During the mid-90s, I auditioned myriad digital cables, some as low as $30, others approaching $1000. They all sounded different, meaning they weren't accurate, weren't true to the source. I did like some of the things the MIT Digital Reference did, but at $325 (a lot of money in those days), it made me skittish. One showery afternoon in November 1996, I bought its little brother, the $99 Terminator T3 Digital. I ended up using this budget coaxial cable between my CAL Delta and Theta Cobalt. There, the T3 Digital was actually quite good. True, it shrank the soundscape, and could have used more treble. Whereas other digital cables forced me to see/hear their flaws, the T3 Digital kept sucking me into the music.

Yes, I wanted to continue listening to the CAL Delta, MIT T3 Digital, and Theta Cobalt 307. Hey, I love the rain, can never get enough. But the music was so appealing, I couldn't turn it off. Only ACS was able to pry me away. Okay, I was able to leave some CD on infinite repeat, to burn-in the new T3 Digital. When ACS and I were lying in bed, that T3 Digital convinced us to put our foot down, and get its bigger sister, the Digital Reference.

In November 1996, that MIT Digital Reference, along with Spectral and Avalon, was part of the super-expensive "2C3D" hologram. Never mind Spectral. The Simaudio Moon 100D has enough resolution, to tell us that the Digital Reference does a superior job of reproducing images as 3D entities. ACS had lots of photos of her moon. And some of those old photos were actually quite clear and detailed. But a photograph is still a 2-dimensional object. The Moon 100D shows that, if other digital cables are photographs (some better than others), then the MIT Digital Reference's 3D images are more like being there, to watch ACS model her Victoria's Secret lingerie. If I actually want to get into the shower or bed with ACS, well, that's not the realm of audio.

ACS used to yank her poor boyfriends all over the place. Likewise, the stiff MIT Digital Reference can yank the lightweight Moon 100D off of whatever surface it is on. Placing the Moon 100D on a separate shelf from the transport can help overcome the Digital Reference's stiffness.

In a purely academic sense, the original XLO Signature 4.1 comes closer to "no sound at all." The Simaudio Moon 100D will latch on to this, and take what the transport and software dish out.

But the shrug-its-shoulders Moon 100D also adapts nicely to the character of the MIT Digital Reference. In fact, if these products are used in a headphone system, the 3D imaging can blow your mind, turn your skull into an aquarium holding the fish (music).

In speaker-based systems, find an interconnect which preserves the Moon 100D & Digital Reference's organic roundness to images. Good examples are Cardas Clear and MIT's Magnum and higher series. Images are not cardboard cutouts, or even the blockish prisms, which were prevalent in mid-90s video games. Instead of "razor-sharp" image outlines, The Moon 100D & Digital Reference imbue the images with more of a powder-like boundary. The music doesn't abruptly end at a razor-sharp line; it blends nebulously with the background space. Many audiophiles will say that this "blended" music/space continuum is closer to real life.

If you don't like the Moon 100D's "flattened" sound with other digital cables, check out the MIT Digital Reference. And you don't need the mighty Mark Levinson No. 37, either. With the Moon 100D and Digital Reference in tow, the California Audio Labs Delta kicks ass.

Once again, my very first DAC (digital-to-analog converter) was the $599 Theta Cobalt 307. I originally used it with the NAD 5000 CD used as a transport only. I then replaced the NAD 5000 with the CAL Delta and Theta Data Basic CD transports. Though these dedicated CD transports helped, the Cobalt 307 tended to impose its sound, not allowing us to hear the true qualities of the upstream transports and digital cables.

