Power cord connectors

I have Oyaide 004, Oyaide F1 and also Furutech FI50. Oyaide is better. I have a Purist Audio 20th Ann with Oyaide F1 and 1 with topmodel of Furutech FI50. The Oyaide has clear more dynamics and also more detail. I will sell the FI50 and go for an extra set of F1.

Can you hear a difference between your various Cardas Golden power cords with different connectors?

I have not tried that yet as I am just getting the them. I just bought a Tara Labs RSC Air and probably will have the Wattgate Basic on it, so no doubt I will put those in my big box of junk for delivery to the Goodwill and get something else to put on them. Then I will see what happens I guess. I bought it after posting this thread and was delivered 8-6 but I am on the road and be home this weekend.

Can you hear a difference between your various Cardas Golden power cords with different connectors?

I just found out that interconnect RCA connectors also play a significant role in performance.

I had read about Eichman connectors and their supposed impact on performance.

The design point for the Eichman's is that the large neutral sleeve of a standard actually limit the ability to conduct electrical current', so they use a polymer body for the shell and have a small pin embedded in the inner side that makes contact

I purchased a set of 4 Silver Bullet RCA's and installed them using WBT high content silver solder onto my Stager Silver Solids interconnet.

The result was ...
- a significant improvement in spatial image in all three dimensions
- noticeable improvement in textural detail - especially venue acoustics
- a warmer presentation - especially strings and sibilance
- deeper and better control of bass frequencies

All that from an RCA connector!

Granted - changing from a gold plated brass RCA to a silver played a large part in the fine details, but I believe the Eichman design is largely responsible for the improvement in spatial image

I will be adding DIN connectors to one end of the RCA's in the next couple of weeks - so if the Eichman "small pin theory" is correct, performance should not be impacted - since the DIN connector has small pins

Why DIN? - that is the preferred connector for Naim components - I have a Naim amp

Ok I bought a Pangea Audio - AC14 from someone that listed a bunch, I'll see what happens. For $30 why not ??

Do they matter and if so how much do they matter in the ratio of the cable itself ??

...

Speaking of the importance of connectors should include the option of their exclusion as well(at least as a principle reminder), insofar this is practical - something many seem to overlook, and not always for practical reasons.. I know stripping ones audio components of their power sockets(or connectors in general) to give room for hardwiring isn't what most would do, for several reasons(electrical safety regulations to be one of them, I gather), but think about it; when speaking of connectors their speculated/reported importance into sound influence often clouds the fact the they are simply mere assets of convenience and practicality - and, strictly speaking, are therefore unwanted - and so are less likely to be thought of in terms of their negation. Gadget-obsession perhaps, to put it differently. It's not that I question some importance of and sonic difference between connectors, which I understand your inquiry into, but simply, where this would be possible and practical in your case, to invest the thought into excluding the connectors and instead using screw terminals or similar for direct connection between cables. My powerstrip is configured this way, without connectors, meaning the one end of my power cords are connector-less.

I have build power cords using Furutech power connectors and was never disappointed. They use the best audiophile grade materials with great mechanical design. They will provide better bass resolution and tightness over run of the mill stock manufacturer power cords.

Oyaide and Furutech are good upgrade plugs but at a cost.

Different plugs can change the sound of a given power cord quite significantly. I ditched the stock cheapo Wattgates on power cords from Sunny Cables (P600) and Cerious Technology in favor of Oyaide 046 male plugs and IeGO 8085 female plugs (gold plated). Both cords opened up quite a bit with greater detail, better focus, and a wider, deeper soundstage. The top end also had more air. After hearing the improvements with the better plugs, I couldn't possibly go back to the stock plugs.

Currently, I don't use manufactured power cords. I've made my own using wire from Mundorf and some heavy gauge solid core silver plated copper. I still like the Oyaide 046 plugs but find the IeGO 8095 to be tops for detail while taking the edge off. This is a fantastic plug. You can find the IeGO stuff at acoustic-fun(dot)com and I highly recommend the 8095 (rhodium over solid silver). Their 8075 (rhodium over copper) is also very good but looses a bit of detail compared to the 8095 but is about half the price. I no longer use their gold plated plugs (or any gold plated plugs) as they loose top end air and bottom octave detail compared to the other plugs mentioned.

All in all, if you find a power cord you like but find something lacking, you can take its performance up a notch or two by upgrading plugs though you might very well change its entire sonic character by changing the plugs as well. My advice is to purchase a few plugs and experiment. Its kinda horrifying to chop up an expensive power cord but the likely improvements are well worth it in my experience. Good luck!

I have heard of Pangea and are on the same $$$ platform + / - as the Monster Cable Powerline 200 that I have. The Monster Cable choked the life out of my preamp on a major scale although it seemed to work pretty good when I had SS.

I believe oyaide plugs for power cords are very good.

I recently purchased some gold plated copper connectors off of ebay and found they provided a noticeable improvement and only $24 for mains and iec - only took a week to arrive - great service

Have them on my DIY Furutech cables

They replaced some gold plated brass connectors

In my case they did not make any difference in my tube phono as well as tube phono preamp. They did eliminate a strange ticking noise that my tube power amp was making.
However they made a huge difference in both of my class D sub amps. Tightened up the bass and in one case really beefed up the very lowest octave.

Well, one thing's for sure, those big hollow dumaflaches resonate.