Shielded or unshielded power cables for class-D monoblocks?


I am moving to a new house in Europe where I will be having a dedicated hifi room. Two separate power lines have been installed, still undecided on the wall socket, they will be either Furutech SWS Rhodium NCF or SWS Gold or one of each.

I was thinking of the power cables to my Class D amplifiers (Ncore NC1200 based), for other classes of amplification I normally prefer unshielded power cable but since my amplifiers use SwitchMode power supplies should I try shielded power cables? What do you think?
greg_f
The EMI radiating from your amp is going to affect the other nearby components so I would focus on the digital source IC's and power cord more so than the amp.  Balanced IC's with some sort of shielding is the first thing that comes to mind.
If your low level cables are shielded, most noise issues should be covered. I have the same power amp "problem". My current configuration is an unshielded star quad geometry for my power cable, that is self shielding by design. My TV, decoder and PC have shielded power cables. This works for me. 

Maybe you want to check the puritan power cables, because their shielding is about dissipating instead of draining noise to earth. 

http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/mains-cables/





The amps are driven directly from a Weiss DAC 202 connected with balanced ICs. The front end is currently powered from a power conditioner and I think I will be using shielded power cables there. I currently use DIY supra lorad cables with wattage connector at IEC end and Neutrik power connector. I would like to upgrade them.

The power cables will be almost certainly DIY again, the cable either something from the Furutech range or DIY helix style. For the power amps I was thinking of using the Nanotec 308 wire which seems to be not shielded.

tantejuut , I think you are using the Viborg connectors, how do they compare to the Furutech ones? Which ones do you recommend?


Shielded, and in a separate zone.

You want to keep the EMI/RFI from radiating out of the amps and into the other devices.

I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on this, DIY cables with nice plugs will do. Make sure you run the ground from end to end, but connect the shield at the wall only.
The Viborgs are a real steal. You get 80% of Furutech quality for way less money. I have dissected a Neotech 3003 cable, removed the shield, made star quad out of it and combined it with Viborg 511R on the Schuko side and Oyaide C-004 on the IEC side for my amp. But I like it fresh & detailed. The Viborg 511G gives more warmth as the unplated one, if that is your goal. 

The Furutech NCF FI-50 ncf is about as good as it gets at the moment. If cost is no object and you want the last bit of performance. Go for it. 

With the Nanotec 308 you have a very good foundation. I haven't used this cable but a lot of people are very content with it. Nice dac btw.