2. cables
  3. 179333-125055

Ideal power cord lengths?

A quick Google search suggests there is consensus that the ideal power cord length is 2m.  1m cords sound “harsher” and 3m cords sound “smoother”, with 2m being the sweet spot.  The PS Audio dude suggests that the reason is that the reason is that all cords have an impact on the power, and the greater the length, the greater the impact, good or bad.

I know many will say there is no difference between a 1m cord and a 3m cord.  But my question is, who here has tried like model power cords of different lengths, and what were the differences?  
 

Second question:  How does length factor into the equation when you have a cord feeding a conditioner, then other cords feeding components?  If 2m cords are in fact the ideal, would 1m cords be ideal when using conditioners?

I tend to believe those that say that power cord lengths matter.  While I’ve not been able to do this test myself, I’ve had these two experiences:

  • Testing Audioquest Diamond and Nordost Valhalla 2 USB cables, the cables shorter than 1.5m sounded TERRIBLE by comparison.  Especially the .75m Audioquest Diamond vs the 1.5m version.  But the 1m Valhalla 2 also sounded awful in comparison to the 2m version.  In general this opened my eyes to how much cable length matters, and counterintuitively in the case of digital cables. 
  • I have a 2019 2m AudioQuest Hurricane Source cable from back when AQ braided their cables, and I also have the newer non-braided Hurricane Source, but 3m in length.  The new Hurricane sounds vastly superior to my old 2m Hurricane.  In comparison the older cord compresses the soundstage depth.  I don’t know if the differences are due to the differences in length, or if it’s due to a design change by Audioquest.

Very interested in learning of others experiences with power cord lengths.

 

 

nyev
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
3,804 posts
 

Call Jim from wisdom cable , He gave me a very good understanding regarding power cables, including length.

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,919 posts
 

The world record for snakes is over 20 feet 🦶,  I owned a Audiostore for 10 years 

personally I use between 4 and 6 feet and cannot hear any difference 

what truly counts are the end connection points , here purity copper with gold,silver or rhodium over the copper , with ,not brass which is bright and no where good of a conductor. , make sure if bought commercially , make your own using top Furutech wire ,and connectors to save $$.

parnelligq
25 posts
 

I honestly don't know what the hell to think. I buy the best quality I can afford. I run a longer cable from the outlet to the power regeneclean power box of choice. That way i can move it around as i like. My system is not so high end that I would hear a difference. He'll my ears are old. Get what works that doesn't run you broke. Do buy quality. Just don't remortgage to do it. Stop listening to your gear and listen to the music. 

ghdprentice
6,504 posts
 

I have not done the study. But recently, when I asked my dealer (when he was at my house) to order me a one meter Audio Quest Hurricane power cord… he responded with, “two meters will give you more conditioning”. I was shocked… I never thought of it that way. But I respect his opinion.

 

I am currently running ARC REF 160m monoblocks, one with a 1 meter AudioQuest Hurricane and one with a 2 meter Audio Quest Hurricane. Well, guess what, I can’t tell the difference. But unless it was enormous, I can’t imagine being able to.

I really respect my dealers opinion… which seems to be… the longer they are the more they sound like they sound.

fiesta75
1,378 posts
 

Absolutely no ideal power cord length! You want a cord long enough to connect everything easily, that’s it. Typically the shortest is best for high current devices like conditioners and amplifiers.

More to discover