DIY Audiophile Power Cable

[Amarendra]

Hi,

After experimenting with DIY RCA cable last week, I decided to try making a power cable. The off- the shelf cables seemed too expensive and given the divided opinions I wasnt willing to dive head down. Gene of Audiohollics calls it snake oil however some of the other "experts" seemed to say that power cables matter such as Paul (PS Audio), Audiophiliac, GR Research, etc. While I had dismissed the whole "cable" thing as snake oil in the past, I had a different experience after moving to Belden speaker cables and then the DIY RCA. Perhaps I had moved to more evolving speakers by then, allowing me to notice differences. Perhaps the differences were due to material rather than brand or braiding or anything else- tin vs copper.

I picked up a 2 meter Aucharm power cable from TheAudiocrafts along with "audiophile" copper coated US type plugs. The whole package cost me ~ INR 4,700 and was delivered in 24 hrs by DTDC Air.

The first impression of the cable was how thick it was- see pic

The cable itself is very well made with proper shielding and insulation- see pic.

Opening the cable with my cheap wire cutter was surprisingly okay- the copper strands and overall thickness was impressive.

The "audiophile" power plugs also seem very well made (copper & US type)

However getting the cable into the plug was nightmarish. Being in all 3 holes at the same time seemed impossible at first and really tested my patience.

After struggling for 1/2 hour I finally managed the impossible. I haven't used any insulation tape yet.

Attached the cable to my Rotel and it worked in first attempt

Listening test:

I seemed to notice more background details in 2 songs- perhaps I was paying more attention this time. My wife and daughter did not notice any difference . But they are not audiophiles- they just enjoy the music-details or no details.
However I am happy to have experimented with the power chord and will listen for more details as the wire "breaks-in" over the next few days.

Thanks for reading- suggestions welcome.

 

[surfatwork]

Looks great, but does a piece of audio equipment need 2.5mm or 4mm wire? The current draw in these is not going to be more than a few amps at 220VAC. So other than aesthetics, what use does such wire provide? I do appreciate the benefits of gold plating on the plugs etc., such as reduced corrosion.
Asking genuinely.

 

[CKumar]

but does a piece of audio equipment need 2.5mm or 4mm wire?

The more thick wire is, the less resistance it offers and may be electrical loss will be less, in terms of heat.
If thicker and provided good insulation, might not induce much EMF offered from surrounding, resulting less noise.
Not sure about audiophile aspect in terms of sonic difference though

 

[Amarendra]

Looks great, but does a piece of audio equipment need 2.5mm or 4mm wire? The current draw in these is not going to be more than a few amps at 220VAC. So other than aesthetics, what use does such wire provide? I do appreciate the benefits of gold plating on the plugs etc., such as reduced corrosion.
Asking genuinely.

To be honest its a debatable point however given the low outlay the question is why not.

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Looks great, but does a piece of audio equipment need 2.5mm or 4mm wire? The current draw in these is not going to be more than a few amps at 220VAC. So other than aesthetics, what use does such wire provide? I do appreciate the benefits of gold plating on the plugs etc., such as reduced corrosion.
Asking genuinely.

To be honest, I almost fainted after seeing the noodle thin wires feeding the power to my wall socket from the mains. The maximum rating at this wall socket is 13 Amps. Which at 220V can support 2300 watts of continuous power draw. So we dont need these python thick cables to carry a few hundred watts to the power amp, and much much less to source devices. There is a relation between cable thickness and length vis-a-vis resistance etc...but at the 1 meter lengths we are talking, it wont make an Iota of difference.

That part aside, the better cables act like power filters and shields for EMI/RF, and try to remove power borne / air borne noise from getting into the system. So their effectiveness will again depend on how noisy ones power is. I had great results with a conditioner, but same cannot be gauranteedly replicated in other peoples homes and systems.

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Hi,

After experimenting with DIY RCA cable last week, I decided to try making a power cable. The off- the shelf cables seemed too expensive and given the divided opinions I wasnt willing to dive head down. Gene of Audiohollics calls it snake oil however some of the other "experts" seemed to say that power cables matter such as Paul (PS Audio), Audiophiliac, GR Research, etc. While I had dismissed the whole "cable" thing as snake oil in the past, I had a different experience after moving to Belden speaker cables and then the DIY RCA. Perhaps I had moved to more evolving speakers by then, allowing me to notice differences. Perhaps the differences were due to material rather than brand or braiding or anything else- tin vs copper.

