eXpress Power AC enhancing cable
The eXpress Power cable is an amplifier component – within the large blue pod are enclosed physical parts which improve the performance of the initial power circuits within an amplifier. Every amplifier has its design constrained by cost or physical space. And with all due respect to amplifier designers there is still plenty of potential to build better sounding units and a little imagination combined with a good ear can go a long way. This is of course what we have with the Keith Eichmann’s of this world and rather than building an amplifier that may not fulfil all needs, he goes down the path of improving the performance of a great many systems at a fraction of the cost of changing amplifiers.
Improve the performance of any amplifiers power supply and you make clearly audible gains in clarity and dynamics – noise is diminished, music enhanced. You can hear this. People will point out that a simple cable may or may not make much of a difference. But the eXpress power cable is more than ‘just a cable’. Just picking it up will tell you this and plugging it in will make it doubly obvious.
You may be cynical about this but there is both hard data and reliable listening tests that show the quality of your mains power cords do strongly influence the quality of the sound you will enjoy. In a recent and comprehensive test in the Canadian magazine – Audio Ideas Guide 40 – a number of high end cables and one generic AC cord were compared and contrasted. There were significant measurable differences and the Eichmann eXpress cable came a very close second in both technical and listening tests to the estimable Kimber Palladian cable. Being second might be seen as a problem except for one fact – the Kimber sells for significant price whereas the Eichmann eXpress is just US$ 320 – in other words you could have 3 Eichmann leads (plus a few new CDs) for the about the same cost of a single Kimber or any other high end contender. Now, which option do you think would make the greatest overall improvement to performance given we generally have a number of power sensitive components in our system?
Having been previously unconvinced by many mains filters and cables we do have to ask what makes the Eichmann eXpress cable different – the official jargon-less explanation as to why it works is...
‘The eXpress AC enhancing cable incorporates a passive resonance control device – that reduces resonance and provides a cleaner AC load to the power supplies of components. When a component’s power supply works more efficiently – sound quality is improved.’
Amplifiers show the most obvious improvement with the eXpress Power cable but other components such as CD players, Home Cinema systems and radio tuners will also benefit – the increase in amplifier transparency makes any downstream improvements much more apparent. You can also use the Eichmann Power strip – a universal 6 socket strip – to distribute the benefits of a single Power cable among a number of components as you work your way towards optimum system performance.
The more demanding of power your amplifier is, the greater the potential gain – New Zealand amplifiers such as Plinius, Perreaux and Dynavector (and also powerful US and Canadian brands) have proved to be particularly suited to this Eichmann upgrade. For instance when reviewing the new Perreaux Radiance amplifier, FFWD editor Martin Bell concluded... ‘The already impressive sound stage seemed to improve a further notch, while a slightly greater sense of scale and air was apparent... with the Eichmann power cord in place dynamic transients sounded even more impressive, with rhythms propelled along with greater snap and gusto. Music seemed to “breathe” a fraction easier, the end result being an even greater sense of musical realism. Overall there just seemed to be more music present.’
Smaller UK designed amps such as Arcam and Rotel also step forward with the addition of the eXpress power cord. Another recent client writes...
‘Hi John, Thanks again for sending me the Eichmann AC cables: I have been absolutely staggered by the improvement they‘ve made to the system, particularly the amp. We spent hours listening over the weekend. Sometimes, when you upgrade cables and things, you think you can hear a difference, but you’re not quite sure and after a day or so you begin to wonder. But the improvement really has been black and white despite a system that is pretty good in its own right. Great stuff. I experimented with one of the cables on the AV amp and DVD player (which I wasn’t going to bother about) and was also amazed at the results.’
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