February 3, 2012

  • API Power Link 313, Part 1

    In the fall of 1991, Vanessa Williams' The Comfort Zone sold only moderately well.  But in early 1992, 20 years ago, she released "Save The Best For Last," and things skyrocketed. 

    That was my junior year at UC Santa Cruz.  One weekend, I came home to San Francisco.  While I was bumming around the wharf area, "Save The Best For Last" played in some store, and it just stopped me dead in my tracks.  The song may be formulaic, but you have to admit that it is pure pop perfection.

    When I got back to Santa Cruz, "Save The Best For Last" was so popular, even the Central California radio stations played it.  My roommate also loved the song.  Today, if reproduced cleanly, "Save The Best For Last" can evoke vivid memories.  I can remember the room's windows being in the corner.  I can remember our stacked bunk bed.  I can remember the white walls.  I can remember the dressers, whose veneer was somewhere between maple and oak.  I can remember burying myself in Stereophile magazine.  I can remember reading tidbits about after-market powercords.  But I did not have any components with IEC jacks, so powercords were sheer fantasy to me.

    "Save The Best For Last" has been a radio staple for 20 years now.  But in the mid-90s, I'd hear it at S.F.'s Ultimate Sound.  There, I bought a few powerline products from API (Audio Power Industries).  Okay, I looked it up.  In early 1996, I bought three 2-foot API Power Link 313 powercords.  Because the Power Link 313 was affordable, you did not have to wait for your ship to come in.  A 6-footer was merely $159.  Thus, you could actually afford this stuff. 

    Within a few months, I was able to wire my entire system with API Power Link 313s.  You can see the standard 6-foot length, above.  BTW, my API Power Wedge 116 had a 20-amp IEC jack.  No fear; for a few bucks more, API made a 20-amp Power Link powercord, called the 311.