Power Cables

Here’s the thing - Powerful transient signal demands - such as the crack of a side drum or the slam of a bass can draw significantly more power than the 5.21 amps sisyphus51 calculated BUT only for very brief moments in time. However, they do contribute to the reproduction of the realism of the music.

The standard power cable provided by the maunfacturer is not capable of responding to the immense demands of tranient signals. More advanced designs allow the conveyance of enough power in a timely manner such that an amp can perform up to its full potential and reproduce those transients more faithfully.

Monoblocks do assist in the dynamic reproduction of music because of their large transformers /power supplies, but it really depends on the amount of current actually drawn by the amp as to how effective a third party power cable might be.

Smaller components that have a smaller power supply will "generally" show more of an improvement in sound quality when a better quality power cord is employed

Components that employ Wal-wart power supplies will excell when their power supply is switched to something more substantial including a better power cord.

Also - the quality of the actual conductors used in a powercord will improve the speed of the reproduction of those transients - e.g. that drum will actually sound much crisper (faster) and the bass will have more texture and slam.

I prefer silver plated conductors because they are affordable and offer almost the same perofrmance as solid silver.

Then there is the geometry of the cable itself - this contributes to the overall clarity and imaging...
- The standard geometry of three wires side-by-side - perhaps with a slight twist - i.e. "The Norm" - is the worst possible geometry to use - it’s worst attribute is - it s noisy. To improve performance companies simply rely on conductor quality to achieve improvements in sound.

- Braided cables are less noisy and offer significantly better dynamic performance than the standard geometry and will show discernable improvements on components with smaller power suplies

- the best I have tried to date is a helix geometry - where the neutral and ground conductors are wound around the live condcutor - they have an extremely fast dynamic response with very low noise characteristics that results in the most realistic repeoduction of music.

So to sum up - that cable that comes in the box will do the job - but very poorly in comparison to other cables and especially a helix cable.

Many others besides myself have tried the helix design on a variety of systems (i.e. solid state and tube) and all agree they provide a significant improvement.

If you really want your system to soar to new heights - also employ IC’s and speaker cables that also use a helix geometry.

Unfortunately - the Helix Geometry is not available in power cables from third parties - it is currently only available to those that do not mind a DIY project. But if you can use a screwdriver and a variable speed electric drill take a look at...

http://image99.net/blog/files/category-002ahelix-power-cable.html

In answer to the question asked by the O.P. - the brand is imaterial - the geometry and other attributes of the cable is what makes for the best results

Hope that helps - Steve

I think that the following lengthy post that was provided by Atmasphere a few years ago, in a post dated 6-3-2014 in this thread, is worth quoting here in its entirety.  It reinforces some of the things that were said above by Steve (Williewonka), and by me earlier in this thread.

For those who may not know, Atmasphere (Ralph Karsten) is the owner and designer of Atma-Sphere Music Systems, which manufactures unique and very highly regarded audio amplifiers and preamplifiers.  He is also, IMO, one of this forum's most knowledgeable, experienced, helpful, sincere, and level-headed members.

With power cords its all about voltage drop across the cord. Some of that is at 60Hz, and some of that is much much higher- well above 30KHz-100KHz depending on the power supply in the unit with which it is being used.

I've seen a 2 1/2 volt drop rob an amplifier of about 30% of its output power. The cord was rated for 10 amps, and the draw was about 6 amps. This measurement was done with a simple 3 1/2 digit Digital Voltmeter.

The more insidious problem is high frequency bandwidth. The power supplies of most amplifiers have a power transformer, a set of rectifiers, and a set of filter capacitors. The rectifiers only conduct when the power transformer output is higher than that of the filter caps. So:

When the caps are fully charged the amp is able to play. As it does so, the caps are discharged until the AC line voltage waveform gets high enough again that the rectifiers in the power supply are able to conduct. Depending on the state of charge of the filter capacitors, this might only be for a few microseconds or it might be a few milliseconds. Either way, the charge is a spike which has very steep sides- and requires some bandwidth to make it happen.

If the power cord has poor high frequency response, it will current limit on these spikes. This can result is subtle modulations in the power supply or even a sagging power supply voltage.

Romex wiring found in many buildings actually works quite well. So it really becomes all about that last few feet and also how well the power cord is terminated- molded cords generally are not terminated very well. If the ends of your power cord get warm after a while, you know you have a problem!

This can be measured, its quantifiable and also audible as many audiophiles know. Anyone who tells you differently probably has not bothered to do any measurements- please refer them to this post.

I can go into more depth but this is it in a nutshell. Incidentally, Shunyata Research is refining an instrument that does a more in-depth analysis of what this is all about. At the link you will see that their tests essentially confirm what I have said here.

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/visits/shunyata_visit_interview.htm

Regards,
-- Al 

And from this thread, in 2010:

Almarg 9-15-2010

Power cords: a 2V drop across a power cord can rob a tube amplifier of as much as 40% of its output power!

Ralph, could you provide a technical explanation of why that would be so? I don’t doubt your statement, but I’m interested in understanding why that would occur.

Re your other points, all of which strike me as excellent, I think that it should be stated that none of those points NECESSARILY mean, to cite an example, that a $2,000 power cord will outperform a $200 power cord in any given system.

Atmasphere 9-15-2010

Al, the reason a power cord can have this effect is simple. If there is a 2 volt drop in a power cord, the filaments of the tubes will run cooler and the B+ will be reduced. Since this is a voltage, the result is we get less voltage output out of the amp. Less voltage=less power. Depending on the amp this can be pretty profound. and I have seen it with my own eyes. I do agree though that that does not justify a $2000 power cord, but it **does** justify one that has decent connectors and conductors that will not heat up at all. That has to cost something, probably not $2000 though. One thing about audio is that if there is a phenomena, there is also snake oil for it.

Almarg 9-15-2010

Thanks, Ralph.

That would also seem to say that the value of the ac line voltage at each listener’s location can be a very significant variable in the performance of a tube amp (assuming it does not have regulated filament and B+ supplies).

Which in turn emphasizes how easy it can sometimes be for extraneous variables to lead to incorrect sonic assessments.

Regards,
-- Al

Hey, how ‘bout an explanation how power cords can be directional? Or an explanation how they can’t would be fun, too. 😀

Pop Quiz: How come HDMI cables are directional?

Power cords are directional because one end is terminated to plug into the wall or power conditioner and the other end plugs into the audio equipment.  I can’t remember ever seeing one that wasn’t.

Really interesting that the article above says the wiring in the walls is usually pretty good.  

My Levinson 333 has no option to change the power cord.  I have wondered about running 30 amp service to it and swapping out the plug as specified in the manual.  I wonder if the difference would be audible for high-transient situations.

I have a couple of different power cords and look forward to trying them once my Stellar GCD arrives next week.