Sablon power cords

Sablon Audio · May 19, 2021

Buoyed by last week’s warm up, I thought I would move today to a half ton bench press. Here it is, bullying my son’s latin revision from last week into submission. 2lbs of contact pins are now on their way to be custom plated with platinum for some more widespread UAT.

Blue58 · May 25, 2021

And here’s the money shot, King Sablon reclining on the back of a reindeer. This one about to go on the Aqua Formula DAC to team up with the King on the Extreme.
I ??Sablon

spiritofmusic · May 25, 2021

Yep, if Sablon were a supermodel, it would be type of supermodel totally at home reclining on the back of a reindeer. Sheer class.

Blue58 · May 25, 2021

Wow! The King has transformed the Aqua Formula DAC into something even more special with such a liquid presentation I haven’t heard before in my system. Diana Krall, All or Nothing at All, just gave me a WTF! moment, yes I had the volume a little loud, and there is a total absence of bloat, smearing, whatever you call it, in the bass. So powerful and controlled with perfect foot tapping timing. I’m loving it.

I thought I knew what the King brought to the table after hooking one up to the Extreme but it’s a stunning revelation on the DAC. I’m forever in your debt Mark. Thank you.

Blue58

Sablon Audio · May 25, 2021

So glad your enjoying the new all platinum King Blue58! I’ve always felt that the iec end is more influential than the mains plug - not so much ‘it starts at the wall’ but more ‘it starts at the equipment and works its way backwards’

The precious metal plater did a great job in turning around this new consignment so quickly with a platinum coating and I am just working my way through a few early adaptors to get some extended feedback on how it works for them.

My personal view is that using a platinum plating over the regular silver plated Bocchino iec gives an alternative presentation rather than a universally superior one. There are gains in transparency / extension / speed / linearity but at the cost of some midrange density. Better suited to warmer sounding devices (tube / vinyl especially) rather than as a default recommendation. I wholeheartedly endorse what Blue says about the match on the Aqua dac, since that is what I use myself, but wouldn’t for example recommend it on say Extreme or TT7 where the synergy with the regular cord is so widely appreciated.

Once I have managed to correlate the feedback of a wider user group, then I will decide whether to proceed with a production model. This option will only be offered on the King model, as I feel the extra transparency exposes the tonal limitations of the ncf plug of the Prince model more that I am comfortable with, whereas the regular silver one works around that better. That’s not to say that the all Platinum option is ruthlessly revealing, as it remains slightly sweetly voiced and forgiving.

Griff500 · Jun 2, 2021

Would changes to the sound be expected over time with the Prince power cable?

spiritofmusic · Jun 2, 2021

Griff, Sablon cables are no different from any other in changing somewhat over the first month of use. From that time they stay stable. Tbh, the essential goodness is apparent on immediate listen, in my case especially on the pre amp which gave my whole system sound a shot in the arm. The Princes took a little more time to bed in successfully w my SET monos, but I was also changing tt motor at the same time, so unfair to ascribe that purely to the Princes.
I would say you should be fully convinced by the Princes early on, and confirmed in your choice a month later Lol.

Griff500 · Jun 2, 2021

Thanks @spiritofmusic

I have the Prince power cable feeding my Ansuz C2 distributor and then C2 power cables to my speakers (active speakers) and Chord DAVE. I was interested in what changes, if any, people had encountered over time to the sound.

I might swap them around and put the Prince into the DAVE and put the C2 where it was previously (feeding the distributor). The DAVE was previously using a standard power cable and so introducing the Prince power cable also meant a change to the DAVE's power cable at the same time, so I am not really assessing the Prince cable in isolation.

spiritofmusic · Jun 2, 2021

Let's say they hit the ground running almost immediately. And hit their stride within a month. Nothing much new beyond that.
95% in first 24-48 hrs.

Griff500 · Jun 5, 2021

At first it seemed I had lost bass presence and detail and treble was also missing something - almost sounding a bit compressed (this might not be technically the correct word).

The sound has very much opened up now and the system is sounding great. It was more of a difference than I would associate with my ears adjusting to a difference and I know how my system sounded before, so I guess the cable does take a short while to bed in (or it did in my system at least). I'm very pleased that I tried the Prince cable. @Sablon Audio are doing some good work. Cheers from Czech Mark.

At some point I'll try it into my DAC instead of the distributor as I have found the DAVE to be quite sensitive to power and it does seem to show the difference in a power cable quite clearly.

Sablon Audio · Oct 4, 2021

For those of you pondering what extra performance the Bocchino iec brings over the NCF one, this feedback from a straight swap might be instructive. That's without any burn in either, straight from the box and onto his Shunyata Denali mains conditioner.

Cable received! The improvement
with Bocchino is not subtle, it’s essentially
the difference between digital and analog.

Salectric · Oct 4, 2021

Sablon Audio said:
For those of you pondering what extra performance the Bocchino iec brings over the NCF one, this feedback from a straight swap might be instructive. That's without any burn in either, straight from the box and onto his Shunyata Denali mains conditioner.

Cable received! The improvement
with Bocchino is not subtle, it’s essentially
the difference between digital and analog.

I have read this entire thread and I must admit I am intrigued by the Bocchino connectors especially the IEC. If I could buy the IEC connector separately I would even though I am pretty happy with my FI-50 NCF connectors.

