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
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover. The secrets are hidden.

Examples:

1. cryogenic treatment
2. control of directionality
3. cold welded connectors
4. continuous cast copper and long grain copper
5. silver added to connectors
6. gold added to the silver
7. Highly polished conductors
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover. The secrets are hidden.

You can buy different materials to use, including silver content or even silver cables. Cold welding is actually just the industry standard for how you make cables in bulk.


Interestingly enough, all those you listed are as far as I know, nearly completely impossible to measure at this point in time:


1. cryogenic treatment
2. control of directionality
3. cold welded connectors
4. continuous cast copper and long grain copper
5. silver added to connectors
6. gold added to the silver
7. Highly polished conductors


So for the DIYer, unobtanium. An exclusive feature you cannot make yourself. Cool, does it do anything?


Maybe resistance would be an effect of the cold weld and cable content but we are in the range of milli and micro Ohms.

Of the types of things I would have listed as being measurable and having a possible impact are:

  1. Cable geometry
  2. Shielding
  3. Ferrites or other filtering components used in the construction.


It is my theory, that the most effect people hear is when they are not using an adequate conditioner.
when looking to buy a power cord for say a amp, how do you know which one to get ?   

 does a company make a power cord to sound a certain way ?

Making your own cable, power or whatever, for $100 is one of the cheaper funs you can have. It does not really matter if mids are more organic and blacks are blacker. You can always convince yourself they are, but actually constructing something is worth the price of admission.
when looking to buy a power cord for say a amp, how do you know which one to get ?  

 does a company make a power cord to sound a certain way ?

Buy nothing you can't hear value in yourself.


The claim is that power cords can make all sorts of audible effects come out, almost none of which I have experienced. My current thinking on power cables and conditioners is here:

https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/power-management-for-frugal-audiophiles.html

I think, if you can hear audio cables, their effect is best when power is worst, so my advice is in general to get a good conditioner, and modest power cables.