Power Cables - Stock vs. Budget


Considering upgrading my stock power cords, but my budget is limited to the $150 - $175 range (4' minimum) per cord. At that price level, will I notice any real discernable difference?  Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

gnoworyta

I've listened to a range of power cords on a Denafrips Pontus II DAC. Of these, the $95 Supra LoRad power cord was the best sounding of all of the cords that I list below. Surprisingly, power cords seem to make a bigger difference to my ear on my DAC than they do on my phono preamp.

 

The $15 Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty power cord actually sounds surprisingly decent (about 75% of the sound quality of the Shunyata Venom V14 power cord). Of these power cords, the WAudio and the Audience F3 Forte did not sound good at all on my DAC.

Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty: $15

Audiophile AC Power Cable - WAudio 10AWG HiFi Power Cord 3.3FT : $35.99

Pangea AC-14: $44.95

Pangea AC-14 SE MkII: $79.95

Supra LoRad: $91

Shunyata Venom V14: $135

Audience F3 Forte: $150

Synergistic Research UEF Blue: $499

Shunyata Research Venom V10 NR: $600

Get one cable, the best you can afford and put it on your amp. You will be pleasantly surprised.

 

Is your home wired with $2/foot romex?  Don’t mean to be a killjoy, but why is the piece of wire carrying the current the last 6 feet expected to somehow improve upon what it was fed from the street? Perhaps you have a really nice high end power conditioner?  I suppose that could make sense.