Again, during the mid-90s, I frequently borrowed the similarly-priced Illuminati D-60, MIT Digital Reference, Wireworld Gold Starlight, and XLO Signature 4.1. By this time, I had gotten the $1500 Theta DS Pro Prime IIA DAC, whose resolution (versus the Cobalt 307), did reveal more about the upstream digital cables. Like any other audiophile, ACS and I used the term, "fatness," to describe the tonal quality of each cable. ACS then extended "fatness" to her butt, rump, or moon. She referred to the sound of the D-60 as her "milky moon." Canted towards the bass, the Digital Reference was like her "softened moon, wallowing or veg[etat]ing in a mud bath." ACS did not like the Gold Starlight imposing a fat and warm golden glow. In fact, she said it wasn't her moon at all. Rather, it was like a fat guy's or gal's moon, sitting on a warm bathroom's toilet for far too long. Woe to the person who has to use that warm toilet seat next. The Signature 4.1 was all over the place, so ACS dubbed it "the many moons of Jupiter."

Which brings us to the Simaudio Moon 100D. It does indeed have the accuracy and resolution, to reveal honestly what the digital cable is doing.

So let us bring back the MIT Digital Reference. The Simaudio Moon 100D does indeed reveal the way the Digital Reference makes bass this mass or wave of warm air, moving in the room. The Mark Levinson No. 37 normally does not have a bulbous or excessive bass register. But with the MIT Digital Reference those waves of air come out. This is deeper than the usual mid- and upper-bass BOOM audio gear produces. Give credit to the Moon 100D, for sorting this out.

The original XLO Signature 4.1 digital cable was perhaps last produced in the late-90s. Perhaps it's their RCA-to-RCA interface/connection, but the Sig 4.1 and Moon 100D work very well together. That is, this is the combination which best tells us about the transport and CD. Each sounds different, but the way it should. I would not have thought it possible that a $599 DAC could be this accurate and honestly revealing. Yes, I have tried the expensive Tara Labs ISM digital cables on the Moon 100D. Yes, they are supremely transparent. But for maximizing the Moon 100D's overall performance, the XLO Sig 4.1 does the job.

In March 1995, I bought a California Audio Labs Delta CD transport, and my audio life got a whole lot better. With that addition, I thus had digital separates in both my main system (Theta Data basic and DS Pro Prime II) and bedroom system (CAL Delta and Theta Cobalt 307). With these digital separates, I then tried to check out as many digital cables as I could.

Previously, the Illuminati digital cable was a stiff black affair, with brass-colored, bulbous RCAs. By 1995, the Illuminati D-60 settled into the pearlescent white jacket with black conical RCAs we all know and recognize. Personally, I think the moonlight-white outer jacket is pretty. I don't know if she thought it was pretty, but my friend ACS said the pearly white D-60 looked like a "stream of semen."

In late April 1995, ACS and I went on a dinner date to Moonraker restaurant, then located on Highway 1, very close to the Pacifica shore. As this was April, and not summer, there wasn't any fog, to obscure the beautiful moonlight, which also cast enchanting ripples on the ocean waters. When we got home, ACS pulled down her pants, showed off her big, pale rump, and likened her own moon to Moonraker restaurant's name. But anyway, that is another reason why Simaudio's Moon series reminds me of ACS' butt.

Being with ACS was frustrating. We went out a lot. We played sports together. Quite frequently, she had me stay over at her apartment. She liked to rent movies, including porn. And as you readers know, she accompanied me to audio stores. But I just couldn't get anywhere, relationship-wise. Her gift of gab was a double-edged sword. You couldn't get in a word, edge-wise. And she would never be serious or a good listener when you needed her to be. ACS took hundreds of pictures, but I hardly saw or received any of them. And so on and so forth. For each positive trait (and there were many), ACS had a corresponding negative.

The Illuminati D-60 garnered scads of positive professional reviews. While it sold like hotcakes, the D-60 left customers frustrated. It never delivered the top-flight sound hinted at or promised by those professional reviews. Regardless of CD, transport, or DAC, the D-60 imposed its own sound. Once in a blue moon, that sound was quite good, if not spectacular. ACS herself once said, "It's like tasty gum, which lasts a long time."

