2. cables
  3. 179391-170020

Do older power cables still hold up to newer ones?

I have been thinking about this for a while now. I have a 20+ year history in this audio hobby. Back then in the early 2000’s I was working at my business and had a bit of disposable income and I built up a system, some of which I still own today. Namely my VAC Amp and Preamp and my CEC TL1x. (I have bought new speakers, a new DAC and DDC, a music streamer. I’ve replaced my old Wireworld Gold Eclipse III interconnects and speaker wires already) I have some highly rated power cords of their time from 2002. I have 4 Shunyata Black Mamba cords on the front end equipment and a pair of BMI Whales on the Amp. (My Renaissance 70/70 amp requires two power cords.) Everything except the amp is plugged into the original Shunyata Hydra power conditioner and i have 2 20 amp dedicated lines for everything. Most other things in the system have been updated this past year. So I really ponder if it would be worth it to convert these cords to something new and will it really cost a lot more to improve upon them? These were all very good power conditioning products back then. I am not interested in buying multi thousand dollar cords. I am retired now and I don’t want to spend money on anything I don’t have to and I probably won’t. I just wonder how good they really are anymore??? It’s probably hard to tell because so much time has expired since they were made and sold. I could test something out from the Cable Co loan program I guess, but to me it seems that will end being very costly to improve upon these cables. I do have a Wire World Electra 8 cord coming to play with that I got off US Audiomart just to see if it makes any difference anywhere. I just got my pre amp updated waiting for it’s return and i plan to take my amp to FL to drop off to VAC for a upgrade/refurbish. I also plan to re-tube it and that can cost $1600-$3500 depending on which tubes I get. So my pathway to resurrecting the system doesn’t include power cords at this time. (I took a hiatus from the system for 10 years busy chasing other hobbies, but that phase of my life is over as my age has caught up to me..LOL)

128x128fthompson251

Showing 1 response by waytoomuchstuff

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff
1,197 posts
 

Recently (past 5 years) some cable manufacturers have incorporated "newer thinking" in their power cable designs.  These have, in some cases, resulted in a 2x improvement in performance vs cost.  Even considering cable prices increases of 40% (or, more) the sonic bang-for-the-buck can still be better in newer cables vs old.  So, even if your old cables are immaculate, and still sound incredible to you, it might be worth auditioning something newer.  You can always return it.

For you power cable deniers out there, this post is probably going to peg the needle on your B.S. meter.  That's cool.  You can just go check the ignition timing on your Tesla.  Or, something.

More to discover