPC is very well made, with premium Furutech connectors on both ends and a robust cable in between. Packing is nice, but not overdone to the point that you’ll feel like you paid way too much for a fancy box.
As with every other power cord I’ve tried, this is not a component change that will whack you on the side of the head with a bat, like swapping speakers will. However, if you’ve done your homework, and optimized your system, a couple of these power cords will add an additional level of clarity to your system.
In keeping with the current world situation, I commend Core Power for offering a major deal at a time like this to keep you all rocking. I suspect that if you audition one in your system, with familiar music, you’ll want to keep it. We’re keeping the review sample and purchasing a few more. Happy listening, whether you’re on a boat, a goat, or a couch.