Power cords: Anticable vs Mad Scientist

So when researching PCs, is it all based on faith from reviews? I never hear anyone talking about the design principles of the cables.

@boostedis Well, actually, yeah. To me, if two or three reviewers you feel are reputable converge on the sonic characteristics you’re looking for, then yes it’s worth basing a trial or used purchase decision on that. You can’t tell much about the ultimate sound qualities of a PC purely based on construction or design principles. You can get an “indication” from construction/design principles but you can’t reliably extrapolate the ultimate sound qualities. PCs are too variable for that to be a consistent prognosticator. The question you need to ask yourself is do you care more about how the cable was constructed to explain how it sounds or more about how it actually sounds? If it gives you what you’re looking for, do you really care how it was constructed? Go by reviews of people/reviewers you trust and go from there. My advice — find what sounds interesting to you sonically and buy from a direct seller that offers a generous in-home demo or buy used and just turn around and sell them at little/no loss if they don’t work out. The great thing about cables is that in this day and age it’s extremely easy to try cables with no or almost no risk. Take full advantage of that because cables are not only personal but very system dependent as well, and there’s no substitute for trying in your own system. Some to look at with generous trial periods are TWL, Cullen, Morrow, Zavfino, and Audio Envy among many others. The world is your oyster in this area, so take full advantage of reviews and free trial periods and a fluent used market to figure out what works best for you and in the context of your tastes and your system. Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck.

@mdrone - at that price I would look at Zafino cables, because they use OCC copper and employ more effective cable geometries and improved insulations.

They should provide

1. lower noise floor (due to the cable geometry)
2. faster dynamic performance (due to the OCC copper/silver)
3. improved clarity and details (due to the improved insulation)
   • which also results is a more spacious image
4. neutral colouration (due to the improved insulation)

Some believe that power cables should not impact overall sound quality mainly due to the fact the voltage is at a constant 50 Hz - but I have observed all of the factors mentioned above over several year of building my own cables that perform to a very high level

For details see  THE HELIX IMAGE" Power Cable | My Audio Alchemy (image99.net)

Hope that helps - Steve

I had AQ Monsoons and upgraded to the Anti-Cables. Much lower sound floor. 

After burning everything in through the Anti-Cable power cords and a AQ Niagara 1200, I had buyers remorse. I briefly unplugged everything and substituted decent shielded power cords. And then I listened. The difference was immediate and blatant. All of the noise was back. The difference is sort of like listening to a car while it is sitting in your driveway and then listening to the same music while driving. 

Anyway, I immediately replugged in all of the Anti-Cables and the AQ 1200.

Anti-Cables are good stuff, I also run some of their interconnects and would say that they are at least equal to or superior to the AQ Earths that I was running. 

Both are mediocre.

@ebm , Yes I concur , of the several alternative recommendations thus far at similar price point I would recommend Zavfino