Power Cables on Subwoofers do Matter

Furutech 3ts762 (max power) with my svs sb-4000, really better than my gigawatt evo mk3, o2a quintessence, nordost red dawn etc...

Bass very fast with my focal electra 907be speakers, this is the best combination!

All others mentioned doesn't keep the bass speed of my speakers!

@lanx0003 - most cable companies provide very little insight as to why they charge the price they command, simply because the cables are poorly designed and tend to perform just above the abilities of stock power cables.

But there are a few companies that do divulge their cable geometry, for those audiophiles that understand what goes into a good cable.

A couple of those companies are:

• Zavfino
• In-Akustik

Cables from both of these companies perform exceptionally well and are priced according to their complexity and materials used

So what should the audiophile look for in a cable

#1 - the metal used for the wire

• UP-OCC provides the fastest dynamics of all coppers
• there is another high performance copper very similar to UP-OOCC that uses sophisticated forging techniques to achieve a similar grain structure
• silver is even better, but can be very pricey for speaker and power cables
• Furutech Alpha copper is quite good, but just a little better than OFC
• OFC offers little that can compete with the above mentioned metals
• the purity of the metal is another factor, so look for 5-9’s and 6-9’s purity e.g. UP-OCC copper tends to be 5-9’s or 6-9’s purity

#2 - insulation - is a dielectric and will impact cable noise floor

• Teflon is perhaps the most common in use today and offers reasonable perofrmance
• Foamed Teflon is a superior insulation that is becoming more widely used in modern cable designs
• Cotton is even better, but not best suited for use in power cables
• Some very sophisticated cables get close to the properties of air

#3 - cable geometry - is the art of spacing the individual conductors in such a way that the impact of a signal in one conductor has minimal impact, WRT the introduction of noise, into an adjacent conductor

• Braiding, like that used in Kimber Kable products is simple quite effective that is, compared to a simple lamp cord geometry
• Spiral geometries like that used in Anticable interconnects is one of the more advanced and very effective geometries
• Ribbon geometries, like those used in Nodost speaker cables is very effective
• But a really great example of an advanced geometry can be found in In-Akustic cables, that uses spacers to keep each conductor perfectly spaced

Combine the best from all three categories and you will have an exceptional cable that will cost more than the lamp cord from Home Depot, but will perform so much better.

Having said all of that, there are some companies that simply exploit those that believe the best will cost lots of money - and so they charge very high prices..

That’s it in a nutshell ! - but it does get a lot more complicated

Regards - Steve

hilde45

2,843 posts

12-23-2021 6:47am

FWIW, I went back and forth on my REL 328 sealed sub and heard zero difference. I contacted REL and they said in their tests it didn't make a difference. They said, "A while back, REL tested some third party power cords with our subs but did not find a noticeable impact"

That has been my experience with a Rel sub as well.

@oldhvymec I have two of those Rythmiks. I guess I'm curious what you'd suggest about cords for them. I ruled out a cord for the REL but maybe the Rythmiks are different for some reason?

Must be a brand thing?

No difference in the REL's to my ears. Seems to be same on the other forum, but with other brands as well. 

That said, I DO have Nordost  Blue Heaven going to them. Nice blue cable going into Cherry finish subs looks better. 

Might be a forum dependent tweak.