Which power cord should you buy first

PC priority 

1. Source (CD player, DAC, and phono preamplifier)
2. Digital transport
3. Power Amplifiers
4. Preamplifier
5. Turntable Motor Supply

The one that came with your equipment. Come on, dude. Save your money and put the snake oil down. You're choking.

@maxlarson

I am currently using Audio Sensibility Statement cords on my XS150 monos - and was happy enough to go with them throughout the rest of my system. I will say - what I think made the most difference - was plugging them directly into their own dedicated 20A circuit.

And Audio Sensibility makes great cables, for the money. I have a Testament power cable on my Plixir power supply and one lying on my floor right now. And knowing what I know now, I would agree if someone asked "is it better to upgrade to a $500 power cable or get dedicated circuits" I probably would agree getting the dedicated circuits would be more beneficial. But your experience sounds familiar to mine: I’ll repost my impressions from the "Zavfino" thread from over a year ago when one goes from a good $500 power cord to a power cable in the $1000 level. Again as always, this is my results, with my former equipment, my ears, my system, YMMV. (I tried to post a link to the comment but I don’t think it goes to the actual comment, it goes to the beginning of the thread)

Thought I would chime in with my experiences regarding power cable upgrades.

I don’t post here on Audiogon often, so I will add a bit more context. Going back several years I of course was one who was skeptical (to say the least) regarding high end cables. Over the years I have noticed having more education in science compared to the masses makes it even tougher to think outside the box and be a believer. Anyone else remember going back to your early 20’s after a few years of university how much of a "know it all" we thought we were? I understand capacitance, inductance and resistance. If a scientific instrument cannot show the difference between cables, if we can’t prove any sonic differences beyond a reasonable doubt knowing how emotions/bias/ monetary gain and pride can influence our decisions or claims then there must not be any. Sound familiar? Caught any ASR cult posts lately? These "do cables make a difference?" posts keep coming, and there is always a post from some electrical engineer (probably recent grad) giving his 2 cents worth.

Going back even further before forums or internet was even invented I was reading and touting Julian Hirsch’s publications. I was a subscriber. I bought that Sony amp over the Creek because it measured better. Boy was I an idiot. I have since grown up :) I accept the fact that there is no instrument on this planet that can measure better than our ears. Even my ears which only go to 16khz.

About 20 years ago I began to accept that not all copper is the same, and yes sound improvements can be had by changing cabling. That simple opening of the mind from "no I don’t need to hear it, because I know it makes no difference" to "well ok, I’ll give it a listen" is a huge step. Did alot of reading. Common sense says there is no way these hundreds of people are imaging things with their claims of improvement of sound with a simple cabling change- Are they all organized in some conspiracy? How could this many people be delusional? There must be something worth investigating. Even at this point I told myself that there is no way I would ever buy $1000 dollar cables; even if it made some little difference how can I justify spending this over just upgrading my amp instead? Or buy better speakers? I would just look into construction, and if they are all made the same then they must sound the same, right? Just buy the cheapest OCC cables you can with good quality connectors and replace the throw away cords. A few hundred bucks, okay, and hey, If some rich guy wanted $10,000 jewelry for this stereo that’s fine. I mean how much better does a Rolex tell time compared to a Seiko? But if it looks nicer have at it- it’s your money spend it any way you like. And so I read reviews of some budget friendly well-constructed cables: Audio Sensibility, and bought several Testament OCC XLR’s, some Transparent IC’s from Audiogon, and the last speaker cable I will ever need: Transparent Plus. I can’t believe I spent over $500 on a demo set of speaker cables! But man those fat things sure looked nice ;) And yes they brought sonic benefits over what I was using before. Well a few years later, a little more knowledge, understanding, and cognizance and reading and I have since upgraded the Audio Sensibility testaments to Acoustic Zen silver reference XLR’s and Absolute speaker cables. And yes, they make the DAC and amps sound so much better.