But most of the time, the D-60 interfered with your enjoyment of music. It presented a roadblock to a deeper relationship with the music.

It's kind of messed up to equate ACS with the Illuminati D-60, but hey, I tried to make both work. I was with ACS from 95-97. I still have a small sampling of the CDs she and I used, while auditioning the D-60. Nevermore's initial offerings should sound crunchy. OMD's Universal is kind of opaque and gummy. Real McCoy should sound quintessential mid-90s: electronic and energetic, without being fat. Trans Siberian Orchestra's debut album sounds modern: saturated and full-bodied. So without further ado, let us get the D-60 hooked up to the Simaudio Moon 100D.

Sigh, the Moon 100D honestly reveals how the D-60 makes everything (both the transport and the CD) sound the same. Regardless of recording, the soundstage is always the same, confined between the speakers. The D-60 prevents the images from differing in size and shape. The D-60 locks in the tonal balance, never sounding FAT, never sounding thin, even when the recordings call for such characteristics. And then there's that persistent midbass softness. ACS would have thrown a fit, if her moon had taken on some midbass softness!

As you have read earlier, my first outboard DAC was the Theta Cobalt 307, which I finally received in September 1993. My first CD transport was the Theta Data Basic, which I received in February 1994. The very first two CDs I popped into the Data Basic were A-ha's Stay On These Roads, and Carcass' Heartwork. The sound (aided by AudioQuest Digital Pro and Kimber PBJ) was...underwhelming. It turned out that the Data Basic needed some burn-in. Furthermore, that Data Basic was affected by powerline conditioning, powercords, digital cables, analog interconnects, and anti-vibration tweaks.

In January 1995, I received the Theta DS Pro Prime II. How do I know? That was the same month ACS and I got together. For me, the DS Pro Prime II and ACS are forever intertwined. With the DS Pro Prime II taking residence in my main system, I was then able to use the Cobalt 307 with an NAD 5000 in my bedroom. Cha-ching!

Because my parents were frequently in the living room, I did not get to use the main system as often as I liked. I actually spent more time listening to music via the bedroom system. Yep, while on the computer or lying in bed, I would be using the NAD 5000/Theta Cobalt 307. The computer was used to e-mail ACS, who sent me risque photos, some of which you've seen in these pages. At night, I would be lying in bed, listening to CDs, when ACS would call. Since we're talking about the Simaudio Moon 100D, one of you wants to know about ACS' booty calls. Let's not go there.

Anyway, one thing I learned from reviewing DACs is that they need the best transports you can find. So to review the Simaudio Moon 100D, let's not beat around the bush. Let's whip out the mighty Mark Levinson No. 37.

I no longer have any AQ digital cables. But I do have the XLO S3-4, which, as is the case with all of my cables, has been Cooked. For the first 4 days, the Moon 100D sounds bland and restricted. But by the 7th day, its sound stabilizes. Uh oh. Lazy audiophiles will say that the Moon 100D is "sensitive" to digital cables. No. If you do the work, and use a wide variety of transports and digital cables, the proper way to describe the Moon 100D is that it has just enough resolution, to differentiate between upstream transports and cables.

The Moon 100D shows that the XLO S3-4 stretches images too wide. The images are right up against each other, with no space between them. If that describes you and your lover, great! But if that describes audio, that is not so great. Thus, transports and CDs all become a hard-to-penetrate wall of sound. Yeah, it's detailed, focused, and boppy, but there's no depth, no space, no finesse. Don't fall into the trap of erroneously blaming the Moon 100D. As we shall see, this isn't the Moon 100D's sonic signature. Rather, in this application, it's the sound of the XLO S3-4.

When ACS would see posters of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon, she would remark, "For a girl, doesn't that mean pussy? For a guy, doesn't that mean penis?"

Okay, that is the last time I, unlike the other audiophiles, will link Simaudio's Moon series to The Dark Side Of The Moon.

