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Looking For 18awg Audiophile Power Cable Options

Hi Friends,

I'm trying to find some 18awg audiophile power cables and am looking for recommendations. It seems the only ones I can find are of the AudioQuest variety, but I don't like the sound of AudioQuest cables, as they sound too sterile to me (or something, it's hard for me to describe).

I have a music production system and while I use expensive Triode Wire Labs Digital American cables on the DAC, ADC, and production computer/DAW with fantastic and stable results, I've had problems with my other components running on any thicker-gauged cables (powered KRK monitors, microphone power supply, and preamps).

I've tried several different cables on these other components, but I find any cable with a gauge thicker than 18awg results in issues of sound stability. The system needs to run for 12, sometimes 18 hours at a time, and I find that thicker-gauge cables, after about 8 hours, start to render the sound compressed, maybe slightly overloaded, and not as open, which is problematic for mixing and recording.

I started using some 18awg cables with hospital-grade plugs, and while they're definitely a big step up from the stock cables, and the stability of the sound is great, I'm just wondering if there's any 18awg audiophile-type cables out there that would give me improved performance, smoother top end, etc., just from better noise/RFI rejection. The sibilants were smoother when I used the audiophile cables, I think from better shielding, but the stability of the sound of system and vocal chain is of the upmost importance.

It's weird but I guess it has something to do with the digital components handling the thicker gauged cables better for some reason, compared to the analog components.

Any ideas/recs appreciated, thanks for your time!

 

128x128acar83
boomerbillone
355 posts
 

Hello acar83.  There are snap on ferrite blocks that prevent very high frequency signals from getting through cables. They fit over your power cords and are very inexpensive. I suspect, as some have suggested, that garbage generated in the power supplies of some of your gear age getting into the innerds of other equipment and causing the problems you mention. I have had this sort of problem in some of my gear and have had to remove some well reviewed gear to solve the problem. Putting ferrite blocks on all the power cords can't hurt is might be a very inepensive solution. I live near a Navy base and have about two volts of garbage on my power and phone lines. Good Luck!

lemonhaze
416 posts
 

Hey OP, what you describe does not make much sense. Sounds like you may need some mains clean up and there are many products that will help. You are under the mistaken impression that heavier/ thicker cables will swamp the system with massive amounts of current.  It does not work that way.   Also do not assume that if wire is able to deliver, say 10 amps (a steady state rating) that it will be adequate for transient dynamics which is what music is, as you know.

A component will only draw the current it needs dependent on the demands of the system, in other words if you connected to the mains with heavy duty truck battery jumpers the system would use the same amount of current.

Start eliminating and narrowing your search by simply connecting a multi-meter to your amplifier terminals with the meter set to DC. Should read no more than a few millivolts and ideally zero. 

A word of caution!  Any cable thread should carry a health warning. Cables make a difference and to me power cables carry the biggest rewards.

tubeglow19
9 posts
 

The hot rail is not fused, the neutral rail is.

tubeglow19
9 posts
 

Your amp is regulated and pre.Thin wire can if smaller than the smallest wire in your equipment can impede current. Electricity has interesting qualities in that noise accumulated on the wire can be stripped of with different techniques in the construction of the cord.

tubeglow19
9 posts
 

Hot rail is not fuse so whats really going on here?

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