Power Cable for CDP

I mix and match power cords and have found that sometimes a lighter gauge power cord will sound better on the source. It's a matter of personal preference. Components will vary.

I went from big 10 awg to 14 awg with no detriment.I ended up with fp-3ts20 with furutech 28 r connectors.I think it is a better fit for a cd player.10 awg i feel was too much...some what bloated and over emphasized lowend.

What is a CDP?

You surely don’t need a 10 awg PC for a CDP.  It’s really more about what improvements/sound characteristics you’re looking for, and there’s a lot more to that than just awg.  Share with us what you’re looking for and you’ll get some great recommendations here. 

The only thing you'll get is less money in your bank account and likely some reinforcement of your confirmation bias. 

Gotham 87215 is good enough for cdp.

@mrskeptic +1

@chikin2000   No.  All sources require the maximum spend on power cords.  A good rule of thumb is to spend no less than three times the cost of the player.

@soix- thats a good question. More transparency really. Presently there is terrific pace, slam, detail the lot but served up with with lots of "weight". On the IC side, I have pure silver IC’s terminated with pure silver RCA’s so the weight isnt coming from the IC side.

A good while back I had used Blue Heavens and, with all their shortcomings, there was terrific transparency.

@mrskeptic - you’re hilarious

I have been a reasonably recent entrant to  the power cord game, as I have been concentrating on all the other bits.

Each component has a power cord that is more suitable to it than another, and not always what you might expect!

I have spent ages doing comparisons and now about  75% of my power cables are DR Acoustics

Having a Quality large cable still has less resistance  

the AQ Thunder retail around $1k is excellent , I bought mine from Perrotta Consultants and got a very good deal that isa substantial increase in fidelity vs the Oyaide which I have. Owned .

All silver cables are fascinating. Levricables grand power cord cheap cheap and pure 5N silver 28 wire, just can’t beat it.

If a CDP is a CD player, then spend your money on a transport and a good DAC instead.

I would strongly recommend the Shunyata Research Venom 10 NR.  All digital front ends produce power supply noise that disturbs the whole system. The SR NR (noise reducing) cables have circuitry in both male and female connectors that absorbs power supply noise. The silence between notes cannot be unheard!

'Shunyata Research’s exclusive NR (Noise Reduction) technology is a multi-stage filter network'

The only filter I put near my kit are DC blockers. I took every other filter out because they squash dynamics. The Shunyata also uses brass connectors and brass is an awful conductor. Shunyata not for me methinks.

The current Tunami is heavily shielded UP-OCC which I think is higher grade copper than OFE. They are also known for having zero perceivable noise. 

I also don't buy off the shelf cables- I make them with bulk cable and very good connectors.

I've had very good luck with Furutech FP SO 22N wire which is 14 aug. You can make them yourself or have them made for you. I had Mike Kay at Audio Archon in Illinois make mine. Works and sounds very good on CDP, Transports and Dac's. I moved up to larger gauge for amps and/or power conditioners SO32N-12 aug, S55N-10 aug or DPS-4 which is 11aug. The Nano Liquid contact enhancer is important to use with any of the above mentioned power cords.

Lak good liquid enhancer does work on power cord for digital sources.I have the Hi fidelity NPSQ45ST. This enhancer on my experience it doesn't work on pure silver wire. It takes away transparency.

Hello All. Cables (sadly) do make a difference. Snap on ferrite "beads" are available very inexpensively and will prevent high frequency (radio/radar/etc) junk from getting into and out of your gear on the power lines. They can't hurt and may help your system a great deal. Cable deniers might like to try them out.  Put them on your gear's power cables. Happy listening!

@kaipau 

All things being equal, you may enjoy the sound (and, money savings) with a smaller AWG power cable on your Compact Disc Player.  But, I wish were as simple as small vs large AWG.  You'll also find that some highly regarded manufacturers only offer their best materials and technology on the "bigger stuff" so, by default, you'll be getting a pretty meaty cable IF you want the best sounding cable from that manufacturer. 

