powercords

@jw944ts - Here’s what I have found over the last 12 years that I have been assessing/building power cables and power supplies...

It is the power supply of the component that dictates how much "improvement" will be achieved by implementing a quality power cable.

e.g.
Amplifiers - "generally" have a more capable power supply than a source component may have - e.g. quality solid state amps "generally" have a very large transformer that has lots of headroom (excess capability) to handle peak transient signals - and therefore the quality of the power cable should be of the highest quality in order to achieve a noticeable improvement in sound quality

Source components "generally" have a less capable power supply than an amp and therefore will show improvement, even with a less capable power cable

Components that use the little walwart power supplies "generally" benefit greatly from a better quality linear power supply with a quality power cable.

BTW - I have used the term "generally" because there are always exceptions to "the rule"

Now, even if the power supply in a component "looks good" there really is no telling just how much improvement can be achieved until you try a quality power cable...e.g.

I have a Simaudio Moon LP 5.3 phono stage - the power supply uses what looks like a quality toroid transformer and is isolated from the audio circuits by a metal divider. However - Simaudio also sells a separate power supply, so this told me that improvements could be achieved. Using a high quality power cable on this component provided a significant improvement in dynamics, clarity, details, bass depth, smoothness and imaging.

By comparison, my Bluesound Node 2i has a very small footprint, so I assumed it was not as "capable" as my phono stage, but to my surprise, with a quality power cable it performs to a similar level of fidelity.

By comparison, my Bryston Amp has three separate internal power supplies, so I had to employ a power cable of the highest quality to achieve a "noticeable improvement", but the "amount" of improvement observed was much less and was more in the area of imaging, details and clarity.

Unfortunately it is not easy to tell whether a particular power cable will provide significant improvements and even if it works with one component does not mean it will provide the same benefits on every component.

If you buy the very best cables for every component, you may be investing more than is required for some components.

My power cables are all DIY that use an unconventional geometry to achieve a very high level of performance, so they are not suited for everyone

Power cables can be very hit-or-miss and you can end up paying lots of money for cables that may provide some improvement, but may not not necessarily come close to attaining the best out of each component

Try to get loaner cables from an audio store to audition in home, or borrow from audio buddies

If DIY is not your thing - I consider Nordost and In-akustik to be two of the best commercial brands available. Another company that also sells a more affordable power cable that I believe to be pretty good is KLE Innovations.

Good luck with your quest - Steve

@jw944ts - If you know what to look for you can shorten the search a little. But so many times the various brands DO NOT publish the Geometry and metallurgy of their cables.

In-akustik is one company that does publish this info simply because it would take a lot of skill and very custom parts to replicate their cables

As for the other brands - it can be hit and miss.

I was fortunate enough to attend a Nordost Seminar at a local audio show and heard the improvement first hand that their power cables made

As for the KLE Innovaitons cables - I have tried most of their IC and speaker cable lineup and they are very good, so my recommendation of their product "assumes" their power cables are also very good based on their other products.

As for my DIY cables - http://image99.net/blog/

I am told by other who have adopted them that they are among the best PC's out there, but they are a little more complicated to build than simply attaching a couple of plugs to a piece of bulk three core wire.

But if you are reasonably competent with a variable speed drill, soldering iron, crimping tool and can attach plugs in the correct polarity - then they may be the best bang for the buck.

Unfortunately, the liability and certification aspect associated to power cables prevents me from building them for others

Regards - Steve

Sorry - unfortunately they all still have permanent homes :-)

So far, the more recent upgrades only required that I change out the live conductor, so the neutral and ground wires are still the originals from a couple of years ago, so there are no orphans - sorry.

Unfortunately I cannot even recommend anyone that will build them for you - even the most experienced technician I talked with would not tackle power cables for some reason.

Regards - Steve

@jw944ts - My Source DIY cables are designed to perform to their very best abilities regardless of the type of source component.

They use...
- Insulation(s) on the live wire that have very low dielectric constant
- a solid silver wire for the live conductor
- a geometry that minimizes cables distortions and noise
- a larger gauge silver plated copper neutral wire(s)

I can see that with other cable geometries, some cables may in fact perform better on digital sources, compared to analogue sources.

Whilst some people may offer an opinion that the mains signal is constant at 50/60Hz, so it should make NO difference as to which source you use a specific cable for, I believe that the current drawn by a component contributes to cable noise and therefore the geometry, type of metal used in the wire and the insulation could render one cable more affective for a given source.

A digital component would have a current draw peaks that coincide with the digital signal + analogue signal peaks, whereas analogue components would have current peaks only in the audible frequency range

Unfortunately I cannot provide any concrete proof of this and with conventional cables it is impossible to "forecast" which cable might work better for either type of source component.

I have compared my own DIY cables having an 18 gauge solid silver live wire to an almost identical cable with a 2 x 18 gauge solid copper and found them to make no difference on my streamer, but I have not tried the same test on my phono stage as yet.But I pprefer solid silver wire for the live conductor in my cables used on source components

But please note - the wires I use in my cables are extremely high quality, so my observations may not be the case with commercially available products.

When it comes to power cables I think it is very important to have the quietest cable, which is probably the In-akustik for a commercial brand, or a brand that uses a similar spacing geometry

Nordost has a fine range cables that may well prove more beneficial for digital vs. analogue sources

Hope that helps - Steve..

@jw944ts - In-Akustic is a great choice. Resale is always a bonus :-)

Even though I have never auditioned them, I like their geometry, design and construction methods, and I understand from other Agon members that have owned them, that they perform exceptionally well i.e. compared to other "established"  brands

Happy Listening - Steve