Cost effective power cables recommendations, low and high power

Check out the Chinese Counterfeit Cable forum

Lots of good 411. Im a believer. Completely upgraded all my well known ($$$$) cables for ~ $0.10 on the dollar

@audphile1 "Opting into “boutique bargain” brands like Zavfino, Audio Envy, Cullen, etc. will be a guessing game where you will get what you pay for, potentially not going to be able to return due to restocking fees and end up wondering how an Audioquest power cord would sound like with your amp."

I’ve tried audioquest and brands like Cullen. Never do I wonder what an aq cable will sound like. Popular retail brands do not mean better quality. There are advantages, like returns. Eating $20 for a restocking fee with a legitimate boutique cable maker is way cheaper than the mega bucks cable you’re likely to be no more impressed with than the boutique cable. I recommend exploring with an affordable cable at first, if that makes a difference, then move up the ladder.

OP: Cullen makes awesome power cords. Talk to Patrick about trying his Crossover cord for 30 days. He’ll let you return it. It’s as good a cord as I’ve found for under $1k. If you want, I have one for half price you can buy. One more thing, it's a very flexible cable, which is unlike every other cable of like quality and capability.

Decware makes excellent cables as well. Their shielded cable looks and feels identical to the Cullen Crossover, yet costs nearly twice as much at $400, which is still a bargain compared to Audience, AQ and others

Good luck in your search.

I concur with safebelayer on Cullen power cords. Check with Patrick and he will steer you to what will work best for your needs.

Nordost red dawn is a great value IMHO. I got a couple for $200 each and the upgrade over AQ NRGs was immediate. 

Here's my listening impressions for a number of power cables on a Denafrips Pontus II DAC. To cut to the chase, the Supra LoRad is currently what I'm using on the Pontus.

These are the power cables that I've tried on the Pontus DAC. 

Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty: $15
Audiophile AC Power Cable - WAudio 10AWG HiFi Power Cord 3.3FT : $35.99
Pangea AC-14: $44.95
Pangea AC-14 SE MkII: $79.95
Supra LoRad: $91
Shunyata Venom V14: $135
Audience F3 Forte: $150
AV Options Cryo TibiaPlus12 Power Cord:  $249
Synergistic Research UEF Blue: $499
Shunyata Research Venom V10 NR: $600

Interesting findings:

• The power cables with built in noise reduction (Synergistic Research UEF Blue: $499 & Shunyata Research Venom V10 NR: $600) smoothed out the digital harshness the most, but also seemed to take away presence and air.
• The $15 Tripp-Lite Heavy-Duty power cord was decent, because it didn't upset the tonal balance of the music. 
• Surprisingly, these power cords seemed to make more of a sonic difference on my Pontus DAC than they did on my Lehmann Black Cube SE phono preamp.
• The Pontus DAC seems to sound better with power cords that have less aggressive noise reduction built in.

Some comments about each power cord:

Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty: $15 - Best value goes to the $15 Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty cord that also has similar sonic characteristics as the Shunyata Venom V14 power cords and produces about 85% of the resolution of that cord. 

Audiophile AC Power Cable - WAudio 10AWG HiFi Power Cord 3.3FT : $35.99 - Tonal quality was nicely warm but the sound sounds veiled and muddled especially as the complexity of music increases. Bass is full but seems a bit undefined. 1-note bass with less tonal variation. The sound particularly in the low frequencies was a bit ponderous. 

Pangea AC-14: $44.95 - The tonal quality was good with less overemphasis of bass weight as with the WAudio cord.  I found the cord to have more errors of omission rather than that of commission, but my perception is that music sounded more veiled than with the Shunyata Venom V14 power cable in place. The result of this was that music sounded more flat than with the Shunyata cord and less engaging. 

Pangea AC-14 SE MkII: $79.95 - Has a nice tonal balance overall without emphasizing any part of the frequency band. Can get overwhelmed in more complex music (such as Improvisation from Dave Brubeck's Quadromania album. Shunyata Venom V14 provides more resolution. Shunyata Venom creates more apparent pace to music. This is likely to due to better resolution of tonal color and the start and end of notes. Shunyata Venom conveys music with more finesse.

Supra LoRad: $91 - This is my pick for the Pontus DAC of all of these power cords.

- Compared to the Shunyata Venom V14, the Supra LoRad power cord seems to make the background of music quieter. Other areas in which the Supra power cord does well are:

• The background behind the music is quieter
• Better separation and placement of instruments and voices
• Better resolution of low-level detail
• Rhythms in music are easier to follow
• More sense of ease to music that is intended to be calm in nature

Shunyata Venom V14: $135 - The Shunyata cable was good at keeping the sound lively and the resolution high. The Shunyata Venom V14 would be my 2nd choice for the Pontus DAC after the Supra LoRad power cord, 

Audience F3 Forte: $150 - The Audience power cord seemed to make the Pontus sound a bit smeared in resolution of details.

AV Options Cryo TibiaPlus12 Power Cord:  $249 - AV Options cord is perhaps a bit harsh in tonal quality? Definitely not as sweet sounding. Presentation sounds a bit heavy handed.

Synergistic Research UEF Blue: $499 - It's smooth in sound like the Shunyata Research Venom V10 NR, but seems to take away even more of the detail in music than the Shunyata power cord.

Shunyata Research Venom V10 NR: $600 - It’s quiet, but on the Pontus, it seemed to take away presence and air. Everything was smoothed out including those elements.