A couple of years ago, i had an interesting conversation with the Black Cat cable designer, Chris Sommovigo (RIP). I asked Chris what he felt about making me a power cord for my very power hungry Jeff Rowland model 8T. I wondered if the cable gauge would be ok that Chris was suggesting for this application? Chris was certain that it would be ( his power cables, for those who may not know, were not huge bulk cables, like Shunyata’s). Sure enough, to this day, the cable that Chris made for me is a game changer, easily surpassing all other large AWG cables and heavy bulk pc’s that i had tried before on this amp.

I think one can conclude from this, that it is not necessarily the AWG of the cable, but more importantly, the design and the aptitude of the designer. 

For what you’re looking for I’d recommend LavriCable power cords that are made from pure 5N silver and are an exceptional value IME.  I don’t own their power cords but do own their interconnects, USB, and headphone cables and they excel at transparency and openness but with absolutely no brightness or thinness silver cables are reputed to have.  I know members @charles1dad, @lak, and @guacimo10 own their PCs and think very highly of them so maybe they’ll chime in here to help out.  Here’s a list of their power cords, and either the Master 20 or Ultimate should be more than fine for your use case.

https://www.lavricables.com/?s=Power

Further, here’s a post where a member mentioned above found the LavriCable PC superior to a much higher-priced Synergistic cable (very highly regarded BTW), and if you go to page 2 you’ll get some good insights from Charles1dad after he installed them in his system.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/price-isn-t-always-indicitive-of-quality-or-performance?highlight=LavriCable%2B

Again, given what you’re looking for and our other member’s very positive experience/feedback I would strongly recommend considering the LavriCable PCs.  Hope this helps, and best of luck!

@soix

For what you’re looking for I’d recommend LavriCable power cords that are made from pure 5N silver and are an exceptional value IME

Agreed. If the goal is to achieve an open, airy, pure and transparent sonic presentation then the Lavricables are an excellent option to consider. They are very well constructed, non bulky and pretty flexible. Bottom line is that they sound natural (terrific tonality and timbre), clear and dynamic (Both macro and micro).

OP, Have you established a budget range? These are not cheap cables but are exceptionally reasonable for the product you receive.

Charles

I agree that the LavriCable (Grand) is a very good power cord, just more expensive than what I recommended above. If you go that route be sure to give them at least 50 hours of break-in time before you do any critical listing.

Charles1dad said it better than I could and he is right on target ;-)

 "The Shunyata also uses brass connectors and brass is an awful conductor"...i am about to embark om making my own 20 amp for conditioner cable.The size i need is much shorter than redi/manufactered make.My choices so far gold plated and rhodium plated connectors.Im wondering if Shunyata uses the brass maybe because of a more neutral/durable coloring imparted on sound.Just Fwiw.

I've had pretty good success with just audioquest's NG X3 cables. The Thunder is on my amp.

@audioguy85 same here, all the cable nonsense started when my dealer, exasperated that I had no decent cabling, gifted me an Audioquest NRG Y3 cable. It sat in my hifi drawer for a year before by pure chance I tried it, just to make fun of « dumb people who believe in this nonsense » with a friend who was visiting. Result: ended up buying a full set of Audioquest power cables and conditioners. Entry level Audioquest is seriously good and should’t be dismissed like that just because of price, especially the NRG Z3 which is a terrific and very balanced cable for its price.

@habermas 👍

@habermas the AQ Z3 is a great cable, i use it from the Niagara 1200 to the wall socket, an AQ NG Edison receptacle.

So- I went for the the Neotech Nep‑3003 iii shielded silver plated, UP OCC copper and mated it to IeGO silver plated IEC/Schuko. 

Did I achieve what I wanted? Yes.

Did I get more than I bargained for? Yes. Glare. Still barely 10 hours on it but detail in spades, incredible speed, massive sound stage marred by a bit of glare. I'm hoping a few hundred hours burn in will remove the glare.

Perhaps mating it to pure copper connectors would remove the glare, but my next upgrade is going to be a new CDP. Anyone any experience of the Musical Fidelity current NuVista CD?