Newsflash: it doesn't matter. I'm drowning in snake oil here. If someone wants to spend a ton of money simply because they want a pretty looking cable, great, that's their business. But let's not pretend it's going to make anything sound different. We should be helping people here, not enabling the dark side of this industry.
Power cable Advice...
Hi - I am upgrading my PC's from the basic stock to something higher end. Working with a budget up to $1,500 per cable (used will get me bigger bang for the buck) for the following products:
- Pass Labs X250.5 Power Amp
- Atma-Sphere MP-3 Preamp
- Electrocompaniet EMC1
TIA. Joey
85 responses Add your response
You cannot do better at ANY price than a Cerious Tech Lumniscate cable. it runs about $1599 but there are deals from time to time - particulate if purchasing multiple cables. Lumniscate cables complete transformed my stem and were if particular benefit with my digital gear and preamplifier. You will thank me later. A hidden "gem in the rough." |
That's a pretty big jump from stock and quite a large budget dedicated to AC cables. Just something to think about is that you can make your own cables for a fraction of the cost and have more control over experimentation with what works best for your system. There are endless debate on plating materials, cable design and even shielding (such as whether to ground at one end or both). As an example, Supra's SPC 2.5 cable (silver plated copper) terminated with IeGO's gold plated copper plugs and shielding grounded to the mains side is an excellent cable and will be a tangible improvement over stock. Material costs are maybe $150, at best. Heck, you can even start with Viborg's plugs and see the different effects first. If you like the combo, you can go all-in on more exotic cables and plugs. Personally, I opted to add voltage regulation/power conditioning over pre-made exotic cables and happy with the results. |
If you have all the money that you want/need, go ahead and blow whatever you want on power cables. But it doesn't seem that you are in that category. I have a Pass 250.8, ARC REF 6 and Sabrina X speakers. In my system, I have heard a decent, audible improvement in the bass when switching from stock to an upscale PC. By no means is it a "blow me away" difference, but it was certainly an improvement. Is the minor improvement worth $5k, 10K or more? Certainly not to me. I have had Morrow MAP 3 PC's, Audience PowerChords and ultimately, Shunyata Alpha v.1 and V.2. The difference between Stock and the Audience cables was noticeable. The difference between the Audience and Shunyata (on my MSB DAC and Pass amp) was not, or barely. An Audience on my REL s/510 v. stock was not noticeable at all. The biggest difference that I noticed was replacing the ARC stock PC with a Shunyata Alpha v.2, which was a noticeable improvement. My advice: don't buy into the hype. Purchase used, and stick to the <$1500 used market. I'm sure that, depending on your system, there may be a difference between the Shunyata Alpha's and Sigma's for example, but whether that minor difference is worth the $$$$ is a judgment call only you can make. I highly recommend the Shunyata Alpha's and a sweet spot in the used PC market. I'm very happy with them. |
I have not been impressed with Audio Quest in the past. But the Storm generation is a completely different story and a breakthrough. It does not shift the tonal balance, it dramatically drops the noise floor, without imparting a sonic signature, so more dynamic and quiet. The Hurricane and Dragon have been the buzz of the industry the last couple years for good reason. I suspect there are at least two innovations… the battery thing and the plugs on each end are really tight… I mean really tight. You’ll have to hold the front end of your fifty pound or heavier amp so not to move it when plugging in. The Hurricane on my power amp quickly brought my year long search for the right power cord to an end. |
mclinnguy, No don't own any shares I just know what's the best cable and audio quest is definitely not as good as anything OCC single crystal and what's even better is the rectangular OCC single crystal wire, even better than the round, neotech has two flagship products called the Amazon which is the rectangular silver OCC wire and the Sahara which is the rectangular OCC copper wire, I have the Sahara and it just blew away my round OCC wire from harmonic technology, It's not cheap though, The silver rectangular wire was put up against an $18,000 wire and it beat it by one of the retailers in Quebec, but the silver wire at 9,000 US for 2 m speaker wire is definitely not cheap, The copper wire is half price. |
I may have misspoke. Seems like the 40% off ended. Guess I was lucky. Here is there current web page advertisement. Seems a little confusing. I would still callAlex (proprietor) at the phone listed on the web page. He will be very helpful. He is just a nice person. Maybe he will cut a deal. Excellent tech, good looking, flexible, durable 7AG power cord. I have high current on the integrated amp and power conditioner and digital on the server and DAC. I use we platinum full loom except for speaker cables. 40% DISCOUNT ENDS SOON40% off all WyWires products has ended. Keep checking for 2024 deals.
