First of all, you are again, over thinking. We are talking under $50. How many electronic components have plastic tops ? Any piece you own ? That is the best from Preffair. The shell is aluminum alloy. It does great. I would say, if you feel better about the plastic shells, go that way, but this cable is still a great way to experience high end power cables for cheap. And, metals sound different, as everything does. My best, MrD.
A stupid question(s) about power cords
As the title indicates, I admit that this is probably a stupid question. But since I don’t know (for sure) the answer, I am asking it anyway.
The recent power cord thread got me interested in a power cord upgrade (from the stock cord) on my Maranzt SA10 (SACDP). The power cord receptacle on that particular component does not have a male equipment ground pin--only the neutral and hot pins. Therefore the cord supplied by Maranzt is a two pole (if that is the right terminology) cord. But because I have done it this way before, I do know that it will accept a power cord with an equipment ground as well as a neutral and hot.
Question 1: I went to musicdirect and looked at some power cords and I saw one (an open box Audioquest NRG Z2) that they were calling a two pole cord. The end that plugs in to the component only has a neutral and a hot, but the other end, the end that plugs into the outlet in the wall, does have an equipment ground blade (so that end has three blades). Why would that be?
Question 2: (and this is the stupid one) if a power cord has an equipment ground pin plugged into the wall, even if it is not plugged into an eqipment ground in the component itself, that cord is still connected to the neutral bus bar in the panel, right? So that being the case, since the equipment ground wire in the cord is right next to the hot wire, is there a way unwanted stuff (rf or whatever, my understanding of this is quite limited) can that dirty up the power that is traveling on the hot wire in the power cord?
I think that the answer to the last question is probably going to be ’no’? And if the answer is ’no’, that means that I really don’t need to shop for only two pole cords, right? And I see this as sort of important because if I buy a two pole cord, the ONLY component I can use it on/try it out on will be my SACDP--there will be no playing around with a two pole cord on my preamp or my amp.
And ALSO, if I don’t feel constrained to shopping ONLY for two pole cords, I would probably have more options to consider.
TIA for legitimate insight to this, and to all others, feel free to ridicule me and my question--I don’t mind.
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@mrdecibel rhodium has 50% conductivity of copper and 70% conductivity of gold. So you are adding more resistance using rhodium as well as expense. Some rhodium compounds are highly toxic also. |
Rhodium is the most expensive metal in the world currently. It is used in catalysis in the (converters in your car, albeit small amount) and in the petrochemical industry. Rhodium is currently 4750.00 USD per Oz. Copper is the best metal for conduction of electricity. Realize that most commercial electrical lines, and high-power lines to your home are made of aluminum as it is cheaper. |
I like to use shielded power cords, even when the device it is connected to is not grounded. The shielding should reduce the chances of local EMI/RFI sources like Ethernet / Wifi radios from polluting the noise after it’s been cleaned up by my power conditioner. IMHO, rhodium in the signal chain is garbage for two reasons: Poor conductor AND too hard, which causes poor grip strength. Better to have something soft and malleable the AC socket or speaker terminal can grab a hold of. |
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