Doing the Power Cord Thing
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover. The secrets are hidden. You can buy different materials to use, including silver content or even silver cables. Cold welding is actually just the industry standard for how you make cables in bulk. Interestingly enough, all those you listed are as far as I know, nearly completely impossible to measure at this point in time:
So for the DIYer, unobtanium. An exclusive feature you cannot make yourself. Cool, does it do anything? Maybe resistance would be an effect of the cold weld and cable content but we are in the range of milli and micro Ohms. Of the types of things I would have listed as being measurable and having a possible impact are:
It is my theory, that the most effect people hear is when they are not using an adequate conditioner. |
when looking to buy a power cord for say a amp, how do you know which one to get ? Buy nothing you can't hear value in yourself. The claim is that power cords can make all sorts of audible effects come out, almost none of which I have experienced. My current thinking on power cables and conditioners is here: https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/power-management-for-frugal-audiophiles.html I think, if you can hear audio cables, their effect is best when power is worst, so my advice is in general to get a good conditioner, and modest power cables. |
You could also have saved money by not buying your 507 amp and listened to music on your phone instead. Apples and oranges, comparing the two is pointless. I certainly don't fault you for building your own power cord, but comparing it to anything that's $2000 is absurd. You could've bought the cord you built from DH Labs for $126. |
The $2,000 vs $126 power cord test. Purchase one each of these cables. Cut off the EIC ends that plugs into the amp. Separate and strip the wires. Plug in each cable, one at a time, placing the striped wire ends on any part of your body. This test may be performed as a blind test with eyes closed. Spend countless hours on A'gon explaining that the results obtained from the $2,000 power cord were far superior to that of the $126 cord. |
04-20-2019 4:47pmI bought the 507 because I could hear the value. I've never heard a $2000 power cord that I know of. You brought it up. The most expensive one I've ever heard is the one I just bought that was about $500. I was a skeptic, until I heard it. Anyone could've heard the difference, it was amazing. I'm sure that's not always the case. I understand putting your own stuff together solely for the experience. But it's more than a little disingenuous to then compare it to something that's 20 times the money, and imply that they're somehow the same. |
I've never heard a $2000 power cord that I know of. You brought it up. The most expensive one I've ever heard is the one I just bought that was about $500. I did. What is your point? Here is one but not the only example: https://www.thecableco.com/cardas_audio.html?cat=85 I understand putting your own stuff together solely for the experience. I didn't say it was the only reason. I said it wasn't a cost saving one.
That logic fails since there's absolutely no requirement for a product value to match it's asking price. By the way, the point of this thread was really for me to talk about building my own cable and whether or not I can hear a meaningful difference given that this is a genuine audiophile build and the previous cable was probably from a PC. If there are cables you feel are worth their price, feel free to share your experience. Just don't expect me to have the same. |
So far, I've heard apologists and personal attacks. Either I haven't built a cable using good enough parts, or I haven't gone through the appropriate rituals (stretching, cryogenic treatment, etc). No one considers that maybe whatever these cables need to fix my environment doesn't need it fixed. :D |
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If you consider my comments a personal attack, that certainly wasn’t my intent, Erik. I’m always surprised by people that post their thoughts and are then upset when every other person doesn’t agree. Stereos, cats, widgets, doesn’t matter. I’ll refrain from posting on any of your threads from here on out. |
I have had $4000 power cords and $330 power cords. Equipment dependent ultimately, but the Anticables 3.1 Reference is so damn good...it just let’s my amp do it’s best with clarity, dynamics and extension beyond reproach plus exquisite tone. I prefer my Transparent Reference on my CDP limit noise, but for $330 the Anticables is amazing. |
Finished adding red TechFlex and black adhesive lined shrink wrap today. Also took apart the female section. The Connex connector is super nice, and the individual prongs come out super easy. I was a little worried that during conductivity testing before I had loosened them up, so I took the opportunity to tighten them again. Made a little difference on insertion. That hard rhodium plating is super smooth though, so it always feels a little too easy, or maybe the spring force is reduced due to the hardness? In any event, the cable is reassembled, re-routed and reinserted. This would have been much much easier if I had done this all before hand though. |
