The Essence Power Cord Review with AR CD-1 Player Improves CD Performance

I'd already had the Audio Research CD2 for many months-and had formed a firm opinion of its sound-when Warren Gehi from ARC called to say that the unit's original removable power cord was being replaced with a new, improved version. This change, of course, necessitated more listening, and in the process my opinion of the player changed. (At the time, however, I had no idea-oh, sweet innocence!-of just how dramatic that change would be.)

The original incarnation of the $3,500 CD2-ARC's only single-box CD player-was identifiably Audio Research in character: detailed, well-balanced top-to-bottom, transparent, airy, and, being a solid-state product from ARC, a bit light and white in the tonality department. Frankly, what wasn't characteristic was my reaction to the unit. Unlike most of the Audio Research components I've heard over the years, this (first) version of the CD2 wasn't a machine I found particularly rewarding to listen to. Its lightish tonality affected larger-scale dynamic impact (no slam, man); at the same time it wasn't exactly Vermeer-like at reproducing small-scale dynamic shadings -something that lighter-sounding gear is often very good at. I found myself preferring the sound of the $2,000 Classé CDP. 5-a deck that, while also slightly lightish sounding compared to a Goldmund, Madrigal, or Krell design, had a terrific ability to reproduce multiple layers of low-level dynamic details. (The CDP.5 shined on something like Glenn Gould's second studio recording of the Goldberg Variations [CBS], where the hushed delicacy of the opening variation is a thing of breathtaking beauty and complexity).

On to Stage Two. With its new, improved power cord installed, the CD2 was no longer unable to deliver a body punch when asked to by a recording, as in the Oue/Minnesota Le Sacre [Reference Recordings] where the full orchestra whips the dance to a frenzy. At the same time, all music was significantly more articulate than before. On the above-mentioned Goldbergs, Gould's keyboard work was more cleanly contrapuntal; there was a more striking sense of presence to his piano; and the slower variations were presented with an inwardness that had been lacking. Even Gould's infamous vocalizing was easier to hear, and seemed more connected to his fingerwork, as opposed to sounding simply like random humming noises. And on "Bold As Love," the closing track from Hendrix's great (and now great-sounding) second album, Axis: Bold As Love [MCA], the guitar, drums, and Hendrix's voice were cleaner, more exciting, and easier to distinguish in the swirling, psychedelic mix.

So far so good, thought I. But that was not the end of this little story. You see, the improvements the new cord worked came at a price: there was an added darkness to the sound that made all kinds of music sound rather heavy, plodding, perhaps even slightly rolled on top (although I think that might have been a psychoacoustic effect), and altogether more lugubrious than they should have. Oue's Stravinsky sounded like Kubelik's Mahler, and Kubelik's elegant Mahler First [DG "The Originals"] sounded like Solti's Wagner. The less introspective, dance- like variations in the Goldbergs didn't dance, but plunked and plodded along like Fasolt and Fafner on a midnight stroll. The new power cord also added a coarse grain to the sound (mostly to the upper-bass/lower-mid and upper-mid frequencies), rendering backgrounds less silent and robbing discs of air and ambience. Both voice and tenor sax on Mary Stallings' killer-sounding CD Fine And Mellow [Clarity] acquired an unnatural reediness; the whole disc had a darker, moodier feeling-not entirely out-of-character with this blues- based jazz, but a coloration, nonetheless.

The agony of this push-me-pull-you scenario continued for several days. Although the new power cord significantly changed the sonic character of the CD2, the results were so mixed that I still found myself feeling musically unsatisfied by the player. It is hardly news that cables can drastically alter audio signals and our perception of a component's sonics. Yet never before had my perception of a component's musicality been so radically transformed by a power cable-or any cable, for that matter.

Stage Three: I decided to replace ARC's new power cord with my favorite after-market-brand power cord, "The Essence," by Essential Sound Products (ESP). I don't normally make a habit of reviewing components with special power cords for a couple of reasons. First, if a stock cord is what God-i.e., the component's designer-intended the piece of gear to be heard with, then I think that using the stock cord is the proper way to evaluate that component. Second, most buyers are going to use the things as shipped, anyway. Third, I hate tweaking! However, at this point, switching to another cord seemed like the only alternative-short of throwing up my hands and calling it quits-and the ESP cord is one I've successfully used with a number of products.

Oh, Sweet Relief! With "The Essence" attached, gone were the plodding, wooden lower registers. Gone was the coarse grain (reduced to a negligible powder). Gone was the lack of air, bloom, and ambience. With the ESP, the CD2 took on a remarkable balance, ease, and transparency. Large and small dynamic signals were set free. The CD player opened up in all sonic dimensions. Now, Gould's piano had a sense of weight, but wasn't ominously dark; the slower Goldberg Variations were thoughtful, but not mournful; and, on the more sprightly variations, his extraordinary digits flew once again. Mary Stallings' voice and that tenor sax recovered from their head-colds, and, rather than sounding hooded and flat, Clarity engineer Ed Woods' amazing recording was as real-sounding as CD gets. Oue's Rite lost its Mahlerian heaviness and the remarkable sound of the Minnesota Orchestra (as captured by Keith Johnson) blossomed beyond the speakers' boundaries.

Finally, the opening of Kubelik's Mahler First sounded like nature being born, not like Siegfried's funeral music.

Frankly, had I stopped the evaluation with the second Audio Research cord in place, my opinion of the CD2 would have been lukewarm at best. With the ESP cord (I did not have the opportunity to audition other power cords, though interested owners will and should), the CD2 was a knockout. It now struck me as one of those rare digital components that compels us to sit down for long, late-night listening sessions. Altogether, an astonishing transformation.

FI Magazine, June 1998

The Essence Reference-II Power Cord
(March, 2012) $1499.99
(2 meters, with standard IEC connector)

Essential Sound Products, Inc.
                         www.essentialsound.com