But power cables? It makes no sense; there are hundreds of feet of 50 cent a foot romex to the stereo, how is it possible that last 3 feet would make a difference? I already have dedicated circuits and a hubbell outlet. Well with the Audio Sensibility Testament it did, but I will admit I don’t recall it being huge, but a positive difference was noticed. Meh. Ordered a few more over the years.

So, last year decided on a whim to try a "real" power cord. Again, how could @thyname ​​​​@lalitk and so many others be exaggerating these sonic improvements? I thought about Wireworld, Audio Sensibility’s signature, Shunyata and after reading this thread Zavfino- Who the heck is Zavfino?

Ordered a Silver Dart power cord- thought about the lower level offerings but go big or go home. Well holy shit- it wasn’t a "I think it sounds a little better, but after burning in it should be better then I will re-evalute" it was absolutely and immediately a HUGE improvement: instruments immediately sound louder- check volume, yes it is the same- how? There is much more presence- detail easier to discern- separation between instruments- that grain you didn’t know was there was gone. I believe it was more of a difference than my last amp change (from Mcintosh to Nord) How could this be? Unbelievable. I still don’t know how 3 feet of "copper" makes such a profound difference, but it does. The Audio Sensibility Testament was a quality cord, with EMI/RF shielding, but sometimes in life you get what you pay for.

It has been about 6 months, I have a new found priority regarding my power. I ordered 2 more Silver Darts, I replaced my previous power conditioner with a Puritan PSM 156 (another huge improvement; highly recommended)

Just before writing this overdue impression of this exceptional Zavfino product I decided to put back in a Audio Sensibility Testament power cord between the Puritan and the high channel Apollon NCX500 (I use a Marchand active crossover to the Maggie 3.6’s). The soundstage just collapsed- all instruments are harder to pick out- major sounds are less prominent- lower level sounds have much less detail- more grain. No double blind test needed here- It is so obvious! Again, I don’t understand how music can sound so much better with a 3 foot power cord, but when listening to music with all these "fancy" cables I don’t care about measurements that can’t be done. I have no idea if this Silver Dart is the best power cord at it’s price; maybe at some point I will try some other power cords but there are many other things I will do to my system first.

Thanks @thyname for starting this thread. :)

I’ve lost count as to how many power cords I’ve tried. My modus operandi is to buy a pc for an intended component. Evaluate it there for two weeks or so. Then reinstall the previous pc - and try the new one on other components for a least a few days each. Finally putting it where it sounds best for my ears. After cable swapping for 20+ years, I’m always surprised where it ends up. Even last week, I experimented with swapping pc’s that are already in my system. The results were very educational.

- - - -

. . . comes with a pretty beefy power cord

In my experience, beefy doesn’t correlate to SQ. There are many other factors involved.

I have also owned many Pass, or Nelson Pass designed, amplifiers going back to the mid 1980's- and have found some improvements in replacing the beloved supplied power cord on some of them. I am currently using Audio Sensibility Statement cords on my XS150 monos - and was happy enough to go with them throughout the rest of my system. I will say - what I think made the most difference - was plugging them directly into their own dedicated 20A circuit. 

@salc trying is the only way to find out. Everything matters.
However based on my experience, I follow a simple rule as I proved over and over it works every time - start from speakers and go up the chain - speaker cables, amp power cord, interconnects into amp, etc.

Plug the amp directly into the wall outlet without power conditioner

First power cord upgrade is for the amp - 10awg minimum, best possible cord you can afford

Second is for the preamp. Then on power conditioner feeding source components, then up the chain - preamp, DAC, streamer/transport

Also, I owned 3 Pass Labs amps - X250.5, XA30.8 and X260.8 monos. The generic 14awg stock power cord included with the amp is enough to get you up and running. But…every time a good power cord made a difference on these amps in my system. Even the affordable Audience Forte F3 beats the stock cord.