When it came to pussy and penis, ACS was always stating that they should be plugged in. Since the Simaudio Moon 100D isn't battery-powered, you have to plug it in. Perhaps because the Moon 100D has an wall wart power supply, it is susceptible to what it is plugged into. My house has generic AC outlets, the de facto Oyaide SWO-XXX, and the overall excellent Oyaide R-0. As for powerline conditioners, I currently have an API Power Pack II, PAC IDOS, Power Wings (with either SWO-XXX or R-0 outlets), and Tara Labs AD/6. All of these matter, and will influence the Moon 100D's tonal balance, soundstaging, focus, resolution, speed, and accuracy.

Yes, I tried plugging the Moon 100D into various outlets. But for now, it ends up where it should, a Power Wing with SWO-XXX outlets.

At night, ACS liked to keep her bedroom curtains open, to let in the moonlight. Since we're talking Bay Area, there was ample ambient light coming through ACS' bedroom windows. She usually did not have to turn on any electrical lights. Nor did she ever have a nightlight. Okay, moonlight is one thing, but the idiot lights on the Simaudio Moon 100D are eye-piercingly bright! The photo above does not capture just how obnoxiously bright the LEDs are. Chances are, people who use the Moon 100D will have one not in the main system, but by a computer or the side of a bed. In rooms with low light, the Moon 100D's bright LEDs should be covered up. But you and your lover should not be covered up

Okay, let's take another look at the dark side of the Moon 100D. I needed to test the Tos-link connection. It works. It's okay, no great shakes. Images are too large, and detail is mediocre. In time, I'll get to the coaxial digital input. But for now, the Tos-link is burning-in the Moon 100D.

Even though I had been in audio since the mid-80s, I did not get a component with a regular 15-amp IEC jack until winter 1993. That was found on the outboard power supply of the B&K Pro10MC preamp, which was a full-sized component.

In order to shrink the size of electronics, many manufacturers forgo the IEC jack, and use an outboard wall wart power supply. Such is the case with Simaudio's Moon 100D DAC. Unlike many other electronics, the 100D's wall wart is small. It measures roughly 2.875" x 1.625" x 1.625". ACS says that some of her little vibrators were roughly this size.

Very unusual, it requires the use of AC plug adapters. You will have to use a finger, and slide down that plastic tab that reads, "open." Sounds kinky, but isn't.

Then you can lock in one of these.

My assumption is that a different adapter is supplied, depending on which country the Moon 100D is exported to. I am here in the US of A.

The adapter supplied with my Moon 100D has two (not three) prongs. Moreover, the two prongs are identical, i.e., not marked for polarity. So yes, when you plug this into an AC outlet, you can try it both ways (sounds kinky, but isn't).

Let's go back to early 1992. Not having a girlfriend was depressing. Being a college student meant I had no money. And money was needed, in order to make the leap from mid-fi to high-end audio. At the time, my system was a mess: NAD 5000 CD player ($500); Sony TAE-1000ESD digital preamp ($1,000); Muse Model 100 power amp ($1,200); Paradigm 5SE stand-mounted speakers ($349). Obviously, when you dream about audio, the sky's the limit. But when I tried to keep it real, my dream components for this particular system were the Theta DS Pro Prime DAC, Conrad-Johnson PF1 preamp, and Thiel CS1.2 floorstanding speakers - all of which were around $1,250.

When I attempted to get high-end audio off my mind, I failed. So after a while, instead of fighting the urge, I just daydreamed about audio 24/7. What was the one interruption? ACS' visit to my UC Santa Cruz college apartment on Valentine's Day 1992. Perhaps being so far from the pressure cooker of UC Berkeley made ACS relax and feel liberated. When she sat down at the kitchen table, she asked if she could go topless. It helped that my housemate Dave (the only one home at the time) was a nudist. After ACS brushed teeth, showered, dried off, and was ready to go to bed, she did not put on any clothes; she remained nude. By then, I had known ACS for over four years. We'd played sports and tackled each other for years. But this was the first time I saw her completely naked. The part which, to my eyes, stood out the most was her big butt. The ambient light coming through the window (we left the curtains open) would cast a glow on ACS' big butt, thus fulfilling the connotation, "full moon." ACS would hardly ever use the words "butt" or "ass." Once in a while, she'd use the term, "moon." But mostly, she referred to her own butt as her "rump."

