Acrolink in-wall cabling?

In my experience, all you need is 10-gauge solid-core Romex. That's what I and many of my audiophile friends use, and it works perfectly. Some people whose opinions I trust implicitly have tried experimenting with "boutique" in-wall cables like Virtual Dynamics and JPS, and they say that solid-core 10 gauge is still the way to go. And for many of these people, money is NO consideration. The fact that they still go with the Romex speaks volumes to me.

I might recommend using just a good 10 ga. Romex as Hooper suggests.
The greatest improvements will come from investing your money in the Oyaide outlets perhaps even with the Acrolink wall plates and power cords with Acrolink connectors. Absolutely the best sounding I have ever heard.

Regards,
Michael Wolff

And Hooper, with all due respect....none of your friends have had the opportunity to try the Acrolink, considering it's a brand-new product in the North American market. Perhaps they would change their tune if they found it outperformed the VD or JPS. They already made their choice....others want higher performance.

Of course the Romex works as it is designed to do, but it's a lower level of quality, without question. More than a dozen years ago, when a bunch of us in the local audiophile club were making our own power cords, I found that Diamond Handiwire (purchased at the same Home Depot) sounded better than the Romex brand, and it was less expensive to boot. I still recommend Handiwire to customers, as I think it's a better copper formulation. I'll always go with what sounds best. But Handiwire ain't 6/9's OFC copper, and neither is Romex. The Acrolink dielectric is also tightly-extruded, addressing resonance control of the conductors, something the loose-fitting covering of Handiwire and Romex simply does not do.

Without a doubt the Acrolink is expensive, especially in relationship to the cost of Romex. But in relationship to Elrod power cables, or PranaWire, or Siltech Emperor, or the best Tara Labs and Virtual Dynamics, it is relatively affordable for its cost per given length. Then again, there are some who feel that $25 spent on a gold-plated fuse are out of their minds....that's relative as well. But these fuses work well, without a doubt.

Romex copper is full impurities like iron and nickel. It is hard low grade copper. A good soiid OFC is better, IMO.

Sure Proclaim, $30 a foot in-wall wire will have a huge effect on the miles of garbage the utility company strings up to send the electrical current to your house. I trust they use 6/9's OFC copper right? Where does this come from???

Don't buy into it - spend the money where it counts - on your room and equipment

Really, this site is getting to be a cesspool of dealers who really, really need to indicate they're dealers in a very obvious manner before they launch into a glowing tribute about something they sell. Inappropriate, unethical, misleading - and those are the nice words I can think of for this continuing BS.

Sno,
Please do share your experience with the Oyaide or Acrolink line.
Obviously you must have some input as to what value these products can represent in a system. Please, share your experiences with us. I am sure that you spent the same hours and investment that any manufacturer or dealer would spend to asses any component for inclusion into their product or line.
Waiting anxiously for your reply.

Best Regards,
Michael Wolff
Manufacturer
Michael Wolff Cables.
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I agree that it is a waste to use incredibly expensive in-wall cable to connect to the public mains. On the other hand, I think there could be a benefit if one also installs a power regeneration device ahead of the in-wall cabling at the breaker panel.

I think one would get more cost effective benefit from using Romex for the dedicated line and putting the savings toward a power regeneration device - then use very good PCs. In the long run this is more flexible in that the regeneration device can be relocated with the playback equipment or it can be resold if desired. 6 nines OFC 10/2 is going to stay in the wall.

Mcmiller....using an expensive in-wall cable is no different than using "very good PC's". After all, they both are placed after the electrical panel. Unfortunately, debating this is a straw argument, just like comparing the high price of gas....especially when bottled water is *incredibly* more expense on a per gallon basis. A $500 power cord (presuming it's 5-feet in length) costs $100 per foot. That's 3 times the cost of the Acrolink in-wall cable!! Anyone can do the math for a $2000 Shunyata or Virtual Dynamics power cable as well.

