September 17, 2010

• Pranawire Satori, Part 11

  You should have seen it.  When Nelson made their entrance in 1990, so many people were blathering that Nelson (!) represented everything wrong with the 90s.
  
  If they'd STFU and actually listen to Nelson's After The Rain, they'd find that it's a pretty good album.  It kicks off with the outstanding "(Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection."  I used that song to kick off our wedding video, too.  In the Fall 1990 quarter, I would go back to my little dorm room, turn on my little 13" TV, and see "After The Rain" on MTV.  I loved that song, except that, in those days, the Bay Area received no rain.  There's also the above-average power ballad, "Only Time Will Tell."
  
  Only time will tell if you can identify which one is Gunnar and which one is Matthew Nelson.  It is much easier to differentiate the two versions of the Pranawire Satori powercord. 
  
  The current-production Satori sports the silver-colored Oyaide M1/F1 plugs.  The original version had the Acrolink CF carbon fiber plugs.  Obviously, the audiophiles have been pestering me to explain how the two versions differ, in terms of sonics.  The Oyaide version really opens up the top 1/3 of the soundstage.  Whether my system is playing Nelson or anyone else, the Oyaide Satori gives the soundstage not just width and depth, but height.  However, image depth isn't as deeply formed.  And there's an occasional lack of snap on snare drums.  The original Acrolink Satori yields a smaller, less-defined soundstage.  However, the music itself has more form, body, power, focus, and presence.
  
  Take a look at the picture above, depicting a plane about to land at the Oakland airport.  A good analogy is that the Acrolink Satori would focus in on the airplane.  Meanwhile, the Oyaide Satori would show the background San Francisco Peninsula in greater detail, and you'd marvel at the fog rolling over the hills, contrasting with the beautiful skies.     
  

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