High current power cables

@bigtwin I know you wouldn’t suggest that, I’m just saying that the logic of calculating power cable size based on Average amp load would say it will work. And 12awg likely will be just fine. Some power supplies have large capacitor banks etc and may be different in their needs. But realize your meter will always show the average current. I do see a sub in the background. Sometime subs are a result of poor speaker performance at low frequencies, sometimes poor power cords cause poor bass performance. Finally, sometimes it is a personal preference. I’m guessing yours is personal preference. I’ll try to attach a photo of my system, which uses no subs for 2 channel sound and with 6 wpc, some tubes give me too much bass.

@carlsbad For the record, I run a dedicated 10 ga wire off a 20 amp breaker to a Furutech wall outlet, into a Furman power conditioner.  Off this I run Puritan Ultimate power cables to my equipment.  Solid silver interconnects etc....

I never claimed that I don't drink the Kool-Aid.......🤣

As for the sub, I had never owned one and bought it based on the many comments I've seen on sites like this.  It brings something to the party my speakers just aren't able to produce.  Sometimes too much in fact.  Cheers.

@blue_collar_audio_guy - There are a few things that govern the abilities of power cables

1. wire gauge
   • thicker the wire the more current it can carry
2. structure of the wire - i.e. solid vs. stranded
   • solid wires can handle a lot more current than stranded wires
3. wire type - OFC, UP-OCC Copper, and UP-OCC silver
   • the wire type governs the dynamic performance of the cable
   • OFC is OK, but limited
   • UP-OCC copper offers the best bang for the buck
   • silver UP-OCC is too expensive for many people, but the most dynamic
4. insulation type
   • the better the insulation the lower the noise floor
   • Dielectric Constant (Dk) is the measure used to gauge insulation performance
     • Teflon is 2.2
     • Foamed Teflon is 1.45
     • Cotton is 1.3
     • bare wire inside oversized Teflon Tube is close to Air
     • Air is 1.1
     • Vacuum is 1.0
5. Geometry
   • more space between the conductors (Live, Neutral and ground) the lower the noise floor

So as you can see - to compare power cables based on their thickness is a bit like saying a red cable will perform better than a blue cable.

Unless a person undersrtands the internal structures/materials/geometry of a power cable it is next to impossible to come to a conclusion as to how well a cable might perform.

It is quite possible to construct a 14 gaue cable that will perform much better than many 10 gauge cables. So simply adopting to use a 10 gauge cable might not be allowing an amp to perform to the best of its abilties

There are few companies that make this information available on their web...

• Zavfino - perhaps the best choice for most cables
• In-Akustik - more for higher end components
• Hijiri - for the highest resolving components

So while many companies do make cables using excellent grade copper - they will not fare as well when compared to the brands mentioned above simply because their insulation and cable geometry is not as advanced.

Hope that helps - Steve

@williewonka , that is pretty much all fake science, even this statement:

structure of the wire - i.e. solid vs. stranded

• solid wires can handle a lot more current than stranded wires

Having bought enough wire for experiments, test fixtures, etc. I know to be wrong. Differences between solid and stranded will be perhaps 5%.

Regular copper is used for GHz signals. It does not get any more dynamic than that. Please explain how it could be possible that a conductor formulation, suitable for GHz signal conduction, will struggle with the limited bandwidth coming out of my wall socket. Given all the questionable EMI/RFI issues raised, it should be a significant benefit to be "less dynamic".

A dielectric discussion for a power cable is at best a fantasy distraction. I am not an EE (okay Physics), but it took me about 5 minutes to discover that the source resistance of my AC plug is typically << 1 ohm. If my power cable is 10nF, that is > 10MHz. My AC cord could be used to transmit AM radio with ease. I don't think  you could do the math that this matters in any practical fashion for my speaker cable, or even an interconnect. For power cords?

The live and neutral connect together in the transformer or other components in my gear. How does spacing out live and neutral reduce noise? That does not make sense.

This is the problem in the audiophile world. Too many people read things without the background to know there is no way it can be true, and then they tell 10 other audiophiles, and so on, and so on.

@deludedaudiophile.

All I can say is that after making hundredas of cables over a 14 year period - each time investigating each of the attributes listed in my previous post and verifying improvements through painstaking observation. - I stand by my words.

Not only that, there are dozens of other members that have tried my recipes and found them to deliver EXACTLY what I had specified they would

There are also dozens, if not hundreds of people worldwide that have benefitted from my cable recipies, from Europe, Eastern Europe, Austria, France, Hong Kong, China, Australia, USA, Canada and a few Nordic countries. And that’s just the people I know about.

Here’s a link to an active thread where dozens of members have tried my cables

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/duelund-conversion-to-diy-helix-geometry-cabling?highlight=duelund%2BHelix

Regards - Steve