Home Depot Power Cord?

I've made half a dozen detachable power cords from the 14-gauge Home Depot extension cord (so-called "HD-14") first praised in The Absolute Sound several months ago. I don't know why anyone would choose a lower gauge. I like the HD-14s better than the other aftermarket PCs I was using (mostly Omega Mikro and Mapleshade) and have had some pairs cryoed for additional (marginal) improvement. I use Shurter IECs and several kinds of AC plugs. The main thing to remember is that these things are VERY directional. Take the time to make two pairs -- with the embossed legend heading both directions -- and try them both in each link. Your ears will tell you which one works best. And no, I'm not kidding. Good luck, Dave

I trust you know that the lower the gauge the larger the wire?

There's no such thing as #7 gauge wire but if there were, one strand would be about as thick as a Sharpee and you'll need three strands to make a power cord.

I guess you could use #6 S.O. cord? Have fun putting the end caps on :^) BTW, that's good for around 60 amps.

I purchased Carol SJOOW Power Cable from Home Depot for use as power cable. I tried various sizes: 16,14,12 awg and ended up using the 14 awg for my amps. It was fun trying the various sizes and hearing the differences. I think it was well worth the time and effort.

Dopogue, thanks to your mention of the HD 14 cable in a previous post, I ended up making trial 4 ft. speaker cables that have, honestly, surprised the crap out of me. After two-three days burn in, connected to the speakers lower posts and in conjunction with some good silver jumpers for the highs, the impression is shocking. I guess shocking because I not only, didn't blow up something in the system, but that they are really so damn good. Even from the first minutes, the soundstage was huge and, already by the second day, instrumental timbres were quite accurate. (I ended up using them with the embossed legend “reading” from amp to speaker.) I was a virgin with wire and now “I” am broken in! Thank you. (Cigarette?)

Can you tell me please:
Have you tried the HD 12 or 10 gauge for speaker cable or PCs?
Any advantage (or disadvantage) to using a lower gauge?
On the above cables, I ended up using bare wire at both ends wrapped snuggly and securely, and with a small amount of electrical tape to keep things neat at both ends. (In other words, absolutely no fear that these will be showing up in an Audiogon classified any time soon.) Would introducing spades or bananas change the sound dramatically?

Best regards.

Vvrinc, I'm glad you like them. I've had mine in the system for months now and like them better all the time. No, I haven't experimented with other than the 14 gauge HD cables (I've already got a closet full of cables and really don't need any more!). If I did, I'd try the 16 gauge first, since I've always been most impressed with the thinner rather thicker gauge wire in my system. And frankly, I put spades on mine because they're easier to connect, not because they necessarily sound better. Dave

The smaller the awg number the bigger the wire. The bigger the wire the less resistance it has. Less resistance is considered desirable when building speaker wire. While Home depot is OK you can buy Belden twisted pair in 10 12 or 14 awg. Its cheaper (.51 ft or less)and works just as well. However the jacket is grey not orange :)

I understand that bigger wire is "considered desirable" by some. I have simply found in my own system that this is not the case. I haven't tried the Belden but did try other "generic" wire and found the HD-14 to sound better to me. At less than 20 dollars for 50 feet, the HD-14 is as much of a bargain as I need. But as they say, YMMV.

I recently wanted to install a couple of rear speakers in a home theatre system and did not want to run speaker wire around, up, and over the room. So, and in an effort to economize, I bought the Home Depot cord and ran it down through the floor behind the amp, through my crawl space, and then up through the floor near the speakers. Works great.

I recently built one of the Lenco turntable projects with my son and we used the Carol cord, as mentioned by Vegasears, and terminated with a Levition industrial-grade plug. Very nice, indeed.