Power cable for REL sub -- modestly priced

dave don’t waste money on an expensive cord for the rel

stay with budget, well made ones

put the serious $ elsewhere

Thanks ptrck887. I am making a list of cables for use with my REL T9i. I will try the Vovox. It sells for a reasonable price.

Some power cords out there are more cost than the subwoofer.

@ptrck If mine wasn’t class D, I’d probably be much more inclined to buy cords -- as I have with other gear.

FWIW, nice new video on how to make a cable by Tarun A British Audiophile: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfVYfC6tmcc

I own a pair of REL Gibraltar 2's.  These have 450W AB power amplification and they do and have reacted to different power cords.  I have had Cullen cables (decent!) high end Synergistic Research (better), Audience (OK) and finally have found a very reasonably priced "Pro Audio" pc made by a Swedish company.... Vovox Excelsus. (best) at $400. for a six foot cable.  A bargain by audiophile standards.  Changing power cords, atleast in my rig, really defined and helped me understand bass bloat and overhang.  I can now hear true taunt bass, actual notes not some boomy representation of bass....get rid of the overhang and the micro details in the mids and HF are more clearly defined, so it really cleans up the entire presentation.   YMMV.  

 $$$ owerades cables do do nothing....And for a sub even more so, if there was any interference. it would be at the high end and well you are talking about a sub,,,,If your sub turns on your good

I do have a pair of Rel S510 and other 
Rels in the past and cannot recall 
hearing any difference with upgraded 
power cords.
I think it has to with class d amplification.
 I am currently using Pangea power cords
with my Rels.

@a_shah -- your post's style seems inspired by Gertrude Stein. Viz., "We are able to notice that each one in a way carried a bundle, they were not a trouble to them nor were they all bundles as some of them were chickens some of them pheasants some of them sheep and some of them bundles, they were not a trouble to them and then indeed we learned that it was the principal recreation and they were so arranged that they were not given away, and to-day they were given away."

Have a pair of Rel S/812 I use Pangea 14 I believe on both units just because I have them did try PS audio AC —5 since I own them no difference although I do use 2 dedicated lines plus PS audio outlets & PS audio decket have not tried the originals that came with the unit Also own a couple of Zu audio Events PC Silver cables but have not tried them . Have heard good things about audio envy PC

Tried different power cables but made no difference with my REL.

So when I needed something longer I just got a basic cable from Amazon. 

Thanks, all. Here's the response from REL to my question, FYI:

REL: "Thank you for contacting us. You can use an extension cord with your REL subwoofer, though it is important that the extension cord is rated to handle the current draws requires by the subwoofer. The extension cord should at least match the specifications of the stock power cord that is provided with the subwoofer, and these specs are listed below:
- 3 conductor (including earth ground)
- 18 AWG wire
- 300V voltage rating
- 105°C temperature rating."

Hello, 
based on MC’s research and you need a low cost option I agree with djones51. Just grab a good extension cord. I like the idea of the IEC extension cord but I don’t like the guage step down from the factory AWG. REL probably made the 10AWG cable for 20 amp circuit. Usually if you are doing a longer run you should up the AWG of the wire. Home Depot makes extension cords for refrigerators or air conditioners. I would just use the extension cord from the wall to the REL plug. Later when money is freed up you can test some Better PC’s. 

+1 for Cullen Cables  www.cullencable.com/red-series/

You can also get an extension cord pretty reasonable.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24192

I've got 2 REL T/9i subs and I'm using 2m power cords by Viborg.  They're selling on Amazon from $45 for 2m.  When I need a longer cable I connect two together with an adapter. 

Many of the cable manufacturers offer ready made AC cords in 12 and 14 gauge (the 12 gauge cords usually require a separate AC outlet plug).  You can search Amazon for these plugs.  Also Amazon has hospital grade 14 gauge power cords ranging in price from $20 to $30 dependent on the brand for 10 ft lengths (named brands like Tripp Lite or Volex at the higher end).  These come with much more robust plugs.

D’Addario IEC to NEMA Plug Power Cable - 10 feet
12AWG Conductors

MSRP: $49.00 - currently on sale at Sweetwater (pro audio shop) online for $23.32 (including tax, free shipping)
[I just purchased one for my class-D powered sub]

I checked out that Pine Tree Audio - Stealth 1000 with 10AWG looks interesting, $150 for 10 feet, but it is heavier gauge wire.


PS. I really do enjoy my SR Master Coupler X2, it’s not just millercarbon

Try a new guy in town. Pine tree audio.com
Extremely affordable all components made in the USA, handmade in Vermont. I did my whole rig in them. It only took three days from the time I ordered until I showed up at my house.

I’ll have to look up how to do that. Thanks !

Holly cow... 30.00 make your own, with 10/3 awg SOOW or SJOOW
and hubbell ends. Heck you can even make it pretty, with some flex armor and shrink tube.. Cut to fit... About 1.00 a foot USD and US
made cable.. As good if not better than any other cable mfg. at 5 times the price.

Regards..

Ok, thanks. I guess the website could just be wrong. 

hilde45 OP455 posts05-15-2020 4:48pm"....But look at the Volex page:
https://www.volex.com/products/detail/v1625

It says:
Wire Gauge 10
Rated Current 7A, 10A, 12A, 13A, 15A
What could "Wire Gauge 10" mean except "wire gauge 10 AWG"?"

Every Volex V1625 power cable I’ve seen is 18AWG with a 10A rating. If it really was 10AWG, it would have a 30A rating.

The product you linked says a 10 gauge wire. But I think it's a misprint they seem to have a lot of cables labeled gauge 10.

