I’ll second the Signal Cable recommendation Mofimadness provided above. Based on recommendations by him (thanks, Mofi!) as well as numerous others in past threads here I chose Signal Cable power cords for my CD player (a Bryston BCD-1) and for my power amp (a VAC Renaissance 70/70 MkIII, which is a tube-based design biased in class A), and I’ve been very pleased with the results.
I’m using Signal Cable’s Magic Power Digital Reference cords for the amp as well as for the CD player, by the way, even though that cord is nominally intended for use in digital applications. The 12 gauge wire it utilizes, while narrower than the 10 gauge of the less expensive non-digital Magic Power cord, is more than adequate to power this amp. And I chose the Digital Reference cord particularly because of the excellent double shielding it is said to provide, since in my setup these cords are routed such that they pass fairly close to my phono stage, which I didn’t want to be exposed to amplifier-generated noise. Also, the fact that the amplifier operates in class A (rather than class AB or class D), and therefore draws essentially constant current regardless of the dynamics of the music, presumably lessens the relevance of the advantage some other more expensive cords **might** have in their responsiveness to abrupt changes in demands for current, i.e., in their bandwidth.
In general, shielding quality tends to be particularly important in the case of power cords for digital components and power amplifiers, both of which can couple RF noise into their power cords, from where it can find its way into other cables or components in the system.
Regards,
-- Al
I’m using Signal Cable’s Magic Power Digital Reference cords for the amp as well as for the CD player, by the way, even though that cord is nominally intended for use in digital applications. The 12 gauge wire it utilizes, while narrower than the 10 gauge of the less expensive non-digital Magic Power cord, is more than adequate to power this amp. And I chose the Digital Reference cord particularly because of the excellent double shielding it is said to provide, since in my setup these cords are routed such that they pass fairly close to my phono stage, which I didn’t want to be exposed to amplifier-generated noise. Also, the fact that the amplifier operates in class A (rather than class AB or class D), and therefore draws essentially constant current regardless of the dynamics of the music, presumably lessens the relevance of the advantage some other more expensive cords **might** have in their responsiveness to abrupt changes in demands for current, i.e., in their bandwidth.
In general, shielding quality tends to be particularly important in the case of power cords for digital components and power amplifiers, both of which can couple RF noise into their power cords, from where it can find its way into other cables or components in the system.
There are just so many. It seems daunting.Hopefully the kinds of considerations I described can help you narrow down the possibilities a bit.
Regards,
-- Al