When the Canadian company Simaudio created their entry-level Moon series, it naturally brought me back to V-Day '92, the first time I actually saw ACS' naked full moon. Despite the Moon 100D DAC measuring a mere 5"W x 3"H x 6.375"D, it does indeed make me think about ACS' big, taught, dense, and hard rubber butt. The earth's moon was pockmarked with craters, but ACS' moon had stretchmarks and was pockmarked with goosebumps, fine hairs, ridges, splotches, scars, bruises, zits, and other red dots.

So let's take a look at the Moon 100D's, um, back side. Starting from your left are the RCA line-level analog outputs. Sorry, if you want balanced outputs in a Simaudio DAC, you'll have to move up to the much-more-expensive Moon 300D V2 24/192. Output voltage is 2V, and from my listening and test CDs, the Moon 100D appears to be polarity-correct. The Moon 100D sports three digital inputs: USB, S/PDIF (on RCA jack), and Tos-link. And on your right is the 18VDC power input. That's right; the Moon 100D has a small wall wart power supply. Sorry, it does not have an IEC input, without which you cannot experiment with after-market powercords.

On that Valentine's night of 1992, ACS got into the top bunk, and asked if vampires could see themselves in the mirror. I assumed no. ACS then asked if humans could see vampires' reflection in the mirror. I did not know the answer to that question. And that was another important step in making me a better audiophile. If I don't know, I just come out and say so. So anyway, ACS and I did role-playing, where one of us was the vampire, while the other was the human. ACS made the assumption that only the vampire could not see his or her reflection in the mirror. So ACS said to assume and pretend that a large mirror was on the ceiling. We then got into various sexual positions, to determine what the vampire would see in the mirror.

ACS had me (as the vampire) lie on my back. She got into the reverse cowgirl position. Next, she pivoted 180-degrees, so that she was in the regular cowgirl position. Then she leaned forward, rested on my chest, stretched out her legs, so that we were in the reverse missionary position. She told me to look in the imaginary mirror, and tell her what I saw. I just shrugged, "If there were a camera, instead of a mirror, on the ceiling, it'd show the back of your head, your back, your butt, and the backs of your legs."

Well, the Simaudio Moon 100D is so small, you don't need a mirror or camera. Okay, you don't need a magnifying glass, either. Note that the Moon 100D's top is not a perfectly flat planar surface. Therefore, if you use, for example, a VPI Magic Brick, its bottom surface will not come into full contact with the Moon 100D's top (sounds kinky, but isn't). Because the Moon 100D is so light, you may need to place a weight on top, in order to anchor it to the shelf.

Flip over the Moon 100D, so we can see its underside. This position reminds me of ACS (as the vampiress) flipping onto her back, hands behind her head, eyes looking at the imaginary mirror on the ceiling, knees bent, legs akimbo. The Moon 100D has four soft rubber domed feet. ACS likened these to "tiny breasts" or "nipples." The Moon 100D's feet are slightly adhesive, but not grippy or tacky enough to get the unit to stick to a shelf. Stiff cables can jostle the Moon 100D out of position. Do be aware that the Moon 100D's underbelly is not a singular plane. Identical to the top, it is made up of five strips. Take that into consideration, when you experiment with after-market footers and the like.

ACS often liked to go sleeveless. She said that tank-tops and the like provided "ventilation."

To which I remarked, "Yeah, but then everyone can see your hairy armpits."

