2. analog
  3. 148243-125055

Importance of power cable for Turntable?

Just purchased a Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated with the optional phono stage and DAC module.  I purchased AudioQuest Hurricanes for both the amp and my digital source.  How important would it be to do the same for a high end turntable (which I don’t have just yet)?  Would an AudioQuest Hurricane Source be a good choice for a high end turntable as well? Or is it even needed?  I do notice subtle improvements with my amp and digital source.

Thanks
nyev
terry9
2,342 posts
 
With all due respect to previous posters, I would not mess around with a power cord. I suggest the best TT power supply that you can afford. Comes with a cord. Nottingham's Wave Mechanic is very good, Walker is said to be good (for AC synchronous motors). For DC motors, perhaps Origin Live or ???.

It's good to isolate the phono stage from the TT motor, unless you get a regenerating TT power supply. One way is to drive the motor from the other leg of the 220VAC. Recall that power from the pole is 220VAC. That is split at your breaker box into 2 x 110VAC - two legs. Get an adjacent pair, use one for phono, one for motor.

Alternatively, you can use power supply filters and isolation transformers,

I built my own controller after buying a Wave Mechanic. It's based on a precision telescope controller out of Art of Electronics. Improvement was significant - should have been, considering the parts cost more than the assembled WM. (air bearing TT, ESL's).
lewm
13,110 posts
 
Folkfreak, Besides the facts that you want a lot of current carrying capacity (which equates to using thick low gauge wire), particularly for a power amplifier but maybe not so much for a turntable, since tt motors seldom draw more than 20W, and that in some environments, shielding is a good idea, define a "good power cord".  Does that mean "expensive"?  I guess I am trying to say that it boils down to low impedance, heavy gauge, and +/-shielding.  What else does a PC do?
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@lewm Believing in differences in power cords, and being open to hearing them, presupposes that you value many more parameters in a cord design than current carrying capacity. Choice of materials (copper vs silver for example), geometry, resistance to vibration, damping, grounding and shielding solutions (such as active shields) - all of these influence and affect power cord performance and the effect can easily be appreciated on a table supply. And the cable doesn’t need to be expensive, choosing the right cable design is the key,

For instance the best cable for a table may not be the best cable for a pre amp say. For example I find Marigo power cords work really well on the table PSU but on my pre amp the same cord seems thin and forced. The ideal cable profile for a table is one that is lean and fast it seems.

and @bdp24 while the thoughts about my system are welcome (you must come round and hear it now, it’s a world away from what you heard last year) the same impact was clear on my friends system which is much much less expensive and complex
lewm
13,110 posts
 
I would agree that geometryseems to have an effect, and “grounding” of course.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,820 posts
 

Thanks @folkfreak, I’ll take you up on that offer! I found your recent comments (in Audiogon's Virtual Systems) about the changes in the sound of your system to be both interesting and encouraging. I’m used to a different sort of speaker sound (planars), and found your now-gone Magico speakers (replaced by a different model of theirs) to be more "unrelenting" than the sound I'm accustomed to. Your comments about the sound of your new system leads me to believe that you may now feel similarly about your previous one vs. your new. True? Extremely resolving, transparent, and uncolored, but more "bracing" (a splash of ice cold water on one’s face ;-) than I’m comfortable with.

There are two schools of thought about loudspeaker frequency response characteristics in relation to high frequency balance: one school is of the opinion that a speaker’s response should remain flat all the way out past audibility; the other considers the above to result in a "tipped up" balance not found in live music, that a speaker should instead slowly roll off above a "certain" frequency, at say 2-3dB/octave starting at perhaps 5kHz. Your old Magico’s sounded as if they were designed as per the former, your new model Magico’s perhaps less so? Just a guess on my part.

More to discover