My First DIY Power Cable

I'm pretty much an idiot when it comes to household electricity. I have replaced connector ends on power cables and I just use my multi meter and my little 3 light tester to make sure I got it wired right. I mean 3 wires; how hard can it be unless you start mixing strands of wires up. 

and don’t be color blind

:)

God I hate Furutech... :)  But that's another story. 

For your first you might want to try Parts Connexion, mostly because they are having a 20% off sale on AC products and also because they have the awesome DH Labs shielded 14 gauge wiring:

Sorry Erik, but I really wish you would stop banging on Furutech just because of their locking banana plugs.  I have used a large amount of other Furutech connectors of various types and they are all excellent.

My recommendation: Furutech FI-15(R) Plus rhodium connectors for both Male plug and IEC connector.

Then you can experiment with your choice of power cord.  If it were me, I would look for a used Audioquest NRG-2 or NRG-4 and then chop/strip the ends.  It's a little more work than a normal power cord.  A normal power cord may be easier to work with.

You didn’t say which component you are planning to power with your cable. IME, high current power amps and even preamps like large wires while digital front end components can get by with less copper but do better with good shielding.

Also IME, the Furutech stuff works quite well for simple DIY, and Eric made a good observation about the current 20% off ac products sale at Partsconnexion. I like the Furutech unplated copper plugs and IECs. As for the power cable, Furutech has a variety and I am not familiar with all of them. I have used the FP-3TS20 (14awg) and found it to be a good basic cable for front end components and preamps. For power cables I like having more copper so you might check out this 10awg Oyaide Oyaide Tunami V2 cable that is available from VH Audio. I made two of them and IME, they sound great but the wire is really stiff. I suspect this Neotech NEP-3200 OCC Copper Power Cable from VH Audio would also be great for amplifiers.

If you are more adventurous, you could consider making cables using NOS Western Electric wire like this 10awg twisted pair. I have not purchased from this seller but the pictured wire looks authentic. Put a tinned braided shield (or, Interference-Shielding Expandable Sleeving) over the pair and counter-spiral a 10awg ground wire, connect the shield at the plug end only, connect the other wires at both ends, cover with techflex and you have a nice PC for your amplifier at a very low cost. BTW, that is the same Western Electric wire used by TWL in their well-regarded American series power and speaker cables. I use doubled up runs (7awg) for the two PCs powering my amplifiers, but they are difficult to terminate when doubled. You might also look at this website for some interesting DIY cable configurations that seem to be popular.

Good luck.