You've seen all of the Simaudio Moon 100D's sides. Note that there aren't any ventilation slots. Yes, that means that the unit runs cool. Yes, that also means that no dust will get inside of the unit. Hooray!

In the early-90s, my dream DAC was the $1250 Theta DS Pro Prime. At the time, that was Theta's entry-level model. But I was an unemployed college student, so even that entry-level unit was out of the question.

Then, during my senior year, I went to the March 1993 Stereophile show in San Francisco. There, we learned about Theta's $599 half-width Cobalt 307. Alas, I did not see any operating units at the show. And then, a half month later, Stereophile reviewed the Cobalt 307 in the April 1993 issue. Despite the buzz generated by this review, San Francisco's only Theta dealer, Audio Excellence, did not bring in a demo Cobalt 307 until summer.

When I did audition a Cobalt 307, via the Thiel CS3.6, I used Foreigner's The Very Best...And Beyond, OMD's Liberator, and Savatage's Edge Of Thorns. The sound was thick and powerful. Audio Excellence did not have any in stock, so I had to order one. My unit did not arrive until the end of September. But anyway, that Theta Cobalt 307 was my very first DAC.

So wouldn't you know it, the DAC I'm reviewing here, the Simaudio Moon 100D, retailed for that same $599. Unlike the black-only Cobalt 307, the Simaudio Moon 100D is available in either black or silver.

At 5" wide, the Moon 100D is less than the width of a CD jewel case.

At 6.375" deep, the Moon 100D is a little longer than a CD jewel case. Including the rubber feet, the Moon 100D is 3" tall. Liberator's colors and all these measurements remind me of going out with ACS, as she shopped and tried on all those funky clothes she wore. Because of her big moon, ACS needed pants to be of certain proportion. Because the Simaudio Moon 100D is so little, it'll fit anywhere.

The earliest impetus to get regular folks into high-end audio was the outboard DAC (digital-to-analog converter). By the late-80s, everyone had a CD player. If you had one with a digital output, you were in business. You could then use that CD player as a transport, to feed an outboard DAC. By the early-90s, seemingly every month, there was a review of a DAC in Stereophile or The Absolute Sound. Problem was, most of those DACs cost a couple thousand dollars. That's a lot of money now. Imagine how much that was in 1990!

Back then, Audio Advisor were one of the very few mail-order companies which sold high-end audio products. They had color catalogs, which were 8.5x11 paper stock folded in half. Okay, so they tried hard to push VTL products. But along came a new Californian company, Audio Alchemy. Audio Advisor may have had their own catalogs. But it was really their ads in Stereophile, which were the equivalent of J&R Music World's go-to popular ads in Stereo Review.

Indeed, when Audio Advisor advertised the $399 Audio Alchemy DDE v1.0 DAC in the July 1991 issue of Stereophile (above), DACs finally came within reach of middle class audiophiles.

The very next month (August 1991), Robert Harley did a full review of the DDE v1.0. And in the October 1991 Stereophile, Sam Tellig's blurb on the DDE v1.0 implored readers to go out and try/buy one. That they did, en masse. And it was the DAC product type, which sucked or funneled many middle class people into high-end audio. Of course, once you got a DAC, you then *needed* digital coaxes, line-level interconnects, CD transports...ah, what a slippery slope.

In Fall 1991, I heard Audio Alchemy gear at San Francisco's Sounds Alive. But I wasn't there to hear Audio Alchemy; I was there to audition the Muse Model One Hundred power amp. Nevertheless, I thought it was clever of Audio Alchemy to make components small, thus cutting cost, and bringing these types of products within reach of everyday people.

