Just borrowed some hefty power cables from my locale dealer. The shop is closed because of Covid-19 so he borrowed me some very nice cables and a PS Audio Power Plant P20 to play with. The PS PC P12 is simple not bendable and the same goes for many of the other cables. That's a real problem for me. I don't have the space to move my rack out and rearrange all my equipment and electrical sockets to make room for such hefty cables.
So are there really good power cables that are also flexible?
No, absolutely not. The best power cords are absolutely inflexible. Some can only be bent on hydraulic press- they're THAT GOOD!
Seriously. In case you haven't noticed the most flexible are the freebie rubber power cords that come with everything. They are also the worst sounding. Therefore the more inflexible the better the sound. It's the Third Law of Audio. The First Law of Audio is the coolest looking speaker sounds the best. You are probably thinking now he's gonna tell me the Second Law of Audio and fat chance, you're just gonna have to figure some of this out for yourself.
Happen to have just received a Puritan Audio Lab Ultimate Power Cord for home demo and so far its very nice; smooth and good timbre. A bit on the relaxed side, but I suspect it will open up with time. But great tone so far and flexible to the point of being floppy. Not too expensive in the grand scheme of things. Worth a look and a hear.
ebm seem's to like depends. He certainly doesn't need them ... he just doesn't like getting up until the album is over! (his system sound's THAT good! :)
As mentioned above, the Zen Wave pc is superb. Also excellent is the Black Cat pc. I have both and depending on their upstream gear, both have easily beaten out much larger and less flexible designs. ( and also far more costly!).
@isochronism By the same reasoning, it’s a well-known fact that ‘ebm’ is an acronym for ‘excellent bowel movements’ that occur blissfully at the pinnacle of countless live recordings of Eddie Van Halen guitar solos. Depends have been behind far more singular movements than previous projections suggest. Cheers, E
I don’t think this is a ridiculous question. When I replaced the stock power cords that came with my Parasound equipment with Silnote cords, I had to move my equipment out from the wall a couple more inches to accommodate them. If OP cannot do that, then there are the suggestions noted above. I thought about getting angled adapters, but I figured the fewer connections the better.
My Furutech cords are relatively flexible and sound good. I am at a point in my life that I have no time for equipment, or cables, that are a struggle to deal with. No more super thick inflexible cables for me again ever.
No, absolutely not. The best power cords are absolutely inflexible. Some
can only be bent on hydraulic press- they're THAT GOOD!
Seriously.
In case you haven't noticed the most flexible are the freebie rubber
power cords that come with everything. They are also the worst sounding.
Therefore the more inflexible the better the sound. It's the Third Law
of Audio. The First Law of Audio is the coolest looking speaker sounds
the best. You are probably thinking now he's gonna tell me the Second
Law of Audio and fat chance, you're just gonna have to figure some of
this out for yourself.
All of our cables are candidates for Viagra ;-) Fourth law: If your gear doesn't require upgrades every 6 months, it doesn't qualify as high-end.
Hi everyone. I figured it quickly. The Second Law of Audio is not to listen to anything millercarbon says.
It is well overdue for promotion to First Law.
You got the right idea Wolfie, you're just insufficiently obsessed. A solid copper bar 3 inches diameter is pretty hard to flex. Stainless steel would be an improvement. Up the diameter according to your obsession. What tosh!
Sure there is. 12g zip cord from Monoprice works very well and if you hide it and tell people you have a $10,000 speaker cable they will believe it. Cheap and the fidelity is great. The only thing it lacks is bragging rights.
Audiophile sites are populated by wonderful people who happily spend hard earned $$ on equipment from vendors who have demonstrated the ability to provide awesome fidelity, well over 100dB of S/N ratio and vanishing low THD from their equipment. The engineers for vendors can clearly do digital and analog magic with electronics, based on an understanding of solid state (and vacuum tube) design principles.
Think about this: Are these same engineers not competent to build power supplies into their equipment to provide nice pure, regulated DC voltages to the same electronics? These engineers know full well that power lines are loaded with noise and are subject to significant voltage fluctuations. Really, they do know that. They actually do know how to design power supplies to filter out all that crud.
There is nothing that a 6 foot super-voodoo, magic-sauce-included power cord plugged into a wall outlet can solve that these engineers haven’t already anticipated and solved as part of their power supply design. Really.
The vendor provided you a power cord with your equipment that is perfectly sized for their equipment, knowing full well that at some point you will plug it into a wall outlet. Think about it. Spend your money somewhere it will actually improve your listening experience. Of course it IS your money.
