Front Row Seat Power Cord?
I’m looking for a quality power cord that tends to create a perspective that is more “front row” than “mid-hall”, without being thin or overly bright. I’ve been looking at reviews, and the two that seem to pop up in this regard are the DH Labs Red Wave, and the Purist Audio Jade. Any other ideas?
This is a big ask without knowing the associated components & where in the chain this power cord (or cords) will be placed. Home audition with return privileges is recommended as you embark on this quest. I would invest an hour or two researching the 'Iron Lung Jellyfish' power cords on the interwebs. Might just fit the bill. YMMV. Hope you have a safe & enjoyable Holiday season.
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I tried the $1,000.00 Audioquest power cable on my DAC and it distorted the bass terribly. I opted for a Cullen Crossover at a fraction of the price of the Audioquest. But from what your describing, I would recommend auditioning the Akiko Audio power conditioners. The big one is called the Corelli Corundum and then there’s a smaller one called the Castello and yet an even smaller one called the Minelli. |
My friends and I prefer GroverHuffman Pharaoh and Empress power cables. Typically, my friends have 6 cables (I have 9) in our systems depending on amount of equipment. His site partially explains the unique and patented design (he wrote and submitted his own patent). Brilliant, complex and different. Equally great cables can cost 10X more such as Masterbuilt and Westminster Labs. |
I can't believe a post like this is getting replies like this. I thought we were here to educate people, and not perpetuate the snake oil marketing jargon that is absolutely destroying this hobby. Anyone who thinks a power cable changes your sound either doesn't know any better, or is willfully ignorant to objective facts and science.
If the OP is still around, please ignore anyone here trying to persuade you to 'upgrade' your power cable to improve your sound. These people would also have you believe that there are speaker cables that 'sound better' than the cheapest 12AWG OFC cables you can find. They don't. They're lying, or their own confirmation biases are taking over. The brain can be fooled easily, as evidenced by the replies here. Take the money you save from common sense and spend it on upgrades that actually do something. |
++1 for DIYing your own power cable, or purchasing one assembled. Here are a couple I am breaking in, I did the work but VH Audio will sell you the cable and do the work for $140 per cable: Furutech bulk power cable (FP-TCS31 12awg Triple-C $45 per foot, FP-S55N 10awg "nano" $55 per foot, or best DPS 4.1 DUCC 11awg $394 per meter), Furutech FI-28 gold plated plug set $210, and the above mentioned $140 labor. You end up with the best Furutech power cables possible for $550 to $900 per 1.5 meter assembled.....or less if you do the work. Not sure they will provide the exact sound you are looking for (each cable sounds a little differently), but you can't deny the quality
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@laginz Happy Holidays!!! |
“Derogatory terms…” says the guy who just called everyone who experienced difference in power cords insane
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Dear steakster, Do you feel derogatory terms flat-eathers, naysayers etc fill in for the lack of even Debateable proof ? Learning something new is great, hocus-pocus is nothing but a joke. Reading your text one might get the impression proof and truth is a pleasure of the few…wrong again ! Someone tells me to stick a slab of bologna in a plastic bag on a piece of equipment…. Silly boy ! |
@richardbrand You are relatively new to the AudiogoN discussion forums. You’ll discover that flat-earthers, cable-deniers and naysayers are quite adamant that they are right - and everybody else is wrong. Why they keep reading the cable threads is a mystery, especially if it upsets them so much. 🤔 Do they also go on race car forums and insist that drivers don’t need to waste money on more expensive high octane petrol when low octane will do? Apparently, learning something new is not one of their priorities. They probably think that EE 101 and Physics 101 can explain this. |
