Is there a facility that test cables?


In my business as a paint contractor I had a guy working for me who claimed he had worked for a while making high end power cords for audio. I wasn't expecting much but I figured some halfway decent DYI power cords wouId be better than the stock cords I had. 

When he finished them and presented them to me they seemed they were a lot more hefty than I expected. I asked exactly what I was getting for my money, a bit substantial, and he referred me to an ad for AudioQuest NRG Dragon. He claimed he couldn't relate to me any of the materials or build because of a NDA he signed when he left who he was working for. 

We parted ways and it was not amicably. He made me question my decision in buying them after he left my employ on whether I actually got what I was paying for. I'm not sure if they are a source cord or high current cord and I am not sure if they measure what a well made cord should. Is there any mfg or other entity where I could get them tested? If they match up then I got a great deal as I have three 3' and one 5' power cord. Any help appreciated!

dadork

Showing 2 responses by chayro

Contact audioholics. I believe the owner offers consulting and testing, but it’s not free, as I’m sure you would expect. At lest discuss it with them and see if it’s possible to test for what you are looking for. 

What Audioholics would do is measure your wire against 10 gauge Belden wire and test for resistance, capacitance and inductance. Supposedly, the lower the better. FYI, he recently tested a 5K pair of Audioquest cables and found them to have inferior specs to Belden. I don’t recall him mentioning the sound. Sounds like it could be interesting to send your cables over to him. Just remember that specs and sound are not always correlated. Tube amps have much worse specs than solid state but a lot of people prefer them. Also keep in mind is that IMO what the science guys are really saying is that 2 pieces of wire that measure the same will sound the same. If the measurements significantly differ, the frequency response will be affected