I realize this is an old topic.  It's good getting current experience.   Appreciate everyone's input .  My Pass labs 350.8 amp comes with a pretty beefy power cord with its own direct power line.  I have a separate Lumin U2 streamer and La scala DAC.  Sounds like experimentation is in order between these.  Thanks again 

It pays to experiment, but with my specific gear, power cable was better on the source first. 

My experience is that the most noticeable changes to a device when a alternate Power Cable is added, is on SS Devices. In my case this is a CDT.

When adding the same Power Cable to the DAC, change to the end sound is detectable but not to the measure of the CDT.

In my case the Power Cable selected also has produced a change to the end sound that is perceived as a betterment on both devices.  

Salc

First I'd make sure to have high quality power receptacles, something like the Furutech GTX-D (G gold or R rhodium), Oyaide R1, or even the cost effective Acme Audio Labs silver plated 20 AMP cryo and CFC coated at $60

Then as others have suggested; power conditioner, streamer, DAC, preamp, and amp. The signal components don't need as heavy a cable, so usually a little less expensive; the preamp and amp I prefer a heavy gauge, something like 11AWG or less.

NONE

Only one thing matters to me E=IR  

Which of your components is going to inject the most electrical noise into your power supply? Most likely culprit is a class D amplifier, followed by a computer! Least likely might be a turntable, provided it does not have a switching power supply.

@salc - as calvin and others have said, power conditioner first. But then followed by server/streamer, then pre, then dac and last, amplifier - seemingly counterintuitive, I know, but it’s all about the source, as evidenced by the biggest changes to sound realism. The dac isn’t part of that source, it comes after the server/streamer, and the pre is the first point of amplification, which is a source of sorts. The dac comes after the pre, only because it sits before the amplifier. I have never heard sound quality benefits from good cables to amplifier the way I have from the server, pre, and dac, in that order. And if your server/streamer has digital preamplification, then all the more reason  : ) - just a different take on a long debated issue.

In friendship - kevin

I've heard both approaches (sources to amp or amp first) so probably no wrong answers. Ultimately you need to get them all done to get the best from your system.

That said, I'd start with the Amp. That way you'll hear each improvement as you go back in the system to preamp then source PC's and interconnects. 

The Shunyata NR PCs are great. 

Have fun!

@emergingsoul +1 on "If you can tell the difference between switching power cords you are truly a remarkable human being.” comment

I replace original high end stock cords if I need more flexibility, length adj. etc. Maintenance such as cleaning contacts. tightening screws etc also helps. To keep originality of devices I also buy original manufacturer cable replacement, which always “sounds better” than aged one! 

There have been tests done with no big increases in power or sound ...I just used the power cable that came with my amp...

If you can tell the difference between switching power cords you are truly a remarkable human being.

I upgraded my power cord cause I feel better when I spend money on equipment. It makes me happy to spend money and that’s why I do it.

I have a Power isolator from transparent. That made me feel even better to spend more money and I think this one probably was helpful.

+1 for Calvinandhobbes.

cable upgrades on my DAC and Power amps provided different forms of improvement.

my DAC needed filtering to remove harshness and clean up the sound. My amps needed a more open current flow.  My power cables did not work well in my DAC and my DAC cable did not work in my power amps.

if I had to do one first think I would do the DAC cable because that ‘took away bad’ whereas the power cables added good, if that makes any sense.

But that’s in my system, with my electric, etc.

I don’t think I included cables in my profile so for reference:

I have a dedicated circuit for my system.

power cables for monoblocks and preamp are custom cables from Triode Labs/finale audio (maker of my amps)

power cables for DAC are Anticables level 3

My experiments show a certain amount of system dependency, but all benefited from power amp being fairly high up the list, afterall.  You are taking a fairly small signal and multiplying it with a voltage / current that you want to be as clean as the small signal you are multiplying.  

Dac , power cord  the dac being the source provides the music coming in you want this at its best for you cannot correct it down stream .