"So far, I've heard apologists and personal attacks. Either I haven't built a cable using good enough parts, or I haven't gone through the appropriate rituals (stretching, cryogenic treatment, etc). " One needs thick skin to post on audio forums these days I'm afraid. A big problem with the sort of question the OP asks is that responses reflect each individual's experiences and we tend to think our particular audio experiences are universally relevant. After forty years in this hobby, I still am amazed at how performance expectations based prior experiences and products can be overturned in the context of new components or systems. FWIW, I've tried numerous DIY powder cords over the last twenty years or so. In my experience, it's impossible to make categorical statements about whether a DIY build can compete with a manufacturer's finished cable. Some think that the connector's are more important to the end result than the cable and if that's the case, that is one area where the DIY builder can gain a leg up on the price/performance ratio of ready made cables. I had surprisingly positive results using inexpensive Home Depot Carol 12/3 a/c cable off a reel combined with Furutech Fi-28 connectors when I needed an 11' foot power cable to test a system reconfiguration. I ended up using a Wireworld Eclipse a/c cable in that application in the end, but the DIY was quite close in performance. On the other hand, DIY versions of Chris VenHaus' "Flavor" cords did nothing positive for me in any application I tried at the time. Furutech's newest bulk FP-S and DP-S cords have been well reviewed and my experiences with the FP-SO22n on sources have been very positive when compared to other Wireworld, Harmonic Technology, Shunyata, DH Labs, and Mojo Audio manufactured cords. I've built a 20 amp cable with bulk Harmonic Technology AC-11 wire, Furutech Fi-25g, and a Hubbell H320 c-19 connector that sounds very comparable to a Shunyata CX/HC Black Mamba. I do take a lot of care to strip the conductors with no nicks, clean and polish blades of connectors, and apply small amounts of Pro-Gold to mating surfaces prior to assembly. |
In my experience, it's impossible to make categorical statements about whether a DIY build can compete with a manufacturer's finished cable. I think making categorical claims is, in general, foolhardy. Especially based on small, or single samples. I'm only working through what I can, and having fun with tools while I go along. |
Kind of on a related note, I was trying to clean up my cabling, and I have several lengths and kinds of balanced IC’s, most of which I made from DH Labs pure silver wires. I wanted to go from a 2m pair to 1m, of the same kind. When I did, the left side was just a little low. Probably less than 2 dB. I replaced them with a pair of WW Eclipse 7 Gold I wasn’t using which were the right length. I had gotten frustrated with the huge connector sizes in a previous cabinet, which led me to DIY a lot of my cables. Anyway, the WW 7 fixed the problem, I clearly have a fault in the DIY cables. My point is, honestly based on buyers I have seen at stores sellers convince to spend $2k on a power cord, 95% of them would never have noticed this. |
I wanted to go from a 2m pair to 1m, of the same kind. When I did, the left side was just a little low. Probably less than 2 dB. I replaced them with a pair of WW Eclipse 7 Gold I wasn’t using which were the right length. I had gotten frustrated with the huge connector sizes in a previous cabinet, which led me to DIY a lot of my cables.. So let me get this straight. You built a DIY so bad the left doesn't even sound like the right. Then you "fixed the problem" with a cable you paid a lot more for. And THAT convinced you that 95% of expensive cable buyers can't hear? http://i.imgur.com/Z9F4SCr.jpg |
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I was one of the first to employ the services of a cryo lab for audio stuff. There were some manufacturers employing cryo by the end of the 90s, including Meitner and a bunch of cable companies, later on some aftermarket fuse manufacturers and some speaker manufacturers, certain turntable manufacturers, and so forth. But the unsung hero is actually Peter Belt, who promoted using the home freezer for CDs, LPs, cables, CD players, etc. as a more convenient and cheaper way to get the same sort of effects as real cryogenic treatment. Peter Belt was promoting freezing before cryogenics was a blip on the audiophile radar. |
They enjoy the sweet hell of their creation and there’s no one gonna tell them any different. Enjoy! Well, it is true that the particular wire I am using is notoriously brittle. Doing your own reliability and quality engineering is part of DIY. Brother let me tell you about the steam powered rocket ship I'm trying to build ... :D Truth is when it comes to IC's I gave up on them. I have a box full of WW Eclipse 6, and compared ot them, the pure silver, balanced and shielded is either good enough for me or I'm not bothering. I have about 4 pairs of IC's I've built, and unfortunately all the other's are far longer, hence the switch. When it comes to speaker cables, I realized after doing some single blind testing that the cables I liked were actually making things worse. I was trading a lot of mid-treble energy for imaging. As for the power cable, I don't know if it sounds exactly like a commercial cable, because so far I really can't hear a significant difference from it to 16 gauge plain black. I'm not made of cash, so instead of others suggesting I buy off the shelf cables it would be nice if others built these cables instead. :) Of course, it is about time for my hearing to deteriorate as well, so we can make that argument, in which case I think what's important is that I not buy stuff I can't hear a benefit from. |
If anyone wants to see or build the same power cord I made, please see here: https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/mistress-lillys-new-shoes.html |
Afraid of having nice tools? That's your takeaway? (I have tons of very nice tools) Phillips screwdrivers are numbered to denote the different sizes of tips. When you were talking about the wire you used for the power cord you built, did you refer to it as "medium" or "big"?? No..... Hence the C'mon, Erik. As for the factory cord, I wasn't suggesting that you don't "save it", merely that you "try it". I have fun. I mean, I haven't named my amp, but I have fun. Later |
