One Cord To Rule Them All
koestner OP What about Anticables? I’m not trying to come up a rebuttal, but they’re in my price range, and also solid core I think.They are stranded, according to Anticables’ website. |
@OP - By all means, experiment to your heart's content. I'm all for trying things out. As you may have noticed, I am skeptical of power cord improvements, especially to a component that is itself designed to improve the power quality. Unfortunately, there seems to be no dearth of silly advice. One poster suggested a 7 or 9 gauge cable from the wall. That cable can't carry more current that whatever is in the wall, so using any larger gauge than your household Romex is like connecting a firehose to a garden hose. The firehose can't put out more than the garden hose can deliver to it. Someone else suggested hospital grade cable. The hospital grade refers to physical characteristics unrelated to the current such as resistance to flexing, strain relief, connector strength, impact resistance and so on. Nothing at all to do with current. In fact, most hospital grade cable is 16 or 18 gauge. See here: https://www.cablestogo.com/learning/library/standards-specs-certs/hospital-grade-power-cords Good luck in your quest and let us know the results. |
Oh boy! Some people have no idea how power cords work for an audio component. Like this comment above: ——-One poster suggested a 7 or 9 gauge cable from the wall. That cable can't carry more current that whatever is in the wall, so using any larger gauge than your household Romex is like connecting a firehose to a garden hose. The firehose can't put out more than the garden hose can deliver to it——— I am copying here an article from Caelin Gabriel, who actually makes power cords for a living. And has all the education credentials and experience to know “a bit” more than some armchair quarterback: ——- Misconception #1: AC Power is like water coming from a large power tank, flowing through several 10s of feet of power hose into a component. This implies that the component is at the end of this system. "Some power cords use capacitors, inductors, or ferrites in an attempt to control the electromagnetic fields around the audio component. The success of such an approach is completely dependent upon the specific design and the reactance of the power supply of the component to which the power cable is attached.” "A primary source of audible sonic degradation is caused by the power supplies in our audio/video components. Most components use FWBR (full wave bridge rectifier) power supplies that generate an incredible amount of transient noise when the rectifiers switch off. The design of a power cable can significantly affect the reactance of these signals within the power supply. The power cable is effectively part of the primary winding of the power transformer. The transition between the various metals used in a power cable and its connectors can cause electromagnetic reflections and diode-like rectification of the noise impulses as they propagate away from the power supply. If the power cable presents a high impedance to these signals they will be reflected back into the power supply where they will intermodulate, thus increasing the high frequency noise levels of the component. Most power supply filters are ineffective at blocking very high frequency noise components and much of it is passed through to the DC rails. The sonic effects of this include: high background noise levels, blurred or slurred transients and a general lack of clarity and purity of the sound or visual image.” "As long as power supply design is based upon FWBRs or switching supplies, the power cord will always be significant.” Answer: “There are some power cords that ARE designed this way. Some even insert capacitors within the cable to further increase capacitance. This approach has some positives and many negatives including the reactive interference with the way many power supplies are designed. "Capacitance alone cannot account for the differences in a power cord's performance. There are some high-end power cords that are very effective that have virtually immeasurable levels of capacitance. These cables are usually designed around hollow tubes with the conductors inside. The conductors are several inches apart and cannot significantly affect the capacitance of the power circuit.” "A speaker cable conducts an audio signal from the power amplifier to the speaker. The distance is quite small, on the order of a couple of feet to several feet. The quality of a speaker cable is determined by how well it can transmit the signal from the amplifier to the speaker without alteration. "A power cable on the other hand is not transmitting a signal. It is conducting A.C. power and its sonic superiority will be determined by its ability to deliver current (steady-state and instantaneous) and its ability to deal with the EMI effects of the components to which it is attached. "Since a power cord is composed of a hot and neutral wire that the component sits between, a change in the length of the cord will increase the size of the "buffer" around the component. In general, I would not recommend a power cord that is shorter than 3 feet or 1 meter in length. But subtle degrees of audio performance are not the only consideration when putting together an audio system. Esthetics is also important especially when the system is located in a beautiful home. I just point out the performance differences so that people can make an informed decision when determining the optimum length for their cables. "There is much more that can be discussed about power delivery but for the sake of brevity I'll cut it short at this point. On a personal note I would like to say that I was an audiophile long before I was a manufacturer of audio products. Before Shunyata Research I designed high speed networking devices and can tell you that there is a lot more money to be made in the computer industry. Like many of the manufacturers of high-end audio components, I design my products for myself and for the love of music. If other people like what I have created - great. If after trying our product you prefer another - great. There is a wide diversity of preference and subjective perception among individuals. Thank goodness there is also a wide diversity of manufacturers that create products to serve a variety of tastes.” Caelin Gabriel |
And for those that only look at the measurements and demand measured proof: http://www.theaudiobeat.com/visits/shunyata_visit_interview.htm And here is the updated piece on misconceptions: https://shunyata.com/2016/06/27/power-cord-misconceptions/ MISCONCEPTION #3: There is up to a hundred feet of wire in the walls, so the last 6 feet of power cord can’t possibly make any difference. Answer: The PC is NOT the last 6 feet as stated in #1 and the local current and EM effects directly affect the sonic performance of the component. The power cord is not the last 6 feet, it is the first 6 feet from the perspective of the component. The further a noise source is from a component, the less of an impact it will have on the components power supply. The high-frequency noise sources that have the greatest impact on audio and video performance are the system components themselves — which are usually all in close proximity of one another and all emit radiated fields of high-frequency noise. A well designed power cord can act as a noise-isolated extension of the primary winding of a component’s power supply and will help isolate the power supply from the fields of radiated RF and EM noise energy that is ever present in all electronics systems. |
