Doing the Power Cord Thing


Hey everyone,

So as you all know, I'm a DIY kind of guy when it comes to cables and speakers. I'll be building a new power cable using affordable parts from Parts Connexion and DH Labs:


https://www.partsconnexion.com/DHLABS-75520.html

and


https://www.partsconnexion.com/CONNEX-83387.html

They'll look nice, at least! :)


Testing will occur on the very last, new, Luxman 507ux in the United States.Will I hear anything at all? Or will this be just a wasted hour and wasted $100 assembling a cable?
erik_squires
Erik - a power cable using the wire you have selected was one of my first DIY projects

It's performance was better than stock cables that came with components, but did not compare favourably to cables having more advanced geometries, like Braiding adn Helix spiral.

I have evaluated a couple different cable geometries and conductors found the Helix geometry to provide superior sound across the board, besting many cables from companies like Neotech and even Nordost.

I now use a combination of Silver plated stranded Mil-spec wire for the neutral/ground wires and Durlund stranded tinned copper with polmer insulation for the live wire

I also use silver plated copper Sonar Quest connectors, which are very affordable compared to many others and offer extremely good perofrmance/value

If interested ands for more details take a look at...
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-002ahelix-power-cable.html

If you have any questions - just ask :-) 

Regards - Steve
Hi williewonka
Seems like your solution is high inductance and high capacitance.

Do you have a power conditioner? What kind? Do you notice the cable has more of a difference vs. the wall than the conditioner?


Best,

E
@Erik_squires - I do not have a conditioner - i run straight into the wall outlet. But I do notice a considerable improvement over some very well respected commercial cable products.

I have to ask - how did you come to the conclusion that the helix cables were both high inductance and high capacitance? Normally it's either one or the other.

The reason I ask is that a fellow DIYer actually measured the Helix interconnect cables and found them to be very low capacitance, so I would have to guess the power cable is also low capacitance.

As for the inductance - I might agree with you IF the helix coil was used for the live conductor, but it is the neutral conductor and therefore connected to the ground (basically), so the actual voltage in the coil is very close to zero volts and therefore the current flowing is very very low, which would minimize the inductive effect - wouldn’t it?

All reports of the performance of the helix Interconnect and speaker cables from other DIYers highlights the neutrality and natural sound of the helix cables, which might be another idicator of the low inductance and capacitance characteristics of the Helix cables.

If you should know how to measure inductance and capacitance of these cables easily please let me know, because I would like to determine the actual values to share with others. It’s a question that comes up from time to time and I do not have a difnitive answer as yet.

Many Thanks - steve