When I first started, I bought the Amp power cable first. As my system evolved, I Introduced a Saturn Audio 103C power conditioner, and an isolated 20 amp CCT. that power cord from the wall to the PC was critical. then everything plugged into the PC. I purchased a cable for every component after that.

stock one is technically used first.

I bought 10 awg shielded power cable for my power amp first and, gradually, 12 awg or 14 awg shielded cables for the rest of the gears. My Monster power conditioner has a pretty beefy shielded cable so I don’t worry about it.

FWIW, a Shunyata Venom V14 power cable (not the V14 Digital) at about $100 used and $200 might be a good power cable for experimenting as it didn't seem to have any dramatically bad effects in any part of my system as did some more expensive power cables. Get one of those and a generic power cable from Home Depot and you have everything you need to hear what effect a power cable might have in different parts of your system.

Echoing what @mclinnguy said, If you have a power conditioner, I would get a power cable for that. My thinking is that results in cleaner power to all downstream components resulting in less effect of placing a power cable on those other components.

If there is no power conditioner in the picture, I think mainstream advice might be to put the power cable on the amplifier. But, I might suggest a power cable for a DAC. I have found a surprisingly large beneficial effect in clarity and resolution with the right power cable on my Denafrips Pontus II DAC.

However, I will say that especially on my DAC, finding the right power cable was very important. I tested a whole bunch of power cables on my DAC. 6 sounded worse than a basic $15 Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty power cable from Home Depot, 1 sounded about the same in overall sound quality (though it still sounded different), and 3 sounded better than the Tripp-Lite cable.

Too much noise filtering technology (or the wrong filtering technology) in a cable seemed to result in a dull and muted sound. A generic $15 power cable actually sounded better than a whole number of cables costing between $500-700. A $95 power cable ended up sounding best.

Amplifier. Likely to make a very big difference. Typically twice the difference that would come from other components. 

I highly recommend trying Audioqurst Hurricane if you want transparent sound (that is, exactly what your components sound like) and Cardas Clear Beyond is you think your system might sound a tad better if it had a slightly warmer more bloomed midrange. For Cardas the lower the tier, the warmer the sound. 

@mclinnguy -

                                                          +1

The most important power cable is the one going to the power conditioner. Your best power cord should be on the power conditioner.

    After all: that’s the source for the rest of your system’s power, unless your main power amp(s)* is/are fed directly from the wall.     In which case: both/all.

             *Mine are and have their own Synergistic A/C Master Couplers.

                                                  Happy listening!

Fun Guessing- Power conditioner, Dac, Pre, unless your amp Power cord is too small for your amp, then amps 1st.

Actual -Once you got the one, move it around and see for yourself.

Your DAC.

Same cable for pre amp and amps.

Same cable for DAC and Innuos and phono pre. 

To start I will do power conditioner then amp, preamp, then source.

Some say that there is a benefit to keeping the cables consistent throughout the signal chain.  Same cable for DAC, same for power amp etc.

I could have as easily given the answer @garebear has, depends on my mood on any given day. 

But agreed, right at the top of this page, see the "search discussions" bar? search first, then search other forums- that is what I do instead of starting new discussions. 

Given the list you have go from left to right. If you are listening to the turntable you could unplug the DAC and streamer, so those cords wouldn't matter, and vice versa, but: 

The most important power cable is the one going to the power conditioner. Your best power cord should be on the power conditioner. After just upgrading the cord on mine I agree with this philosophy. 

According to Shunyata the system as a whole will not be good until all power cords in the system are upgraded (if one uses theirs) as each cord provides shielding but also their own filter and stops the noise from the component going back into the rest of the system. So if one had $1000 to spend their advice is the system as a whole would improve more to put $250 cords on each of your 4 components instead of $1000 on one or $500 on two of them.

If there is a bottleneck in your system you won't get the full benefit of a major change on one component.  Include the dedicated line(s) and outlet and ethernet cabling and filtering in this chain as well. 

…….why don’t you take some time of your own and research your question that has been covered here on Audiogon …..ohhhj at least 1,000 times . 

Power amp