Do good power cords have to be stiff?

Puritan

Transparent are relatively flexible (the box can prevent some degree, Cardas are very flexible. Both are also excellent. Cardas are warmer… too warm for most of my equipment. 

The Shunyata power cords I use are very stiff, the Acrolink  power cord is very flexible.  I also have 3 of the 7 gauge Pangea power cords which are almost impossible to bend. It’s is weird that these Pangea cords work well with my speakers where their 14 gauge ones sucked the life out of the system. 

most are but some aren’t

i use some excellent homebrew braided 3 conductor pc's that are uber flexible by a friend in the midwest - pm me if you are interested

Signal Cable.

Verastarr or other flat or ribbon cables for the win! Many round cables are so overly wrapped and shielded that they are practically unusable and surprisingly cover up generic readily available cable. Never buy without a right of return. 

@tom6897 excellent point- many years ago I had a pricey balanced cable that was poorly terminated to the point that one leg broke off. I undid the Neutric connector, pulled back the tech flex, pulled back the company's own cable cover only to find that it was Belden cable. Nothing wrong with Belden, but it was a belden cable all dressed up.

@stereo5 The 7 gauge Pangea is ridiculous- had one years back. 

Unless your equipment is very poorly designed, I don't think you should be able to tell any difference between any power cords, assuming a decent construction baseline.  I can't tell a difference in my system, and the only blind test that I know of confirmed my experience by a guy who has a million dollar system. . . But buy whatever you think will work for you. . .

Shunyata makes excellent power fiords and the have an EF (extra flex) version that works very well

When I drink too much whiskey my power cords get limp. Has anyone else ever experienced this phenomena?

DRBond...

How about listing your system (preferably with pics that are not "stock" photos)?

DeKay

Kimber PK series are a good mix of flexible w decent gauge…..Ditto for the lower range Isotek.

The Shunyata power cords I use are very stiff, the Acrolink  power cord is very flexible.

May I ask which Acrolink. I have 7N-PC9700 and 8N-PC8100 and both are very stiff.

Based on my limited experience with different power cords, the stiff and heavy ones sound better than the flexible and light ones

I am using Furutech cables made by VH Audio with 12 gauge S-032N wire and they are fairly flexible also not total garden hoses. And they sound good.

I have made PCs with Oyaide Tunami V2 bulk cable that sound good but are quite stiff.

I have also made PCs from NOS Western Electric 10ga wire, both in 10ga and 7 ga configurations that sound good and are reasonably flexible too.  The NOS Western Electric 10ga wire is also used by TWL in their American 10 and 7 PCs, and was used by previously by Mojo Audio in their well-regarded PCs. The stuff makes nice speaker cables too.

I've gone mostly to DIY power cords which are quite unwieldy but, back in the day, I found the offerings from Wolff and 6Sons Audio to be both very good and quite flexible.  6Sons Audio Golden Eagle is the best power cord I've heard.  Neither come up very often but usually are a bargain at used prices.

Good power cables are often solid core and hence stiff by nature: to wit: Nordost, Acoustic Revive et al…

Just look at some of the Puritan videos on youtube.  The epitome of flexibility, combined with great performance.

Cardas power cords (lower level, which I what I know) seem flexible compared to most (as do lower level Nordost, though I haven’t handled those myself0

+1 Puritan.. almost feels like water

     Don’t know if Zu has replaced the Mother, in their lineup, but: I found it an excellent PC and VERY flexible (critical, given my present component/cable configuration).

     Currently: they supply my BAT VK-D5 CDP, phono pre, TacT 2.2X, Cary SLM 100 main amps and I can’t imagine ever needing further upgrade.

     All my other PCs and interconnects are either Synergistic Research or Kimber Kable Selects, so: it’s not like I’m a strict brand-fan.

     They can be hard to find, in the used market, but: well worth the effort.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51dd8a95e4b0ff2f7c9874ae/t/56438a03e4b0b66656c31f7f/1447266819018/Mother-2B_CPS.pdf

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150487/zu-mother-power-cables-1-meter-4

                                             Happy listening!

I see LOTS of power cables speced at 14 Ga.

