I second (third?) Zavfino. Made in Canada, several price tiers available.
If you are in US, you can buy direct:
They also pop used at even better prices in sites like here and USAM
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!
- ...
- 46 posts total
OP,
Thanks for the equipment list.
I have to agree with @waytoomuchstuff. Best try some… even if you think they are out of your price range… then judge on their performance. It would be too easy to buy too cheap and confirm they don’t make a difference. If you try a range and hear no difference you can dismiss the expensive ones. The great thing about wires is that once you have invested in your components, you can make them sound much better with smaller incrementally investments… typically 10 - 20%. But of course your equipment has to be of a certain level and choosing the right cables that match your system is important. |
I appreciate the advice to try more expensive power cables in addition to cheaper ones, on a return and refund basis. So I will need to figure out which ones to try. Zafino seems to have a pretty heavy restocking fee, on a cheap cable its no biggie but if I am trying a $800-1000 cable as you guys suggest I don’t really want to pay $150 just for a trial if it isn’t an improvement. Even doing it this way, if the cheaper cable didn’t improve things, and neither did the expensive one, well then the comeback is hey there you didn’t pick right expensive cable!!! So that’s why I am trying to poll the good folks here which brands they have really have good luck with. Seems like ones that may be worth trying are older Shunyata Venom or Synergistic Master Coupler, if I can pick em up used then just resell if they don’t sound better. |
If you get a used Shunyata Venom, I would recommend not getting anything before the "NR" Venom version generation. You can buy the Zavfino top of the line "Dart" right now used for about $600 or so. And if it does not work, you can turn it around with little or no loss (and some shipping costs). No biggie. But I am confident it will work |
@troidelover1499 since you’re a skeptic, your options are to either go with a new power cable or buy used to be able to resell to recoup your spend. In both cases I recommend sticking with established brands (Audioquest, Nordost, Wireworld, DH Labs, etc.) Also, the recommendation above about reading the Counterfeit Chinese Cables thread should be limited to just reading that…I wouldn’t follow any of those recommendations for many reasons. |
- 46 posts total