I picked up a 2 meter Aucharm power cable from TheAudiocrafts along with "audiophile" copper coated US type plugs. The whole package cost me ~ INR 4,700 and was delivered in 24 hrs by DTDC Air.

The first impression of the cable was how thick it was- see pic

The cable itself is very well made with proper shielding and insulation- see pic.

Opening the cable with my cheap wire cutter was surprisingly okay- the copper strands and overall thickness was impressive.

The "audiophile" power plugs also seem very well made (copper & US type)

However getting the cable into the plug was nightmarish. Being in all 3 holes at the same time seemed impossible at first and really tested my patience.

After struggling for 1/2 hour I finally managed the impossible. I haven't used any insulation tape yet.

Attached the cable to my Rotel and it worked in first attempt

Listening test:

I seemed to notice more background details in 2 songs- perhaps I was paying more attention this time. My wife and daughter did not notice any difference . But they are not audiophiles- they just enjoy the music-details or no details.
However I am happy to have experimented with the power chord and will listen for more details as the wire "breaks-in" over the next few days.

Thanks for reading- suggestions welcome.

Excellent build and thanks for sharing. Iam a bit OCD about cables being more lengthy than they absolutely have to be. Thus, even Iam planning on making my own "just about enough length" power cables. And cable shielding is a must for me. Thus, will try to build my own from the components your good selves have used. Thanks

 

[hifimaddy]

Hi,

After experimenting with DIY RCA cable last week, I decided to try making a power cable. The off- the shelf cables seemed too expensive and given the divided opinions I wasnt willing to dive head down. Gene of Audiohollics calls it snake oil however some of the other "experts" seemed to say that power cables matter such as Paul (PS Audio), Audiophiliac, GR Research, etc. While I had dismissed the whole "cable" thing as snake oil in the past, I had a different experience after moving to Belden speaker cables and then the DIY RCA. Perhaps I had moved to more evolving speakers by then, allowing me to notice differences. Perhaps the differences were due to material rather than brand or braiding or anything else- tin vs copper.

I picked up a 2 meter Aucharm power cable from TheAudiocrafts along with "audiophile" copper coated US type plugs. The whole package cost me ~ INR 4,700 and was delivered in 24 hrs by DTDC Air.

The first impression of the cable was how thick it was- see pic

The cable itself is very well made with proper shielding and insulation- see pic.

Opening the cable with my cheap wire cutter was surprisingly okay- the copper strands and overall thickness was impressive.

The "audiophile" power plugs also seem very well made (copper & US type)

However getting the cable into the plug was nightmarish. Being in all 3 holes at the same time seemed impossible at first and really tested my patience.

After struggling for 1/2 hour I finally managed the impossible. I haven't used any insulation tape yet.

Attached the cable to my Rotel and it worked in first attempt

Listening test:

I seemed to notice more background details in 2 songs- perhaps I was paying more attention this time. My wife and daughter did not notice any difference . But they are not audiophiles- they just enjoy the music-details or no details.
However I am happy to have experimented with the power chord and will listen for more details as the wire "breaks-in" over the next few days.

Thanks for reading- suggestions welcome.

good build. I am also planning to make DIY power cables. There is no need to ground the shelded wire.?

 

[Amarendra]

good build. I am also planning to make DIY power cables. There is no need to ground the shelded wire.?

Apparently not, I checked a few videos on youtube but let the experts opine.

 

[surfatwork]

The more thick wire is, the less resistance it offers and may be electrical loss will be less, in terms of heat.
If thicker and provided good insulation, might not induce much EMF offered from surrounding, resulting less noise.
Not sure about audiophile aspect in terms of sonic difference though

If I remember correctly, increasing resistance makes the magnetic field weaker. So thinner wire should produce lesser near field emf.
But in any case, at the wire lengths, frequencies (50 or 60Hz) and voltages/currents involved, none of these matter at all.

 

[hifimaddy]

Apparently not, I checked a few videos on youtube but let the experts opine.

I think for shielded speaker cables there is no need to ground, but for power cables, grounding is a good way. but I am also not an expert. So just wait for an expert opinion.

 

[surfatwork]

The only time I had to grapple with thick wire was when I had to provide 3-phase power to a 10hp motor from a power point 300m away. That distance would cause a voltage drop and hence per meter resistance of the wire was important. My calculation suggested 12mm, I chose 16mm and it worked fine.