@rodman99999

i agree

zu’s are very nice cords and very flexible

i’m not crazy about sean casey’s speakers, but his cables are excellent, i have a lot of them, great value and performance

@ryder 

I use 6N PC4030 Acrolink power cord on my Esoteric UX-3. 

@jjss49 -

                            "zu’s are very nice cords and very flexible"

     It’s amazing to me: they were able to configure two 9 AWG conductors, plus an 8 AWG ground, in a 3/8" diameter PC, that’s even more flexible than the typical, stock IEC cord.

Well if you want stiff, I've got two 6" wide Passion Masters by DCCA that will pass a ton of current for sale. No Viagra needed.😁

I see no issue with the Puritans as the actual amperage most of us would draw is pretty low and I think the one I have is pretty darned good. I am using Verastarrs presently and will experiment some more with the Puritan.

Look at Furutech they are pretty flexible and sound great.

@carlsbad

12G or 14G should suffice for most: 15A outlets have 14G single strand copper, whereas 20A outlets have 12G single strand copper providing power to the outlets. That’s your bottleneck: having 10G power cable feeding from a 14G wire shouldn’t do anymore that a 14G power cable.

@dekay 

I added my components to my virtual system, if that's what you mean. . . 

Audio Envy. Both the P series and the M series are very flexible and sound quite good.

Triode Wire Labs.  Pete's cables are flexible, but more importantly sound great.  Open, transparent with tremendous PRAT.

The Puritan sorta reminds me of a wet noodle.

I don't think you could find a PC more supple.

I get that 12-14 awg should be enough wire for most components, but when I plugged in my 650 wpc monos using the 7 awg WE PCs it was one of the few times  I perceived that cables went beyond simply making a difference to making a definite improvement.  The 7ga cables are 6 runs of 10ga wire into each Furutech FI-11 connector, 2 runs each for pos, neg, and ground.  The 10ga version are more flexible and certainly big enough to handle any audio related load, but for some reason it seems the bigger 7ga cables sound even better on my big amps.

a great power cable that is very flexible: e.g., VH AUDIO Airsine.

The new ifi powercords nova and supanova are very flexibel...

In regard to having a power cord of heavy gauge (in the vicinity of 10, more or less), how many amps (or watts, probably easier to add up or check) do folks stereo systems require from the mains?

My own modest setup (Class A tube amp is the biggest draw card) I’m at less than 500 watts.

At 120 V, that’s a tad over 0.4 amps.

At 240 V, about 0.2 amps.

Off topic, I know, but kinda related.

+1 Pokey77, (Audio Envy)

I’ve also read from a few manufacturers that if your power cords seem too stiff, it might be that your equipment is too close to the wall, and there are lots of nasties in wall you don’t want too close to your gear...

Less Loss cables, made in Lithuania use a braided construction and are extremely flexible.

Stiffness of a power cord has no effect on the sound. It only changes the mechanical characteristics and makes it easier to handle. As long as the current rating of a cable is not exceeded, the rest does not matter electrically & sonically.

Simple answer… NO!
 

I was using Nordost Vishnus in my mid level system. A clear improvement over stock.  But they too were somewhat stiff. Replaced them with Morrow MAP3s which sound just as good as the Nordost and are quite flexible. If I get the upgrade itch I will climb the Morrow ladder before going back to stiff power cords.

I've been using a Wireworld Aurora 7.  12 ga silver clad OFC.   Its flat design makes it pretty flexible.  I have it folded back with about an inch radius.  For my DACs etc, I agree with @thomaswv that Morrows are extremely flexible at least lower in the line.  

+1 on Audio Envy

Morrow Audio power cords are also flexible and easy to route

akgwhiz

81 posts

01-26-2022 4:55pm

I’ve been using a Wireworld Aurora 7. 12 ga silver clad OFC. Its flat design makes it pretty flexible. I have it folded back with about an inch radius.

I have the Wireworld Elektra 7 which I believe is a higher model. It is quite flexible but the connection between the plug of the cord and component isn’t firm and always loose.

Performance wise, after comparing the Elektra 7 to Acrolink power cords, I figured out that the Wireworld is inferior in sound quality. It’s decent for DACs but does not sound good with amps.

Yeah I have 7 Master Couplers and they’re a pain in the arse