Audio Envy. I have two power cords I purchased from them in December. You can go see the pricing on their website. I can tell you that they are better than the $995 retail PC's they replaced - a lot better, quite amazing really. And those $995 PCs replaced cords that were around $50-100, I forget. But the AE power cords really are quite good. They are amazing for the price. I'm going to buy more and compare them to a $2,200 PC I have. I hope they beat that one too because I like the fact that not only are the AE power cords very flexible, but they custom make them in whatever length you need - takes care of that snarl of wire-mess behind the rack.
I've been told by a member here that the Puritan Audio power cords are very good but have never tried them. They are even less than the AE power cords.
Hoping to not provoke the eternal cable debate, I do not see how could I overcome the shortcomings of the 15-25 feet of cheap power cables in my apartment walls (on top of at least 50 feet from the main breaker and meter in the basement) by spending on the last 3-6 feet. I have other priorities now; when the rest of the setup will be to my satisfaction, I will look for a high power double conversion UPS; only when I’ll have plenty of clean AC, I may try some power cables.
Kimber Kable power cords don’t get much praise but their PC’s are great for the money and extremely flexible. I later moved to WyWires which aren’t bad to maneuver, but definitely not as flexible as the Kimbers.
A number of relatively flexible power chords are good sounding, Acrolink, Kondo, Acoustic Revive, some Furutech, Audience, Shunyata, Morrow,... sorry for not mentioning more. if they sound better than the stiffer ones I do not know. @inefficient the last 3-6ft you mention are actually the first ones, you start from there. If you continue to board still better. G
I do not see how could I overcome the shortcomings of the 15-25 feet of cheap power cables in my apartment walls . . . by spending on the last 3-6 feet.
In that case, consider spending on the *first* 3-6 feet. (Seriously, the nature of AC power makes this conceptualization just as valid.)
Also, you might think about running a dedicated line from your breaker panel to your audio system—clear up your identified shortcomings and a whole lot more. If your panel is really that close (15-25 feet), then this should be very straightforward.
@martin-andersen asked:
So are there really good power cables that are also flexible?
Of course there are. Some of our collective favorite power cords over time have been extremely flexible. I still use several TG SLVR PCs and a couple Michael Wolfe PCs—both very flexible and easy to route (especially the latter). I don’t know most of the PCs recommended in the thread so far, but they seem like contenders.
Finally, I know you have a local dealer (good for you, and all the best to them!) ... but if you don’t find what you need, you could consider getting together with The Cable Company and their lending program. Both for their initial recommendations and for the opportunity to try before you buy.
@mapman I have a Signal Cable on my power amp and honestly can't tell the difference between it and the stock cord. Maybe I just don't have the hearing for it anymore or maybe my system isn't resolving enough. Who knows? It looks better than the stock cord though. I have upgraded all my stock cords with after market boutique cords and really don't think it has made any difference but for peace of mind It makes me feel better knowing I have a better(?) quality cable hooked to my gear. Maybe some day for shits and grins I'll replace all them with stock cables and see if I notice a change in the sound.
Power cords can be hit or miss case by case and I do not believe it need cost a fortune to design and build a very good one.
I use stock cords on my Bel Canto Ref1000m power amps. These are Class D and very efficient.
I do use Pangea power cords on my Audio Research sp16 preamp and mhdt Constantine DAC. I did hear a clear difference I would attribute mainly to shielding and noise reduction there....better detail and less haze. Nice upgrade!
The only problem with the Pangea is their weight. I have a lot of trouble keeping the plug seated in the device properly, especially the ARC. One false move and they lose contact.
Would like to fix that someday. Signal Cable is likely what I would try if I were to buy new.
Running a couple/various PS regenerators for past two decades.. Have PS AC12 cord–balanced warmish sound with enough detail/resolution that’s good value for the money, yup they’re rather stiff. Shunyata HC/XC range are better—cleaner, more refined, better resolution though for more money, using their Sigma on one P20. Ime, into the P20 (or any other power distributor blocks/cond. for that matter), only by using High Current delivery types you’ll tapped on their true potential—usually thick girth wise and mostly inflexible. But so long as there’s 4 inches clearance from rear of your P20 outlets, the Shunyata should be fine (fairly flexible beyond that).
My Signal Cable power cord wants to droop a little in the back of my Jolida Fusion 3502P power amp. Fortunately it sits so close to the floor that I can prop it up to a level position. It seems like the IEC end of some cords are loose for some reason. This is not the first time I've had this problem with a piece of equipment and an after market power cord.
The next power cord I buy will be a nice one that also stays seated in my preamp easily with no special fuss. The stock cord does that well. Shouldn’t be too much to ask for I hope.
Thanks for all the interesting suggestions. Learnt a lot. I think I will order the Shunyata Research Delta NR v2 power cord from a Danish dealer with a 30 days full return policy
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