Then, on a tip from Roy Hall at Music Hall, I changed the power cord in the CD player to the Acoustic Zen Tsunami, and it instantly rewarded me with a wall of sound very like its name. Ive had interconnects and speaker cables open up the sound of a system, but never before a power cord, or not to this degree. Ordinarily Im loath to fiddle much with modest gear to get it up to par. Par is what you get out of the box, to my way of thinking. Unless warned, most customers are not going to tweak, particularly if in the process they add significantly to the cost of their equipment. But here I wanted to be sure I was giving this unit every opportunity in a system that was above its price range.
And, indeed, the new power cord was worth keeping on this player in the big system; the sound bloomed around me. Lyrics, particularly from the Cohen backup singers, which before had skirted comprehension, now were clear. Gary Karrs Basso Cantante [Firebird] was full and detailed, and the acoustic bass was indeed singing, though there are some higher notes on this instrument (heard in The Swan) that are not as melodic as the same notes on the cello, but this is the instrument, not the recording or the system. This is the kind of critical nuance you will hear on this player. This recording also showed a bit of midrange forwardness that was not present with the MF A5 in the system, indicating a slight difference in frequency balance.