Of course, Romex is more cost-effective, as is the Diamond Handiwire. It's patently obvious. But there are others who wish to have the highest performance possible. This is a choice, of course....it's not mandatory.

Gentlemen,
Thank you to all who have written in starting w/ Tvad. Even though I agree w/ Tvad that the $$'s could be spent wisely with helping out the Katrina Victims this is not the forum for that.
Lets not unrightly judge each other especially when it comes to preferene, thats a non winning debate. The reasoning for this question is strictly for the better option for a dedicated run. At one point there will be an inferior power source wether it be at the panel or receptacle. For the approx. 200 $'s for Oyaide receptacles and possibly even the carbon damponing plates (upon further study)using 10/2 Romex may be the way to go.
Is there a higher grade Romex without getting carried away. If money was not a problem then why not go dedicated back to the power plant? Realisticly speaking there needs to be a starting point. I feel that the extra $$'s could be invested elsewhere, which already have been.
Thank you all for your input and even more would be appreciated...Joe

Note that I suggested that it would be appropriate to use the expensive in wall wiring *after* installing a power regenerator at the panel. Otherwise whatever grunge is present at the breaker panel is only going to be more faithfully reproduced at the outlet.

I appreciate your pride in having spent a great sum for wire to place inside your walls. I just don't believe that is the best way to get pure power to your rig unless you have a pure power source. If your house is supplied with perfectly clean power and your appliances are not introducing any noise back onto the home wiring, then your application may benefit for a $4000 run of AC conductor. For the vast majority of people who take their power from the public mains, they would do better to spend that $4000 on a few regenerators like the PS Audio Power Plant and some good PCs.

Joe....the Romex and/or Handiwire can be cryo-treated (I perform a double-treatment on cabling, wall receptacles, and other electrical parts....of course, this methodology is for another discussion), which will greatly increase the performance of either less-expensive choice for in-wall wiring. That will work out to between $1.50 and $2.40 per foot (for either a single or double treatment), far less than the Acrolink solution. Proper cryo-treatment is a cost-effective and permanent enhancement, and certainly a good choice over stock wiring.

With the number of used plants available on Audiogon, the power plant option is a very viable solution and improvement.
What I have done with both my P-500 and P-600 is to open them up and remove the ferrite rings which were installed by the factory. Then replace the PS Audio ports on the back with the flavour of Oyaide outet I wish to substitute. I liked both the SWO-DX and SWO-GX (Rhodium over silver and palladium over Gold)
This slight mod which is so easy to do, seems to improve the performance of the PS plant units.

Unfortunately, or may I add possibly fortunately I do not have an unlimited source of $$'s. If we all did It may have a tendency to get us into trouble. I might add that we would have some awesome equipment. Since the Acrolink is that expensive, I have not nor will be purchasing it. Just wondering if there is a better solution than just Romex at a blue collar dollar. Thanks again...Joe

Alan:

I appreciate your enthusiasm for the Acrolink wiring. On paper, it looks like very nice stuff. I actually just spoke to someone who uses the Acrolink in-wall cable, and he said that the improvement in performance was minimal at best over 10-gauge solid-core Romex in his system. But he uses a lot of power filtration, which he (and many others, including a very well-known cable designer I know personally) seem to feel minimizes the benefits of an expensive in-wall like the Acrolink. It certainly has had that effect with the JPS in-wall that a few friends of mine own. I'm sure the stuff works very well, but there are other variables that may affect its performance in particular systems. I, for one, am very happy with Romex, and I trust the opinions of those who know a lot more about this subject than I. By the way, if you are a dealer of Acrolink products--and it seems you are--you should make that patently obvious before talking up your product. Take care.

I appreciate and agree with several of the posts in this thread, particularly those by Hooper and Michaelhwolff. We're all after the best sound we can get to suit our tastes and budgets, and even when the budget is unlimited one has to ask himself whether the difference is perceived or imaginary. I don't fault someone for buying something simply because he can afford it, but the ethics of someone who praises what he is selling but doesn't reveal that fact are suspect.
Brian