I have given you a concrete example of a power cable radiating EMI from a subwoofer. The EMI was sufficient to take out my TV reception, which of course is a low-level digital signal. This is entirely reproducible, and was solved by modifying the cable by adding two ferrite chokes. Untamed, this EMI would feed into any other connected component which just might affect its performance? As a Cambridge-trained physicist, my natural inclination is to disbelieve odd claims. However, reports of RFI affecting sound quality have been around for decades, so maybe there is some real phenomenon at play. Back then, everybody thought it was from the mains, so it seemed non-sensical that the last six feet could make a difference. Much more recently, our own components have come under suspicion, especially those with electrically noisy digital circuits, or switched mode power supplies. Rather than dismiss what people claim to hear, I would prefer to try to understand what they are reporting. It may be psychobabble, or it may be a real phenomenon we don't fully understand yet. Do I personally think changing a power cord can move your virtual listening position? Never in a million years, but every good scientist should keep an open mind. I also deplore the reluctance to do A / B testing, especially on something as easy to swap over as a power cord. |
There is only one undeniable truth about Power Cords. That being, there are people who believe their $500 - $5000 power cord has made a difference, and those who don't. Pretty simple and neither side is going to convince the other. What is truly amazing, IMHO, is how this topic garners the amount of member input, over and over and over again. I'm personally in the camp that believes you should use a shielded cable of sufficient size to carry the current from point A to point B. I don't mind spending a bit of cash as I do think the sum of all parts creates the final sound, so I don't use lamp-cord on my speakers either. I think Power Cables are a great place to exercise some DIY. In the end, believe what makes you happy and enjoy your systems. Cheers. |
Oh poppycock…. forget the psychobabble let’s have some facts. Equipment based tests have shown indisputable, overwhelming results that other than optimal size, quality, the cable industry as a whole is a farce ! Then we have science i.e. physics, credited professionals, again overwhelming majority comply with equipment results. |
@laginz , Curious as to why you think changing your power cord will give you the result your looking for. I legitimately don't see the correlation. |
@1971gto455ho You, like most people, are assuming the power cord might affect the quality of the mains supply, if it affects anything at all, which I guess you doubt. Much more likely is that it modulates in some way RFI generated by your equipment that it powers. Elsewhere I have given a reproducible example of a power cord feeding a subwoofer with an in-built class D amplifier, which generates lots of switching noise. The cable was acting as an antenna and destroying TV signals. A couple of ferrite rings round the power cord fixed that issue. |
If you got a "front row power cord" (I’m not sure what that is), but your electronics and speaker are "mid-hall" perspective, you’re not suddenly going to feel like you’re in the front row). It will be mildly closer. And perhaps not noticeable. Myself, I have top of the line Shunyata and Nordost. I’m saying that for perspective. I’ve had top of the line power cords since 1995, and none I’ve heard change the perspective as dramatically as you seem to want. That is no the purpose of power cords. Their job is only to provide clean AC. Might I suggest you approach this some other way. Also, when you ask for advice, it helps if you list your system, so that someone who owns a piece of equipment you do might chime in with how they solved the issue. It might not be the power cord you need to change to get a more "intimate" perspective on the music; it could be something else. |
Physics aside, AC cabling, Trans formers AC to DC, multiple filters for multiple reasons, through fuses, And people think there is tonal quality and control in a short section of primary wire from a receptacle box. Oh the power of dreaming laced with Placebo. They made a movie like that, Build it and they will come… better yet One flew over the cuckoo’s nest. |
not based on my experience with AQ Thunder, Tornado and Hurricane that were bottom heavy and dark sounding. |
@mihorn It must be a burden, being the only person that knows how to make a good cable. |
As RichardBrand again correctly noted, microphone placement in recording can also be a factor in the perceived sitting position. But since I am in the market for a new power cord anyway, I’d like to try to adress the issue in this fashion. I’ve tried a few cords in the past and it has made a difference in this regard. |
@laginz "I agree that the simple “volume” knob is part of the equation in creating a front perspective, but not the only part." Would the other part not be to do with the recording itself? For example, placement of microphones (assuming a natural venue since you mention front row and mid-hall)? If you really want to make a change, try DSP where you can switch between venue types. A lot more options than swapping a power cord! |
