Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Bybee Power Cord Cable by emom

Model:	Power Cord
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$none yet
Description:	Power cord with Bybee filters built in
Manufacturer URL:	Bybee
Manufacturer URL:	Bybee

Review by emom ( A ) on October 14, 2005 at 13:45:37
IP Address: 208.50.229.86

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I recently purchased a new Bybee product that is not yet listed on his website. It is a power cord, and I ended up purchasing 2 of them. I have been using them for over a month and thought that they deserved a review, which is why I am posting this. Since Bybee filters are incorporated into the PC's, this review could also be posted under the power conditioner category.
The associated equipment is listed below, but you may find it useful to understand my preferences and my history with power cords and other cables. I have for several years used Silver Audio Wattmasters, which I found to have a great cost-benefit ratio. Their performance easily matches products costing twice as much. Detail, dynamics and pace, rythm and timing are extremely important to me. I have worked very hard to eliminate all glare from my all-solid state/digital front end system. I use Transparent cables (3 Reference digital IC's and a pair of Ultra MM speaker cables)and have demo'd Transparent's top-of-the-line PC in my system. I have also demo'd Nordost Valhalla PC's in my own system. I found that I prefer the Nordost PC's to the Transparent PC's (alhough I like Transparent speaker cables more than Nordost speaker cables). I also have demo'd the Z-Cable Hurricane/Cyclone (which I liked at the time but my setup then required much more flexible cables). I have not demo'd Shunyata's or Elrod's in my system. I presently use 2 Nordost Brahma PC's (just below the Valhalla's in the Nordost pecking order)for my Esoteric P-70/D-70 transport/DAC combo, so I have been able to compare the 2 Nordost Brahma's head to head with 2 of the new Bybee PC's. The Brahma's presently drive the 2-piece front end of my system and the Bybee PC's drive the 2 Nemo monoblocks.
I am not sure how Bybee will price the PC, but my impression is that it will be about 85-90% of the price of Nordost Brahma and 65-70% of the Nordost Valhalla. I need to disclose that I got what would be considered a "bargain" price from Bybee (at least by insane audiophile standards - it was still a four-figure number)as an early purchaser of an unknown product.
To start with my subjective opinion: I believe that the Bybee PC's performance is closer to the Valhalla than the Brahma (which I think is very good). That said, a more detailed description follows.
Compared to my Silver Audio Wattmasters, the Bybee PC's increased the width and depth of the soundstage by 35%. The placement of the instruments was more precise and the bass was significantly deeper, more musical and more impactful by a significant margin. Of course, I paid twice as much for the Bybee's so this is an unfair comparison. Compared directly to the Nordost Brahma's (which were more expensive than the Bybee's - even after a significant discount off of retail) the soundstage was about the same (very wide and deep), the bass deeper through the Bybees and placement of the instruments a little firmer with the Bybees. Both the Bybees and the Nordosts are very open and transparent, which I like very much, but the Bybee's impart more of a physical presence than the Brahmas, at least when driving my Nemo monos.
The Bybees are overall more flexible than the Brahmas, even though the Brahmas are thinner. However, the Bybee (which is primarily black) has a gold and black metal cylindar near the female end which apparently houses the Bybee filters. This means that though the Bybee is generally very flexible, the last 6 inches at the female end are not. The back of your equipment will need 7 inches of clearance from any wall or other obstruction to allow the Bybee to fit.
I do not know, but speculate that the Bybees may perform better than the Valhallas where "dirty" poweris an issue. I say this because Nordost cables appear to be designed to reject EMI, but Bybee filters filter EMI and grunge in the power itself. (SINCE I'VE CLEARLY STATED THAT THIS IS ONLY SPECULATION, PLEASE DON'T SEND ME NASTY HATE MAIL SAYING THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.)
Based on my experience and comparisons, I can say that this is an excellent cord that performs with the best high-end PC's I've heard, and that it may be a relative bargain when compare to other PC's in the high end market.
As a side note, Walker SST has improved every power cord I've used it on, and this includes both the Bybees and the Brahmas.
I will try to do a followup to this review after another month of use goes by. Happy listening!

Product Weakness: Filter at the IEC end of the PC mqay make it unsuitable for equipment whose back end is less than 7 inches from the wall.
Product Strengths: Cleans up the power to the amplifiers without affecting dynamics or PRAT. Widens the soundstage and improves bass response

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Electrocompaniet Nemo mono's
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none - EVS Ultimate Attennuators
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Esoteric P-70/D-70 transport/DAC combo
Speakers:	B&W Nautilus 800's
Cables/Interconnects:	Transparent, Nordost, Silver Audio and Bybee
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	rock, jazz and classical
Room Size (LxWxH):	23 x 28 x 8.5
Room Comments/Treatments:	6 ASC Cube traps and 16 Sound Panels
Time Period/Length of Audition:	8 weeks
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Filter at the IEC end of the PC mqay make it unsuitable for equipment whose back end is less than 7 inches from the wall.
Product Strengths:	Cleans up the power to the amplifiers without affecting dynamics or PRAT. Widens the soundstage and improves bass response