Which Power Cords: I Need Some Informed Guidance


Working on a system upgrade. I recently purchased:

Krell s300-i Integrated
Cambridge Azur 840c CDP/DAC
Streaming Apple Lossless wirelessly from a G4 Powerbook (other side of the room) into an Airport Express, then optical out of the airport, into a Musical Fidelity V-dac, then RCA into the Krell.
Ps Audio Quintet Power Conditioner
I'll swap out outlets as well...sometime soon.

Looking for Power cords. Something under $350 or so.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
neutron
neutron

Showing 2 responses by ptmconsulting

I've also changed over to the Kaplan Cables. Here's a review I did of a few different popular power cables and my impressions of each on both my amp and source components:

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=50799.0

Good luck,
Bob
A few things to note if you're going to DIY your own cables, and I've found from practical experience that these tend to be fundamental and similar whether constructing an interconnect or a power cord:

- the type of metal matters (silver vs copper vs ???)
- the guage matters
- the geometry matters (twisted, braided, side by side, etc)
- the insulating material matters
- stranded vs solid vs combined matters
- the connectors matter (and more expensive doesn't mean better here)
- the method of termination matters (solder vs crimp vs both)
- break-in is real, so first impressions may not be correct
- measurements don't nearly tell the whole story, and can quite often be deceiving
- the component you use it on matters (it may be different on one than another)

All this leads me to say that the possibilities are endless, and what may work best for you in one place may not work well at all for another. In the long run, after much time and money and lots of critical listening you will probably come out with something that is reasonably good. Better yet, you will come out with an appreciation of the art/science of the thing and some knowledge and experience you can share with others.

Not an easy road, but then again, you may luck out and develop something truly special. In any case you will surely understand why some cable manufacturers charge $500+ for their cables.

Enjoy,
Bob