However, user comments after a few hours or even one day of use are not credible. Cables change too much during breakin for comments like these to be of any benefit.

spiritofmusic · Dec 15, 2021

Just installed a Bocchino upgraded Sablon Elite pwr cord, this to my CDP, to add to the ones on my preamp and monos.
Mark encouraged me to go platinum plated rather than silver, and after a little fretting on the decision, went w his advice.
Interestingly, this is my first cable change in well over 12 months, and comes on top of my system being very settled in the last 6 months as final room acoustic changes have boosted my overall sound.
My slight fear that platinum might have tonally unbalanced my sound have proved to be unfounded.
What I'm hearing off CD is what I consider to be critical in what I want to hear at home (and hear in those systems I visit that most impress me), ie tonal warmth and density while maintaining snap and verve, and greater timbral accuracy.
This platinum Bocchino Sablon Elite is providing a nice uptick here, no hint of any "tipped upness" that I slightly feared platinum might cause. Indeed I'm playing some discs that years ago veered into sharpness and sterility, and they're proving to be highly musical via this power cord.
A pat on the back to Mark over the 100 miles dividing us, his base cables and Bocchino add-ons continue to prove their worth in my system.

Sablon Audio · Dec 15, 2021

Thanks for taking the time to post Marc and glad you are enjoying the platinum Prince. With my son presently having tested positive, 100 miles is a good thing!

I don’t offer this plating on Prince as a regular product since I feel the limitations of the ncf mains plug can sometimes be exposed, however it works fine on class a / tube influenced systems where there is a warmer and more harmonically fleshed out presentation. Somewhat counterintuitively, digital gear is often responsive to the platinum iec even when not innately warm like say my T&A dac.

Since you are tube based and already have plenty of my denser sounding silver Prince cords, you may care to investigate swapping some of those iecs for Platinum in the new year.

spiritofmusic · Dec 15, 2021

Mark, as you know I'm gonna avail myself of remaining Elites into Bocchino form over course of 2022, to tt motor, Straingauge cart energizer, and my Zu sub amps.
Tbh, until you brought up the subject of platinum plating option, this was not an option I put any thought twds.
But I'm hugely impressed in what I'm hearing today, the blend of denser mids w warmer upper bass, while air preserved and snap/sparkle intact, is very addictive.
I've moved from a Steve Morse CD, Southern Steel, that was always edgy, now much more earthy and grounded, to Miles Davis Classic Quintet late 60s box set, and the mining of deep resolution in the quiet tracks, Iris, Agitation, while maintaining the rhythmic flow of these pieces, is getting me to appreciate the exemplary musicianship anew.

Ron Resnick · Dec 15, 2021

spiritofmusic said:
Just installed a Bocchino upgraded Sablon Elite pwr cord, this to my CDP, to add to the ones on my preamp and monos.
Mark encouraged me to go platinum plated rather than silver, and after a little fretting on the decision, went w his advice.
Interestingly, this is my first cable change in well over 12 months, and comes on top of my system being very settled in the last 6 months as final room acoustic changes have boosted my overall sound.
My slight fear that platinum might have tonally unbalanced my sound have proved to be unfounded.
What I'm hearing off CD is what I consider to be critical in what I want to hear at home (and hear in those systems I visit that most impress me), ie tonal warmth and density while maintaining snap and verve, and greater timbral accuracy.
This platinum Bocchino Sablon Elite is providing a nice uptick here, no hint of any "tipped upness" that I slightly feared platinum might cause. Indeed I'm playing some discs that years ago veered into sharpness and sterility, and they're proving to be highly musical via this power cord.
A pat on the back to Mark over the 100 miles dividing us, his base cables and Bocchino add-ons continue to prove their worth in my system.

Congratulations, Marc -- and Mark!

spiritofmusic · Dec 15, 2021

Er, Ron, the plaudits all belong to Mark.
I was at a power cords shootout about 6 months before the pandemic struck, w cords at 3-5x the cost of Mark's.
No, I didn't bring any of his to the demo to compare, but I got a good idea of the "competition" (if you can consider £6-9k power cords as rational, let alone competitive).
And all of them had flaws, either in tonal balance, textural qualities, and other aspects like the balance of warmth/air/detail resolution.
It's hard to ascertain where any Sablon flaws reside, so complete is the tonal and timbral picture.

Sablon Audio · Dec 30, 2021

I’ve another batch of iecs heading off for custom platinum plating next week and will be adding a couple of platinum Princes to my demo fleet. These should be available mid-January so feel free to drop me a PM or email to arrange a demo slot.

hh_miller · Jan 17, 2022

In anticipation of my upcoming Riviera AIC-10 I was in the process of taking care of the power cables for my headphone setup. Mark was kind enough to send me a loaner Prince which I directly put on my existing Niimbus US4+. I liked what I was hearing so placed an order for a pair, one regular one platinum.

Last week I received the first cable from my order, still waiting for the platinum version. I did put it onto my Mola Mola Tambaqui and could not believe what I was hearing, and still am a bit puzzled. It was like someone changed the resolution but not from 44.1/16 to 192/24 more as from mp3 to lossless. So much more relaxed presentation with space and separation.

Interestingly I am under the impression that the PRAT has improved as well, which I am sure is just the result of sharper transients and/or reduced noise.

I did not expect that, at all….

Well done Mark!

Sablon Audio · Jan 17, 2022

@hh_miller many thanks for sharing Michael and I think you will love the platinum iec on your Riviera as much as I do on my Riviera Levante.

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