Power cable education needed

Wiring is like a chain. The chain is as good as its weakest link. Since all your house is wired with a Romex cable of appropriate size (typically 15 - 20 amps), adding a much stronger link into the middle of it does NOT make it any better.


The wiring in most residential construction is solid wire which has less resistance than the stranded wire that is used for power cords.

In my Experience solid core (Acoustic Revive, Furutech, Oyaide, Nordost) are much stronger performers than Litz-based cables. Better impulse, transparency and bass, overall more 3-dimensional

Power cords are funny.  For me, they make a larger difference in the sound of my system than interconnects and speaker cables. Here is why the “last five feet” makes a difference beyond just the wire gauge matching your equipment needs.  The area behind many of our systems is cluttered with cables, some power, some signal. The more cables, the worse the challenge for each cable to do its job, namely keep the signal as intact as possible and delivered from point A to point B, or deliver adequate current to power your gear without affecting the signal in the adjacent cables, and limiting digital hash from entering your power strip/conditioner and eventually affecting your other gear.  
So your power cables have two jobs: 1. play nice with your power supplies, and 2. keep from “polluting” the environment where your other cables are carrying your signals generated in your precious and in many cases dearly priced electronics.  How a power cable performs is completely system dependent, including whether you have a dedicated line, what kind of outlet you are using, do you have a power conditioner, what gear are you using, what is the configuration of your cable looms in the back and what specific cables are you using for analog and digital signals. Engineers spends countless hours attending to the layout of signal and power pathways in their gear.  Whether you are aware of it or not, you are doing the same thing with the cables behind your gear, but likely with much less care.

I now assemble most of my own power cables from parts, but I am running one Shunyata and a “Black Shadow” cable which I like very much.  I am partial to Japanese manufactured wire and connectors but I have been experimenting with some Chinese made products recently and I am finding some of them to be remarkably good for the money, but certainly not all.

The best advice I’ve seen here is to tell the folks at The Cable Co. what gear you have and what your budget is and ask for their recommendations for some cables to borrow below, at, and well above your budget, and then just listen to hell out them and see what you like and what works for you. Because what works will be system dependent the cheapest cable may sound best, or not.  And if none sound better than your stock cables, then you send them all back and are only out the rental fee.

Well honestly,I’m amazed that there is still so many people commenting that after market power cords don’t make a difference. The only reasons I can fathom is they either haven’t ever tried a better power cord,have hearing that’s sub-par,or are just too pig headed to admit it. Yes,a 100$ power cord isn’t going to have many benefits,but if you spend 700$ to 1500$ on one,the sound quality is massively better.In my experience,this has been the case,100 percent of the time,without exception. Different models and different brands usually sound different. Now weather it’s worth it in your system is up to each individual to decide. I would definitely recommend someone tries a better cord before upgrading a component,very well may save you some money,as the effects can be very dramatic. If you can’t hear the difference,look how much money you just saved,good for you. If you can great,I’m sure you will be happy in the long run. John

No one using freebie rubber power cords and patch cords (interconnects) should be upgrading any component without first upgrading all that absolute crap wire. Putting everything on Nobsound (or better) springs. Getting all their wire up off the floor. And making sure all that wire is routed away from everything else. At an absolute minimum. Not everyone can do room treatment, but these almost everyone can do and for minimal expense. Because if you are running the free crap it is so awful anything you can find even if less than $100 will be an improvement. 

Unless of course you are running an AVR. The one thing nothing else is ever worse than is an AVR. Freebie rubber power cords come close. But when it comes to crap the AVR is in a league of its own.