When Pangea first came out, I bought a few of their cords as they were supposedly half price from AA. After putting them in my system, the loss of dynamics was very obvious. I sent them back and went with all Shunyata power cords which have stayed in my system ever since.
Cost effective power cables recommendations, low and high power
I recently watched a number of informative videos about AC cables for our systems. One by the Dutchman Hans Beekhuysen (sp?) was really very good and explained why they matter, even with so many miles of cheapo cable bringing power into our homes, it seems to be all about reducing and rejecting stray interference from a lot of juice passing through the cables to our componenets, and the effect this might have on nearby interconnects and so on.
So I thought I would ask for recommendations from users here on what power cables you use for amplifiers (higher power consumption) and other components like digital stuff or preamps and so on, what are you happy with and that seems to make a difference big or small.
I am not about to spend thousands (or even many hundreds) for power cables, so hopefully something in what we mere mortals who work hard to earn our money can typically afford. Well shielded, properly twisted and insulated cable that does the job well, without typical marketing bull or obscene prices and markups please!
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You asked about my system. Presently I have Epos M22 (their top of the line floor stander from their heyday, had these forever and in my room they just work for me) and a Rel Storm 3 sub. http://www.hifi-review.com/152915-epos-m22i.html Amplifier is Naim Super Nait 2 with their flat cap and superline phono stage. I moved away from tubes several years back, had Music Reference amp for many years. Turntable is a Rega Planar 6 with Ania. Streamer is Innuos Zen Mini feeding a Schiit Gungir multibit. This digital set up was a recent acquisition, much improved over my Node 2i I had before that. |
Cullen Cables have worked for me and I never have paid more than $130 for any of the several that I am using in three systems. Also, +1 on the somewhat misleadingly named Counterfeit Chinese Cables thread. There are some Chinese non-counterfeit cables discussed there. I haven’t yet tried any of the power cables mentioned in that thread, but, after reading the thread, I did buy a Chinese Viborg XLR set for $80 that is impressing the hell out of me. Today, someone has posted in that thread that he bought a Chinese power cord at Amazon for about $40 and that he likes it better than the $500 cord it replaces. It’s a gamble, to be sure, but there are so many gambles in audio today, aren’t there? I have no particular use for a power cord right now, but, for $40, it’s a chance that I easily can justify taking. |
AudioQuest NRG-4 from Power amp to AC outlet. Most noticeable improvement compared to other components. The following have been used on different sources CDP, Streamers, Preamps. Can’t confirm noticeable improvements but just didn’t want to leave anything on the table for a minimal investment per component. I am a firm believer in the sum of all parts. AudioQuest NRG-Y2 2-Pole C7 Shunyata Venom 3 Shunyata Venom V14 Audience Forte F3 Cardas Iridium All are well made power cables with reasonable flexibility and under $200 available on Music Direct, The Cable Company, etc. |
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