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upgraded power cables after a power conditioner

Hello all

I am curious what your thoughts are regarding the importance of upgraded power cables placed between the power conditioner and the hifi components. Will the power conditioner be enough (it's an "upgraded" Isotek Sigmas with Furutech rodium plugs) or will adding upgraded power cables improve things some. Do I upgrade the cables?? Or shall I upgrade the plugs on the stock cables? I have run a dedicated mains supply to the hifi from the breaker box, did the whole fuse upgrade thing in every component, got the AQ Sky and AQ Wild interconnects everywhere, using AQ Rockefeller speaker cables which are due for upgrading soon - so the next thing to consider is the power cables. I await your input. Thank you!
ronaldp
7 responses Add your response
gshepardbuster's avatar
gshepardbuster
620 posts
 
From my Hydra 4 to my preamp and cdp I can tell no difference between AQ NRG 10 and cheaper cords. From the wall direct to my amps the NRGs are great. I suspect on low power components,ie, cdp and preamps one can get away with lesser cords from the power conditioner as the voltage is already stabilized/filtered. I already have dedicated lines so maybe this is why I'm able to use lesser PCs from conditioner. The rest of my cabling is AQ wild blue/wildwood so if there was a difference to hear the cabling is not the bottleneck. Of course YMMV.
audiofreakgeek
115 posts
 

The upgraded power cords are very important.

I use the best power conditioners on the market and the difference between stock cords and high performance ones are very audible.

The AQ power cords are not very effective, they are nicely made but provide very little real improvement.

I used Sound String, really great for the price, Kubala Sosna, and several others.
Post removed 
ronaldp OP
7 posts
 
Hmmmm...ok...so the upgrade in power cables after the power conditioner is not as critical as outlet to components, which makes sense, but may also system dependent then?? The power cable cable brands you speak of are not available here in South Africa (beside the AQ of course), which makes it harder to demo the brands you speak of. Will hunt around and see whats available locally.

Have any of you tried making your own power cables? Or is it best to buy a quality brand cable?

Thanks for your replies
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,303 posts
 
IF the power needs fixing/filtering/conditioning (which is often but not always the case) then the best strategy to me is to first get it right via the proper power conditioner that can do the job, ie do the filtering/conditioning well and deliver more than adequate power/current downstream as well.

MY bet is that once this is done, in general, power cords alone then make little difference.

At least that is my asssessment and how I would best handle power issues with a home system.
Post removed 
ronaldp OP
7 posts
 
Hello all

Thanks for your responses. Fitted a few pairs of AQ NRG3 power cables into the power conditioner. Fitted them all at the same time. To be honest I was really hoping for a notable sound quality difference. I didn't. So Mapman I agree with you on on your words.

Elizabeth here on South Africa power cables (and making them) is generally an exclusive rarity. People here often scoff at the thought of upgraded fuses. so variety is scarce. We don't have access to half the "affordable" goodies you people have abroad. But this is a healthy long term hobby, so its always nice to experiment and learn, and grow along the way.
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