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about to jump into the power cord foray

I am about to jump into the power cord foray. Since I’ve upgraded my IC’s and speaker cables most recently, I think the next step should be to look towards replacing the stock power cords. My system is as follows:

Dynaudio 52SE bookshelves
McIntosh MC2105 power
Audio Research LS-7 pre
Adcom GCD-600 cd changer
Lite Audio DAC 60 dac
Rotel RT-1080 tuner
Audioquest Diamondback & Kimber Hero IC’s
Kimber 8TC cables

I intend on putting IEC sockets on the A/R, McIntosh, and Adcom in the next week. If I could find a high quality changer, I’d probably dump the Adcom but I haven’t seen anything that’s really in my price range. Since I don’t have a new power or pre amp in the budget for the next 2 years, I plan on adding IEC sockets to the aforementioned devices. Will I notice any sort of improvement in sound quality, by going with Signal or Element cables with my current equipment? If not, should I look at a cable in the $100-150 range like the Virtual Dynamics Power 3 or VH Audio Flavor? I’m also open to any used cables on the site in the sub $150 dollar range
iggyminn
foster_9
1,638 posts
 
The VH Audio power cords are very good performance to dollar cables. Why would you put another CD changer in your setup? That will likely continue to be a weak link in your system. Hint: look at some low to mid fi single disc cd players for improved performance over a changer. Think: Rotel 1072, Jolida JD 100, Music Hall CD 25, Rega Apollo, and others.
kotta's avatar
kotta
649 posts
 
You should notice an improvement in sound quality. Honestly you could make your own PC's using Belden 14/3 or 12/3 shielded or an unshielded SJOOW 14/3 16/3 from Home Depot. An AC plug will run apr. $4-10 and an IEC plug $20 (Solderless) and one that requires soldering much less. Of course you could spend ALOT more. What I have done on some of my tuners is use an 18/3 shielded cord which I bought used for about $4 from my local computer store to great effect. Tuners only draw 10-20w. (On my Yamaha T-7 I harded-wired 16/2 unshieled SJOOW and it sounds fantastic.) Good Luck w/your quest. Bill
musicnoise
377 posts
 
Good advice from Kotta. The only reason you would need a new power cord is if the old one is frayed, the female end has become loose, or it is drastically undersized. Paying more than a total of $20 or so $ for a power cord is a complete waste of money. It is one thing for someone to throw money away that has no budget concers but when someone states that they have to wait to purchase equipment due to funds, it is a shame if they waste money. A 20 dollar power cord, whether bought or put together from home depot as Kotta suggested will do everything that a $500 dollar power cord will do or a power cord made for the space shuttle for that matter. I have heard too many ridiculous claims about power cords and cable. My undergrad was BSEE and I spent years in the field of electronics. If you approached any group of degreed engineer (that did not have a pecuniary stake in selling the cables and cords) with the stuff that gets posted about improvement in audio due to power cords and cables, you would have to wait for them to stop laughing to get a response. I recently read a post where a person suggested that a three wire power cord with the female end plugged into a two wire socket through an adapter was a good idea because the ground wire provided a partial shield. This is hogwash. To the OP -take Kotta's advice - if you need new power cords buy a bunch of 12/3 and some plugs and make your own. Put the money saved into something that makes a difference other than feeding the seller a large profit margin.
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