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@magnuman I am beginning to think you own shares in the company licensed to produce it. It is worth noting that the highly regarded Audioquest Hurricane and Dragon’s do not use Ohno continuous cast copper (or silver in the Dragon) |
It might be worth looking at Zavfino, and I'd reach out to them for some input. I am breaking in their Majestic and Prima power cords as we speak and they are looking really promising, and their top of the line Silver Dart cable looks extremely interesting: 10 awg, OCC copper with OOC silver wrap, cryo treated, graphene dielectric and shield, 1.25 inch thick, high voltage break in, $1,000 for each 1.5 meter cable, 15% restocking fee if you are not happy. |
@jsalerno277 Where are the WyWires on sale for 40% off? |
If you're going to change your cables whether it's interconnects or power cords or speaker wire you should get OCC single crystal wire which is far superior to anything OFC at any price, and you're in the right price range for single crystal wire, some of the companies to look at are Acoustic Zen and harmonic technology Zafvino and Neotech especially, they make OCC single crystal wire for all the other companies. |
I found this to be the most ridiculous post in this string.
pennfootball71209 posts $1500 per cable gets you midfi cables. You a are better off putting that money into a 4500 pair of speaker cables. better value for money are the 500-650 dollar power cables from Synergistic research foundation and they beat AQ an Nordost. Nordost make good cabels only after 10-30k! You don’t need to spend more than that and won’t get better sound. Most good power cables start at about 3500-5k before they really improve things enough to justify their price. Kubala sosna reailization is in that range then Synergistic Research Galileo and SRX level after that from 6-8k! Shunyata is meh compared to KS and SR. Ansuz makes great power cables as well try the X2 in your price range. Ansuz is an evolution of Nordost and all of their cables beat everything Nordost has in their price range. |
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$1500 per cable gets you midfi cables. You a are better off putting that money into a 4500 pair of speaker cables. better value for money are the 500-650 dollar power cables from Synergistic research foundation and they beat AQ an Nordost. Nordost make good cabels only after 10-30k! You don’t need to spend more than that and won’t get better sound. Most good power cables start at about 3500-5k before they really improve things enough to justify their price. Kubala sosna reailization is in that range then Synergistic Research Galileo and SRX level after that from 6-8k! Shunyata is meh compared to KS and SR. Ansuz makes great power cables as well try the X2 in your price range. Ansuz is an evolution of Nordost and all of their cables beat everything Nordost has in their price range. |
Another for WyWires Platinum HC - High Current version. Only cable I have that has bettered them is a Nordost Valhalla II. Not a fair comparison but the WyWires more than hold their own and for a lot less money. If it wasn’t for the great deal I received on the Valhalla I wouldn’t have bought it… it’s better but not that much better. |
@ghdprentice I’m currently running a Shunyata Venom HC for my amp (direct to wall and on its own dedicated 20amp line), and have always had good experiences with AQ.
What do you like about the hurricane? I’m wanting to step up on the PC front for the amp and trust your opinion. Usually prefer copper which brings more natural tones in my experience. |
I recommend getting an Audio Quest Hurricane just for your amp to start with. The improvement you get will completely shock you. The largest difference you will hear will be on your amp. Once you do this, it is likely you will want to re-think your investment strategy. Either go Hurricane for the other components or drop down a level for the components to reduce the overall expenditure. The improvement on the amp will likely convince you to the former strategy.
I spent a year auditioning high end amp power cords and was dissatisfied with all. Each either failed to improve the sound in all dimensions or tipped the tonal balance in some way. Then a minute with a Hurricane my search was instantly over. |
@mclinnguy the Gargantua II is a good all rounder. It’s a bit dark sounding with emphasis on bass. If a system calls for this kind of sound, it’ll work wonders. But don’t expect insane instrument separation like you’d get from the similarly priced Nordost (retail price that is). It’s thick and syrupy that’s my recollection of it. At some point I had GII throughout my whole system. May be that’s the reason I sold it…was too much of a good thing. |
@teleos go with Nordost Norse 2. A bit fuller sounding than the series 1… I like it a lot better. I would say if you’re upgrading power cables try Frey 2 on amp and Heimdall 2 on preamp and cd player. If you want a lot fuller sound the the AQ stuff should work. |
