A regular LessLoss C-MARC power cable looks exactly like a sibling with the Entropic treatment. A playful yellow logo inside the latter's IEC and wall plug are the only visual identifiers. At $1'148, the original 2m C-MARC demands commensurably less than today's $1'934 job. That begs the question where our extra money went. Addressing it calls for another detour, this time to the Firewall for Loudspeakers noise killer reviewed here. This ultra potent but petite signal conditioner was first to benefit from the firm's proprietary Entropic Process. This procedure drastically ages a conductor so its internal structure changes and gains new properties. Those include burnt-in directionality and far less susceptibility to micro vibration thus superior resilience to noise. Where entropy means a gradual decline into inevitable decay, the Lithuanian process is accurately named. It was designed to accelerate what several human lifetimes of constant burn-in would do to copper: become soft to deform easily. It's why the thick conductive rods inside the Firewall modules surrounded by surface-exploding fins had to lock inside stabilizing resin barrels. The inherently flexible Litz strands of the cord meanwhile protect their hairs with thin hard enamel beneath several layers of cotton and synthetic jackets. This allows the power cord to undergo the Entropic Process without risk of deforming its conductive internals which don't multi-task load-bearing functionality like the Firewalls.

Here it would be fun to ask about the exact measures of such a drastic aging therapy but that's the company's secret sauce. It most likely requires specific chemicals, machinery and accuracy rather than regular burn-in devices and cryogenic immersion. LessLoss' method applies only to their common-mode noise-rejection geometry so cables by other manufacturers cannot be subjected. What's more, the Entropic Process must be executed at the very earliest manufacturing stage so regular C-MARC builds can't be retro-aged after the fact. Still, even such extremely pre-aged conductors aren't free from all burn-in on the customer's end. It now simply occurs at a much faster pace to net hundreds of years over just a few weeks. Here it's of paramount importance to preserve embedded directionality which with a power cord is obviously set by the terminations. LessLoss explain that it takes them 30 hours to make one Entropic-processed C-MARC cord versus the 18 hours a regular version demands. Now it's time to learn whether that extra half day of labor has any sonic impact.

An Innuos Statement handled storage/transport duties, then a LampizatOr Pacific DAC passed analog to a Trilogy 915R/995R pre/power set. Now Boenicke S3 speaker cable connected to sound|kaos Vox 3afw or Boenicke Audio W11 SE+ speakers. Interconnects were Audiomica Laboratory Erys Excellence RCA, Boenicke Audio IC3 CG and DIY XLR. All key hardware powered from a Boenicke Audio Power Gate distributor via its three captive M2 cords plus two extra LessLoss C-MARC. The USB chain included one Mercury3.0 USB cable. A set of external LessLoss Firewall for Loudspeakers modules complemented both speaker sets, a Fidelizer EtherStream sat between Linksys WRT160N router and Innuos Statement server. ISOL-8's Prometheus PSU connected to the router and network switch. Loaner cords for each of my components would have been fun but also quite the hassle during swaps. So I specifically asked for just one of the same length as my two non-entropic equivalents in use since late 2018. Ideally the newcomer should have located between power distributor and wall outlet to spread its effect across my entire platform. Boenicke Audio's fixed cord on their PowerGate simply covered this base already. Furthermore, LessLoss always recommend to start at the source not a distributor's wall connection. LampizatOr's Pacific DAC therefore was the best control point. That turned out obvious enough to write this entire review. Although there was no need to power my transport or preamp with the newcomer, I did so anyway just to confirm my initial impressions.

The PowerGate's three captive M2 cords usually connect to my DAC, Statement and Trilogy 915R while two extra standard C-MARC plugged into the distributor power Trilogy 995R monos. One of those standalone cords was needed for my comparisons to demand several changes. Three M2 now fed Trilogy's entire set while original C-MARC were on the  Pacific and Statement. The Entropic Process cord was ready for action just next to them. To loop it in I had to turn off my DAC, connect either old or new C-MARC, then flip a power switch. Prior to any auditions I confirmed proper power polarity [this applies only to EU Schuko plugs which can insert inverted; UK and US plugs only go one way so where polarity is off, a wall outlet must be rewired – Ed.] Considering my loaner's roots, let's recap what its predecessor does: elevated resolution, accuracy, focus and dynamics, fine transients, quiet background and neutral timbre. By never getting harsh, brittle or artificial, it keeps listener fatigue at bay yet isn't slow or flashy. If anything, my system with two original C-MARC sounds relaxed, natural and pleasing. The potency of this flavor is the trait that impresses me most. When I first heard that, I'd not experienced another power cable capable of such obvious shifts. My first LessLoss encounter with C-MARC had been quite the ear opener. Audiomica's Ness Excellence cords shift purposely towards heft. That complements leaner valve amps and widebanders. The vastly different C-MARC approach of less oomph but more fitness was no surprise. The more universally suitable Lithuanians simply showed what my electronics did far more easily. That meant higher hardware compliance and usefulness in my work. After several days of auditions, I'd managed to make the mental connection between noise rejection and higher background silence, smoothness, insight and lack of grain. Against their rivals the C-MARC had the upper hand on detail retrieval, sensuality and palpable highs with longer decays while their organic yet revealing disposition had me puzzled because I wasn't yet aware that those features could coexist.