Prioritizing Power Cable Upgrades by System Component.

on another thread one member here made a good point

the influence of the power cable is inversely proportional to the quality and sophistication of the built in power filtering and power supply of any component... i think there is wisdom in this... and i would say, over time, units like pass labs --  which has exceptional power supply and filtering design -- reacts minimally to aftermarket power cables

once again I'm going to disagree with a lot of members here but there are members here who agree with me.  Some are actually on the other side of my belief here.   I will say that I've got a much better understanding of the phsics behind electricity than just about everyone here.  But a lot of people say that there are many things in audio that are not explainable by physics and you just have to trust your ears.  I'm more a science guy.  The beauty is that everyone makes their own decision.

I would never install an amp without an upgraded power cable.  Many amps now don't come with a power cable because the throwaway cable isn't appropriate.  (I have a new amp on order and the literature says that.)  But you can buy a cable that will get you 99% on ebay for $50.  

Other components probably aren't going to benefit from an upgraded cable because they do not have spikes in their power damand. 

Jerry

@carlsbad So, in terms of priority, are you saying power amp first?

then what? how would you prioritize?

@imaninatural  Yes power amp first.  Then I would make sure all my other cords are at least 14 gauge.  A name brand (Tripp lite) 14 ga power cord on Amazon is $11.  So in my system the DAC is the most important component sound wise.   My system generally only had 3 components in the signal path and one is digital so dont really affected by power cord:  streamer, DAC, integrated amp.  So on both my amp and DAC I have a nice power cord with good copper wire and good conductors.  I"m planning to make a new cord soon with braided 10 awg quality wire braided  and shielded. The shield is more to protect the signal cables in the vicinity.  But I'm saying this knowing that others strongly disagree with me.  Listen to both halves of the discussion. 

I really don't know what kind of power supply is in a turntable now so someone else will hae to discuss that. 

Oh yeah--powered speakers.  Give them a 10 awg power cord too.  Especially subwoofers.  they need lots of power.

Jerry

There is so much more to power cables than just the gauge of the wire. Carlsbad, you are so far off, your reply was foolish. 1st, the owner needs to check with the component manufacturer to see what the minimum amp rating is required before any assumptions. 14ga for an amp but 10ga for a speaker? You don’t know what you are talking about. I know of amps that require 20 amp cables and 14ga isn’t going to work. I also know many speaker and subwoofer companies that use smaller than 10ga wire for their power cords. My cable to my power amp is rated for 30 amps.

There is much more to wire than just the gauge: copper/silver, multi strand/solid, shielded/not, sheathing used, and especially termination connectors.

After doing my own testing over 15 years ago, every component in my audio systems has an after market power cable. I have a few thousand dollars worth of a couple cables in a box (due to changing of equipment) just in case I buy a new audio component.