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What Bryston says about power cord...

for their amps and preamps...

It's the email response I got after inquiring about power cord I lost while moving.

"In general, Bryston has seen no reason to use anything other than a high-quality AWG 14 cord with an IEC connector and three-prong plug. We can supply these (which are original equipment) for $15 each + a small shipping charge.

Some customers seem absolutely determined to spend insane amounts of money on "special" power cords; after spending that money, can their assessment of what they gained be trusted?

If you can't find AWG 14 standard cords in your area, contact us to order them."

Also, REL manual says 'Only use the power cord supplied'.

When you buy a power cord for a equipment, do you actually check with the equipment manufacturer first? or just do it.

Following was my email question,
-----------------------------------
Hi

I'm using 3B SST and 5B ST for stereo and HT.

While moving, I lost the power cords supplied by
Bryston, so I'm currently using some cheap unknown
power cords. I was thinking about getting some nice
aftermarket power cords, so I didn't bother to find it
hard.

I know from the manual that you recommend not using
power line conditioners, but what about power cords?

What do you reccomend?

The one I'm considering is PS Audio Prelude.
http://www.psaudio.com/products/xstream_power_prelude.asp

Will using good after market power cords imporve or
reduce the amp performance?

Is the power cord supplied by Bryston supposed to
perform the best for the amp? Should I try to get
power cords from Bryston if they are lost?

Thanks.
eandylee
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
PCs and power amps: I have found that power amps don't show much benefit from even the fanciest PCs UNLESS they have at least 10 AWG conductors.

In fact if you just make a PC from plain ole Carol 3 cond. 10AWG avail. from Home Depot and stick it on your power amp, you'll probably get 90% of the benefit of a more expensive cord. It's all about energy transfer with power amps. 12 AWG is the largest size stock PC I've seen supplied with a power amp, but they're usually 14 AWG.
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,203 posts
 
Danlib,I totally agree with you, your post is very
accurate.
glenfihi
525 posts
 
Instead of putting the focus on the power cord, money would be better spend on having a dedicated AC line with 20 amps available. At the very least your gear won't suffer the interference from various household devices.
onelastime
2 posts
 
I have tried different powder cords on different equipment with differing results. I have a Krell 200S power amp that sounded better with a Gutwire power cable and continued to sound even better as I moved up the line. I was NOT looking to spend the money and was hoping I would NOT hear a difference. I heard improvements in clarity, transients, space and punch.
I also tried Cardas and Gutwire and Transparent power cables on my Classe surround processor and heard no difference(not so much current being used?)so did not bother upgrading.
I tried the same power cables on my Sonic Fontiers line 3 and there was an improvement each time.
I tried the Transparent power cables on my electronics and felt the sound seemed more sluggish with the 'networks' on them but the same power chord helped my Velodyne subwoofer with a small hum from the inboard amplifier.
If you have a good dealer that you deal with, they should let you buy the cables to try with the option of returning them if they don't work for you. Good luck.
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
"Audiogon is the only place I know of where the majority seem to encourage spending money on fancy power cords..." Oh no. There are even-more PCs-make-HUGE-differences people on Audio Asylums.

On the sound of powercords, I believe that EVERY change to a music-reproduction system changes its sound. Those changes can vary in degree from 'audible to anyone with ears' to VERY subtle and audible to only the most-golden of GEAs.

But I have 2 objections to the way people talk about these differences. My first gripe is to the folk who believe that if THEY can't hear or especially measure it, a difference doesn't exist. They laugh VERY loudly at my second group, those who use terms like huge and even Hellen Keller could hear it. I believe that differences that are subtle enough that MANY of us can't hear them are by definition NOT huge or anything of the sort. (I also believe that many members of the 2nd group have never CAREFULLY compared the sounds of PCs. IOW, I believe that their comparisons are highly faulty, unreliable, and not repeatable. Notice that I didn't accuse ANY OF YOU nice folk of that, so pls don't yell at me.)

Frankly, I suspect one would get more aural benefit from using IEC connectors that grip more tightly, or perhaps from the use of a contact enhancer, than from expensive cords.

I've spent my money for aftermarket PCs, but mine cost $7 and $10, being Volex-brand shielded 14g. cords from Carlton-Bates Co. E-mail me at jeffreybehr(at)cox(dot)net for the part numbers; sometimes they're tough to find there.
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