@wlutke
@turnbowm
If I need a reality check, I’m happy to have one — because it makes this an easy purchase.

But look at the Volex page:
https://www.volex.com/products/detail/v1625

It says:
Wire Gauge 10
Rated Current 7A, 10A, 12A, 13A, 15A
What could "Wire Gauge 10" mean except "wire gauge 10 AWG"?

hilde45 OP454 posts05-15-2020 11:29am"....The cord that comes with the REL is a Volex 1625 cord: Wire Gauge = 10, rated current =10A....."

The Volex 1625 power cord is rated for 10A but is 18AWG, NOT 10AWG. Same for my Rel sub and I replaced it with a 14AWG PC which is rated for 15A.

Reality check. A 10 amp cord is 16 gauge, not 10 gauge. A 350 Watt amp like the REL has is going to pull maybe 3 amps. https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Leader-Universal-IEC320-Listed/dp/B07KBFF3RD/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&k...

Thanks, all.

Unlike many purchases, I’m trying not to overthink this one.

Well first of all if you have one try it and see. I doubt you will notice any difference.

I agree, which is why (a) I’m not especially interested in doing comparisons and why (b) I only want to know what will work, mechanically.

It’s because I *don’t* have one that I’m asking the question.

As a P.S. I don't want to overspend because I'm convinced that multiple subs is the direction I'll go, and I may sell this sub and get two others that match. So this is just about the *now*.

@millercarbon Do you think it would make a difference to a sub to go from the mfr supplied cord which is 10 gauge to a 14 gauge cord? If not, then this is going to be one inexpensive shopping experience (for once).

Well first of all if you have one try it and see. I doubt you will notice any difference. 

Here's why I say that. My Medusa power center is this Frankenstein monster that goes back a good 20+ years. Back then I played a lot of CD and had wired the thing with an isolation transformer for the CD outlet. CD doesn't need a lot of power so it was a 25W transformer. Silver wire. The wires going in and out of this are not much thicker than a hair. We had a word for this typically thick and curly sort of hair back in the day, pretty sure not supposed to use it any more. Pity. Would come in handy right now. Anyway point is all the power going to the CD outlet had to go through this 25W transformer with the, uh, hair thin wire.

Can you see where this is going? When the 2 Dayton sub amps were added: Oh there's an empty outlet let's use that one. And the bass was.... awesome. Absolutely awesome. Except, sometimes at the highest levels the lowest bass would clip. Rather obviously. Other than that, anything less than earth shattering levels everything seemed fine. 

Eventually I open the Medusa up to do something and discover to my horror I was running two thousand watt amps off one 25W transformer! 

Needless to say I re-wired and with the amps now plugged into an outlet with 14 ga wire there never is any clipping, ever, and the bass does have a little more slam. But nowhere near what you might think. In fact I would lay odds if I posted the question what will happen if two thousand watt amps are run through one 25W transformer with hair thin wire everyone would say, RU nuts its gonna explode! Burn out. Or worse. Anything but what actually happened, which was nothing.

Try what you have. Be careful with the advice you get around here. DYODD.

This should work pick the length you want.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=5292

@tvad Thanks. I don't expect to hear a difference. Just want to make sure it will work with the sub, mechanically. (That's probably a super dumb question, but if I clear it out of the way, I'm good to go.)

@millercarbon Do you think it would make a difference to a sub to go from the mfr supplied cord which is 10 gauge to a 14 gauge cord? If not, then this is going to be one inexpensive shopping experience (for once).

Before you suggest high dollar cords, please know that I'm not a skeptic, but am tapped out for power cords. And, for what it's worth, I had a Pangea AC9 1 meter power cord which I experimented with using my REL. Made zero difference. In fact, in an exchange with REL, they said this: "A while back, REL tested some third party power cords with our subs but did not find a noticeable impact."

So REL tested "some" third party PC and "did not find a noticeable impact." Probably because power cords tend not to have a noticeable impact with subs. Another example of just how different low bass is from everything else. 

Look at my system. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 All that crazy stuff- Cones, elevators, tweaks of every kind- every single one of them was tried and compared and proven or its not there. So what's not there? Check out the crap IC going to the subs. Cheapest IC in the system. Absolute trash. Tried a bunch of others, no difference, so trash it is. Subs don't care. 

Notice Electraglide fat boy PCs going to the Dayton sub amps? Know why they're there? Because I had em, just sitting in a drawer, and they're the perfect length. Only reason. Notice cheap gray crap rubber power cord going to the Talon Roc sub? Guess why. I had it. Its long enough. It gets power to the sub. Save your money. Buy whatever extension cord you can find that's decent gauge and save your money for where it will make a difference.

@tvad Thanks. The cord that comes with the REL is a Volex 1625 cord: Wire Gauge = 10, rated current =10A.
However, the Newark cord is rated 14 gauge and rate for 15A.
Not sure if a thinner cord would make a difference for the REL.

@jl35 "Used 2 foot cord" sounds like a country song. ;-)

I use an old Tekline, but they are hard to find now...also very happy with the low cost Transparent Audio power cords (speaker cable and IC’s too)...it’s just hard to find a used 12 foot cord...

@lalitk No reason I didn't mention. Stock power cord is fine, but it's too short. Thanks for the suggestions.
@tvad Longer means, say, 12 feet? I need some room to move it around in a space with limited electrical outlets. Even 10 feet would be ok.

@hilde45,

Please look into Audio Envy, Cullen and Signal Cables. They all make good quality PC’s that should be well within your budget.

Any particular reason, you chose not use the stock power cord that came with REL?

PS: By not excluding Synergistic PC in your post, you left the door open for millercarbon shilling for SR master coupler 😉