In the early-90s, Simaudio were known as "Celeste." Since Celeste sounded too much like frozen pizza, Simaudio eventually dropped that name. For their entry-level models, Simaudio used the "Moon" designation. In these pages, you've seen my reviews of Simaudio's "Evolution" products. On Valentine's Day 1992, my friend ACS visited me at UC Santa Cruz. She was to write a paper on vampires. While looking out of my bedroom window, she likened "moon" not to objects which orbit planets, but to buttocks. ACS had a big butt. Though she did on occasion refer to her own butt as a "moon," she preferred to call it a "rump."

Perhaps taking a cue from Audio Alchemy's half-size components, or Creek Audio's dinky OBH series, Simaudio four years ago made pint-sized components, including the Moon 100D DAC. It's hard to tell from this photograph, but the Moon 100D box is only large enough to fit a Discman and a couple of CD jewel cases. Pretty amazing that it holds a DAC. Back in 1991, we would have been stoked, if audio gear could be this small.

When ACS slept over on V-Day '92, we left the bedroom curtains open, which let in some moonlight between the trees. Yes, that pale moonlight illuminated ACS' rather large full moon. But enough of these large moons. New Horizons is trying to scan/photograph the tiny moons of the dwarf planet Pluto. I'm not New Horizons, but I will explore this dinky little Simaudio Moon 100D.

Holy cow, the Moon 100D manual is just an 8.5x11 paper folded in half. Audio Advisor's catalogs are now full-sized. I sort of miss their glossy half-sized editions from the early-90s.

Let's review.

In 1993, I bought the B&K Pro10MC preamp and Theta Cobalt 307 DAC, my first audio components to sport IEC jacks. In 1994, I acquired API (Audio Power Industries) powerline conditioners and the Theta Data basic CD transport, which had IEC jacks. So with all of these components with IEC jacks, I set out, with low expectations, to audition after-market powercords.

So in 1994-95, with the aid of ACS, I brought in several samples of powercords, and took listening notes. API's own PL-313 was, in ACS' words, like a "fat wooden graphite pencil." The Kimber PowerKord didn't suppress noise, but did allow each recording to sound different from the next. The MIT Z-Cord and Z-Cord II were like taking the stock OEM powercord, and then reducing noise. The Wireworld Aurora II frustrated me and ACS. It could make the system rock, but at the expense of a lot of grain (especially in the midrange), and by making images too large and smeared.

Sigh, I was hoping that powercords effected little or no sonic change. But as ACS and I heard, they could bring about greater change than, say, decent interconnects. Furthermore, "change" was exactly that. Change could be negative, positive, or quid pro quo, change for change's sake. I was bummed, because now I had to expend funds on a product type I hitherto never even thought about.

In these pages, you've seen me review the PL-313 and Z-Cord II. Unlike the mid-90s, this time around, we had the audiodharma Cable Cooker. The Cable Cooker is one of the very few devices, which can treat powercords. And even on products which were in use for 2 decades, a short trip on the Cable Cooker brought about tremendous gains.

In the late-90s, we started to see more and more after-market powercords with fat-barrel AC plugs. Sometimes, that #3 ground lug/pin is rather large, and won't fit into receptacles. As far as the Cable Cooker goes, you will have to get a cheater plug, and carve out a little notch, to allow the ground lug to fit.

This modified cheater plug allows us to treat, for example, the Pranawire Satori (above), with Acrolink CF plugs.

While we are it, why don't we recondition the Pranawire Cosmos PC (above), also with Acrolink CF plugs.

With the modified cheater plug, we can also treat the Pranawire Maha Samadhi (above), equipped with Oyaide M1/F1 plugs. Back in the mid-90s, when I first naively explored after-market powercords, I complained that they cost over $200 for a 2m piece. No, back then, I could not imagine dabbling in $5000 powercords, such as Pranawire's Maha Samadhi and Vajra. But whether you're playing with the throwaway patchcord which came with your equipment, or the Nordost Odin PC, you absolutely must use the Cable Cooker. If you are not using a Cable Cooker, you're unwisely and unnecessarily putting up with a lot of distortion, and only realizing a small fraction of your powercords' potential.