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Power Cords

I am considering changing out my stock PCs. I don't want to spend a mint on them though. But I do think that upgrading to an adequate guage and having them in the correct lengths should be an upgrade for my system (MA 6500, Hydra 6, ML Vantages, Marantz BD 7003, Vidikron VL-52, and to come a Cambridge 840C).

I am considering Signal Cables, Zebra Cables, Pangea, PS Audio Jewels, and Element Cables. They are all around $50-$60 each and are within my price range. Also, I am considering just buying some Volex 17604s. They are less than $10 a piece and seem to be highly regarded.

Have any of you used these diffent PCs and can you comment on their sound? I've also thought of Shunyata Diamondbacks. But the cost is at least 2X as much.

Any comments or direction are appreciated.
pokey77
roblanger
117 posts
 
I can't offer much in the way of power cord recommendations, but I swapped the stock PC on my 840C with a VH Audio Flavor 1 and have had good results.
rhassle
6 posts
 
A big part of the benefit of replacing your stock power cords, aside from the larger gauge that you usually get, is the better shielding. cheap power cords spew out tons of 60 cycle garbage into your other cables. Just buy a cheap power sniffer and you will easily see this. Even nice fat stock power cords sometimes have terrible shielding. Sometimes thinner cables have better.

PS Audio has great shielding in their cables and their attention to the details that matter, connectors..., is obvious. Even the Jewels benefit from these improvements.

Cleaning up my cable routing and getting better (non-leaky_ power cords made a profound improvement in my system's sound.
hifisoundguy
630 posts
 
If you want better shielding just tightly wrap three coatings of teflon tape around the whole power cable you have now!
auxetophone
114 posts
 
Teflon for shielding? I guess you could use aluminum foil . . .
mintzar
65 posts
 
Shielding only works if the shield is connected to ground. You need to make sure the power cord is grounded, and then connect the shield at the female IEC end. Or even if the power cord is ungrounded make sure the shield is only connected at IEC end to avoid ground noise being induced into the lines from the wall.

Better option: don't ground your power cables. Build a grounding device and attach a wire from the chassis screws on your gear to a binding post on the grounding device. It would function as a star ground for your whole system and only a single grounding point. No more ground loops either. That's more work obviously. And all power cords should be grounded otherwise.
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