Power Cable ~ $300 - Which to get? Nordost, Audioquest, Furutech, Shunyata, Zavfino?

Okay, with multiple individuals, on a HiFi equipment forum of all places where people discuss gear that costs more than cars, basically going “whoa dude, slow down, that’s too much money”, that is giving me a reason to be concerned :)

As such I tried pairing the Transparent Reference power cord with the Valhalla 2 speaker wire.  The  Transparent cord is WAY less expensive than the Valhalla 2.  And guess what, it worked!

While I definitely heard a bit less space and breath around vocals, the bass and focus that was missing with the Valhalla 2 cord came back!  And I still had the accessible warm sound from the Valhalla 2.  I actually think I like the sound slightly better this way.

I did not notice a difference switching between the “cheap” Nordost Reference and expensive Valhalla 2 jumpers, after switching back and forth a few dozen times and imagining I was hearing differences.  Maybe I did hear some differences but I couldn’t quite  pinpoint them.  It is possible the much cheaper Reference jumpers were thinner in the mids, which made them seem like there was actually better separation of tones.  Again not sure if I was imagining this.... So another place I can save.

Finally, I did one last test of my Audioquest Hurricane cord vs the Transparent Reference cord to further pinpoint what I don’t like about the Hurricane.  In short I found the Hurricane to be a bit bloated by comparison.  Bass not as tight, upper frequencies were missing, and there was a slight accentuation in the mids that can be annoying.

Sorry just realized I posted this in the wrong thread! 

There is no such thing as a good DIY power cord. Kit or otherwise. Cryo or otherwise. There just isn’t. Period

If you really believe the above statement then PLEASE - ignore the rest of this post because you’ll think it is nonsense and I for one do not have the inclination to deal with those kinds of comment.

HOWEVER: if you are remotely curious about high performance DIY cables then please take a look at this link...
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-002ahelix-power-cable.html

I am unable to offer definitive scientific evidence that this power cable will blow you away, simply because I do not have the resources of the "BIG BOYS".

I have received very positive feedback from many others that have converted every cable in their systems to the Helix cable geometry. 

People that have tried come from far and wide - Canada US, Austria, Bulgaria, China, UK in a variety of systems ranging from sub $1000 to over $70,000, Tube of Solid State.

I could share their emails, but I respect their privacy, so you will just have to take a leap of faith in that I am not just selling more "Snake Oil".

Actually, I am not selling anything, just sharing the construction process.

There are a few references from people that have tried the Helix cables on my web site

My latest power cable changes incorporate a 12 gauge Duelund wire with polymer insulation, designed specifically for power cables. This proved to reveal a significant improvement, so I can highly recommend that Duelund wire for any power cable project.

I have spent the past 5-6 years trying different cable geometries that DIYers can construct themselves. I have had feedback on which wires provided the best results and have incorporated some of the more affordable options into my web site, so treat is as an ongoing evolving resource.

So - if YOU have an enquiring mind, take a look at the link above and maybe give them a try.

If you have any questions - just ask and I will try to provide an answer.

Regards - Steve

I have an inquiring mind. Which is why I tried making a few myself. Then I met a guy, lifelong audiophile, whole basement with a great big work bench devoted to tweaking and building interconnects, power cords, speaker cable. Thirty years building, studying, reverse-engineering, you name it he's done it. 

One day he calls me up all excited, he has his Grail, wants to bring it over and show me how good it is. Well I guess it did sound pretty good in his system with all his DIY cables. At my place though he looked like his dog died. Even he had to admit his Grail wire sounded awful. 

But wait. It gets worse. 

I pulled some $75 interconnect at random from out of my old cable clutter drawer. It was head and shoulders better than anything he ever built.

Not that he really ever stood a chance. Some guy trying to save some money. Gonna make something better than, or even as good as, or heck even halfway close to being as good as the guy who has devoted pretty much his whole life AND come up with something people will pay their hard earned money for?

Never did make any sense. Go ahead and believe if you want. If you do though I highly recommend you not ever compare what you made to anything other than the patch cords the manufacturers throw in for free. 

@milercarbon1 - a couple of years ago I got to compare these cables to top of the line products from highly regarded companies such as Cardas, Kimber Cable, Neotech, Audioquest and a few other commercial brands.

All of the Helix cables, power, interconnect and speaker cables outperformed all of them.

I have auditioned the Helix cables on various systems up to $50k on various products from companies such as Ayre, Gryphon, NAIM, Bryston, Magnapan, Tannoy, Gershman Acoustics, B & W, and a couple of tube amps. Each time the Helix proved to be better than the commercial cable products installed on the systems.

The only products I have NOT had the opportunity to try them on is any of the electrostatic speakers.

In one case, a fellow DIYer who tried them, replaced all their Nordost cables, a brand which I regard very highly.

The one thing that I cannot say for certain is - whether a person will like their sound - which is very neutral and extremely dynamic, maybe to their detriment because some people like the colouration and smoothness that some cables provide.

Some DIYer’s have used THEIR favourite wire to build them because they preferred that sound over the wire I have posted on my site. Other than that, everyone seems to be very satisfied that they tried the Helix Geometry.

I do agree somewhat with your comments - compared to the Helix Cables, my early DIY cable efforts were pretty "mundane".

So why did I continue building cables? Because of the great DIY information on this forum, which allowed me to "fine tune" my cables.

After many years of research and development, the Helix cables are in a completely different league compared to those early efforts, i.e.  from a performance perspective.

The Helix geometry is not the only style that provide benefits...
- Ribbon Geometry cables also offer extremely good performance, but that geometry does not suit power cables.

So I think we will just have to agree to disagree and leave it at that :-)

Enjoy the Music - Regards - Steve