Not having any exposure to SOTA ic/speaker/power cables renders my comments on such as basically a bronx cheer, but to spend 5.5K$ would make self desire to be purchasing 2m + connects from a company that makes them for NASA or research facilities like CERN.... They have to prove they hit their specs every single zeptosecond accurately in a lab.... ...and Space Rating stuff is Harder yet. Spend what you feel you must.🤷♂️ Personally, waiting for the quantum computer cluster of the week to answer "42" and shut themselves off permanently.... Or, "Everything You Know Is Wrong."., followed by HAL's death scenes, including "Daisy" before heading to the right side of the decimal for pi. (...btw, The Biggest Fundamental Questions That ‘42’ Really IS The Answer To ...and that's just 'the fundamentals'.... "That's Not All, Folks!" *Merrie Melodies theme fanfare w/W.Woodpecker* ...not at all... Keep banging those rocks together. ;) |
@audphile1 Not under $1k but many at $2k, including 1 of my monoblock FrontRow cables. Though I may pull it since I am considering the Schitt Tyr monos. |
You want to ’create a perspective that is more “front row” than “mid-hall”’. I would like to introduce you to a British electrical engineer, Mr Peter Walker, but he died in 2003. The company he founded, Quad Electroacoustics, produced valve and solid-state amplifiers in prodigious numbers, and he was the first to commercialise full-range electrostatic loudspeakers which are still very popular today. His ideal amplifier was "a straight wire with gain". In recognition of the imperfections of recordings, his pre-amplifiers came with several subtle controls to allow music-lovers to optimise settings for record playback. His demonstrations often used A-B comparisons, where recorded music could be compared to live music - the actual source being hidden behind screens. Now to the point. He deliberately described what we call the volume knob as the focus control. He encouraged listeners to adjust this control until everything came into focus, rather like a camera lens. I am wondering if you already have a control that can change your perspective?
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That’s right. No cable company knows how to make a proper power cable. The same brand and model cables made in same day and by a same person sound different each other. I know it because i know why that happen. And I know what they don’t know. Also, audio companies and people don’t know they can’t meaningfully improve the sound until recordings are better. All recordings are noisy and un-natural sound because all microphones are bad. You can hear dirty un-natural mic sound at left speaker in below. All recordings in the world sound like a left speaker. https://youtu.be/IHf_FSa8amE?si=l4B1PUMuQKNKyxpA You can hear a natural sound recording & mic in below. https://youtu.be/2ru4D-mOMdo?si=WMjbxUESQzsDDuIQ You are listening these videos with un-natural sound gears. Your audio system, your power cables, and computer speakers are un-natural dirty sound. Only Wavetouch audio power cables are natural sound and future proof. Alex/WTA |
Hello Laginz, Have you considered making your own power cord(s)? DIY gives you control over cost, length, AWG gauge, type of copper,shielding, sheathing, etc. I've been assembling my own cables for several years. There are a number of sources for the required components (raw cable, terminal ends (both IEC and power plug), sheathing in the type/colors of your choice. My primary source for power cable supplies is https://www.douglasconnection.com You can DIY high end audiophile cables at 50/70% less than the equivalent of the off shelf power cord. No special tools needed, Just tape measure, good wire strippers,Phillips screwdriver, sharp razor cutter, heat shrink tubing in the colors of your choice. Once you DIY your first cable you'll never go back to paying the high prices for the off the shelf audiophile cables. And you'll have the satisfaction of making your own. Enjoy the music!
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Only power cord that creates that sound is Wavetouch audio power cord. All other PCs’ mid are always far back. Some other PCs have aggressive forward veil/glare noises in front, but not the musical mid-range. Hear WTA PC here https://www.wavetouchaudio.com/reviews.html. WTPC v2 is under $500/5ft. Alex/WTA |
WyWires Platinum (www.wywires.com). Meets all your stated requirements. Four feet $999.00. Sale! 35% off sale brings price to $649.35 … a bargain. I use Platinum power, interconnects and USB cables throughout. Alex Sventitsky, designer/CEO is great and will personally respond to your questions. Read about tech on website and read pro reviews which I affirm correct. No vested interest. Just a fan because the product was one of those transformative changes to my system SQ. |
no he does not |
@yyzsantabarbara Audience FrontRow speaker cables are awesome and it’s a solid recommendation but I’ve never seen a set for $1000. |
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