Power Cord choices

When discussing power amps with Richard at Shunyata, they promote going up their line for power amps vs with line level components. Venom is at the bottom of their line. NR is a good idea. Be patient and you can find Alpha NR used and a rare 15 amp Sigma NR.

@vonhelmholtz : I listen to music - not AC cords!

I agree I can't see how after traveling who knows how many mile over whatever cable the power company uses and what's in your home how changing the last 3' will do anything.

@jasonbourne71

I would hope that they don’t fall for “this crap” without purchasing with full refund rights for at least 30 days and find the difference worth the monetary outlay. Buy , listen and decide for yourself.  Personally, I’m not a big fan of buying a single power cord and expecting a large difference.  I purchased a power conditioner with cables and this made a large difference in my house.  Upgrading to higher level cables within the power system made lesser differences.  Easiest upgrade noted on main power amp.  

The difference a power cord can make in your system is very large, particularly on the power amp. Power cords like interconnects and speaker wire can be considered in a couple different ways: quality and effect in your system. My meaning here is that greater quality usually means a greater impact on the sound quality… but it does not mean the effect is positive to your system / to your ear.

Generally you must try some different ones. I recommend the lending library at the cable company or local dealer. I would try used cords. Include Cardas (a bit warmer) and AudioQuest storm series. Typically you get used at 50%… putting you in a much higher quality category. The AudioQuest Storm series has taken the community by (sorry) storm… they are such a big jump forward in sound quality. Also, I recommend DHLabs… they make really great products in your price range.

My experience with the lower end Shunyata has not been good… as in, they just don’t seem to be much of an improvement… at least in the systems I have tried them in.

On my system, I spent a year trying different cords until I found the AudioQuest Hurricane, not in your price range. But the effect was so profound and did exactly what I wanted… complete transparency, with a dead quiet background. Adding power cords to my components had a much smaller but important impact. I used Transparent on those and they did exactly what I needed them to do. And these all replaced Audio Research’s very heavy duty stock 20amp cords… the difference was really important and very positive.

@johnto Flip that idea around.  It is the first 5-6 of power that your component sees on it's way to the power generation source.  I hypothesize our components are making a fair bit of noise internally, which propagates back into the your house AC, and into your other components.  The better cords filter out more of this back propagation.  I have found the Shunyata NR cords to provide a noticeable improvement in sound quality.  This hypothesis (not original to me) might be the reason why.

Thank you all for your feedback thus far. I really appreciate it. Has anyone had any experience with Wywires such as their HC power cords? 

Doesn't matter. Jasonbourne71 is exactly right.

I envy the naysayers who have so much more money 

than us who belive without a doubt that cables 

matter a great deal. Having said that, it's sad that 

your hearing is so comprised.

Sinatra, try Audio Envy and Triode wire labs power cords.

They offer a 30 day audition trial.

Let’s ignore the comments from these different jasonbournes when it comes to cables and keep the discussion on track instead of feeding their egos and they’ll go away on their own. 
 

@sinatra what amp are we talking about? What’s the rest of your system? It’s very hard to describe the sound of a cable unless you try it in your system and hear what that sonic signature is.

I agree with the posters above recommending going up shunyata line on a used market (Delta or Alpha) and trying several different power cords from other manufacturers.
 

The comment on The Venom by Shunyata for a power amp rings true. I use Acoustic Zen Power Chords and the Krakatoa ll were fantastic for source components but fell apart sound wise when I went to A bias on my Plinius. I tried a Cardas Golden Reference and it held its own on the amp but Eventually bought an Acoustic Zen Gargantua ll and it takes everything I throw at it.

I have never tried a Wywire power chord but I do use his Diamond Co axial on my Transport to DAC. Good quality great sound. 

Get something up the chain if you are going to slap it on a high power amp.

Good luck.

Would be great to know what your budget is. 

Try going to The Cable Company and look at their USED power Chords. They will send you an array of Power Chords to try. If you like one send the others back. I bought my Audience inter connects and phono cable there. They were manufacture samples or from audio shows.

@qdrone , +1.

Good company to deal with.

Good advice. 

I am currently using Shunyata Venoms and Cullens, and am thinking about upgrades. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for Zavfino speaker cables, does anyone have experience with their power cables? The marketing sounds good. 😀

I also would be interested in thoughts on the merits of using longer power cables. I have seen comments that shorter ones may not be as effective. 

You might want to peruse HIFISHARK.com for an affordable used TOL power chord. Buying used stretches your money.

Powercords do matter, but they can only degrade sound.  Once you get an adequate power cord, the sound will not be degraded.  

Many expensive power cords have all kinds of fancy claims and when you ask them what gauge they are they say "14, anything more than that is a waste" which tells me they don't understand the issue. 

But don't think you can tune the sound with a power cord.  If you are trying to tune your sound with power, you are degrading sound with inadequate cord.

Jerry

Call TheaterMax and order one from the Cardas Clear line. 

Call Jim from wisdom cable , He makes good pc at reasonable price. And He will explain to you what his cable does. He is a good guy to deal with. Audio envy pc are also good.I like dealing with captain.

Thank you everyone for your responses.  The amp I have currently is an Aragon 8008bb mk2.

@sinatra try a used TWL Seven Plus. Good value and good improvement over stock cable. 

The new RSX Benchmark power cord at $250 may be a great option. Roger Skoff, who developed then sold the highly regarded XLO cables company, has somewhat recently started RSX.  My impression is that this time around Roger is trying to give great price/performance for his customers.  

Budget???

If you want to try silver, LAVRiCABLES GRAND 30 CORE SILVER MAINS seem to offer very high price/performance:

https://www.lavricables.com/cables/grand-30-core-silver-mains-eu-us-power-cable/

Saving up for Coherent Systems (UK) 4D and 6D power cables.

WyWires Silver Juice 2 HC is known for its high-current capabilities and is designed to provide clean power delivery to high-powered amplifiers. It features silver conductors and a robust construction aimed at minimizing electrical interference and optimizing performance.

So，I will choose Wywires Silver Juice 2 HC if i was you.