Power Cord Stress

If you want to try a different power cable, try a Virtual Image "Pile Driver". These cables look like Nordost speaker cables on steroids, yet are flexible enough to bend them into about an 8 inch diameter circle with little/no effort. They are truely awesome power cables, I ditched my Ensemble Mega PC's for these.

If the height allows you can support the heavy power cord with a 35mm film carnisters used individualy or stacked until they give you the proper height to take the pressure off the connection. I used it with a PS Audio lab cable II.

Some of my components do use that twist on connection but for the others that don't I found little plastic inexpensive handles at Home Depot that are shaped like a sort of long U or upside down goal post that were the perfect height to lay the fat heavy PC on. I placed little plastic stick on furniture protectors (little dots) under the legs of the plastic handles as not to do any damage to the Zoethecus rack and amp stand. It worked very well and looks like it was made for such a thing.. It relieved all the stress off the IEC and cable... I don't know about at the wall outlet.. I wasn't so concerned with that but I do occassionaly have to push the male connector back into the socket.. Those after market cables and cords can do much harm sometimes.. Always use common sense when trying an improvment that seems unorthdox,,, Like a 20LB 3 inch thick power cord. Same applies for adapters and bananna plugs (the WBT uses a strain relieve while many home brew types think of no such thing and end up damageing your Binding Post),,, thick heavy ICs... Got to use comon sense and don't take all for granted that your not going to get long term damage using many after market products... Points and spikes can do damage if not cafeful.. Use common sense... Bad enough to spend 300 on a tweek of the week but to have it damage your 3000 component is ridiculous.

Two PC's makers that offer flexible cables that don't move your components, Kimber and Blue Circle. I have both and they not only sound great but are flexible and don't weigh 5 lbs. (like the Virtual Dynamics Power 2 that I also have). What a monster!

On a mechanical level IEC connections suck. For manufacturers they are great, cheap and "universal", but, for the user they cause nothing but trouble as, mechanically, they are garbage. You pay $1000+ for a power cord and are reduced to using cable ties to keep your gear plugged in. Now that is sad.

Why not use twist lock connectors? They have been used in hospitals, industrial, military, and the electronics industries for years. They use a positive lock, have a huge contact area, and most are self cleaning. The only down size is that the equipment recepticles can be rather large. But,lets face it; on most pieces of gear that is unimportant (further, compact sized units are available).
Compare a NEMA L-5 connector (15-30A 125v) to an IEC. Its like a MB 420 versus a Yugo.

When are we going to start demanding connectors that works?

If you want a light weight and flexible power cord that sounds as good as the heavy weights, try the Pure Note Sigma, www.purenote.com/powercords.htm

There are peel and stick pads that serve as mounts for tie wraps sold at Home Depot and other hardware stores. My favorite spot to mount these is on the back of my equipment shelves, securing them with a tiny wood screw once position is perfect. All that is left is to draw a tie wrap through the mount and around the cable you wish to support.

If the mount pad wont reach, loop two tie wraps together. This is a very simple inexpensive solution, it's non magnetic and electrically non conductive. If you make a mistake just cut the tie wrap with side cutters and draw a fresh one through.

Every interconnect and power cable in my system is supported in this way. Not only does this keep the weight from pulling on the equipment, it prevents damage to RCA connectors and the connection pins inside the IEC.

If your situation has gone too far and the IEC female is NOT shrunk wrapped from the factory (varies brand to brand), simply unscrew the cover and pinch the copper contacts to nearly closed position. Obviously this is done with power off and requires care and even pressure when reinserting into your equipment. Use common sense in replacing the IEC cover, with attention to it's alignment and proper tensioning of the screw that holds it together.

I have a wood rack & screwed a small plastic telephone cable clamp directly above the IEC jack & used a shoestring w/two half hitches & tied up the IEC ends of the PC's. That holds the biggest PC in place.

I recently purchased the 688 PC made by TG Audio & it's nice & lightweight in addition to its being a very nice sounding PC.