Prioritizing Power Cable Upgrades by System Component.


I'm digging into the world of power cables and it is kind of amazing. The promise that a good cable can bring along with its price is both exciting and staggering.

There are several components that need some kind of power cable and upgrading them, for me, needs to be done in steps.

For those that have upgraded power cables, how would you prioritize between the pre-amp (tube), power amp (ss) and powered sub...and possibly even the DAC? 

imaninatural

If you have not done any upgrades yet, start with W Audio power cables that you can get for about $50 each on Amazon and then pick up a true audiophile cable brand and try it in different places in your system.  A W Audio power cable made a significant improvement on my integrated.  I can't say that it did anything for either my DAC or power conditioner, but I have not spent a lot of time trying to isolate it one way or the other.  I've a lower level audiophile that isn't after improvements that I have to repeatedly A/B to identify a different or preference.  The W Audio power cord was a clear improvement for my Pathos Classic One MKIII that I recognized immediately.  It was significant enough that it started me down the path of exploring cables a bit when I had mostly been a cable agnostic before.

I have upgraded power cables a couple times. About 25 years ago and over the last couple years. Having just made the final decision on the most important component in my system, the amp… I am done for a while. See my User ID for my systems.

 

So, make sure you got your speaker cables and interconnects dialed in. I think I would then go for the amp… that was by far the biggest difference in no small way for me. You want a high current design. 


it depends on your equipment but think on the order of 10% the value of your component. My amp, for instance cost $22K, and I tested power cords from $800 to $3500… I found that a $1,800 was jaw dropping lay good. You cannot choose exclusively by price. But if you have a $5K component look at the $500 range… and even better look in that range used from UsedCables. 
 

Power cables typically are the last, but really important change that can make a big difference.

on another thread one member here made a good point

the influence of the power cable is inversely proportional to the quality and sophistication of the built in power filtering and power supply of any component... i think there is wisdom in this... and i would say, over time, units like pass labs --  which has exceptional power supply and filtering design -- reacts minimally to aftermarket power cables