Power cables for source equipment

square_wave

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What cables have blown your mind ? Especially for source gear like dacs, streamers etc. I am looking for high value ones instead of super expensive ones.

Cable naysayers please stay away from this thread.

Thanks.
 
Hope it’s not off topic, but where can we buy power cables from? Most audio dealers don’t stock them right? I’d love to experiment with power cables for my sources too.
 
What cables have blown your mind ? Especially for source gear like dacs, streamers etc. I am looking for high value ones instead of super expensive ones.

Cable naysayers please stay away from this thread.

Thanks.
What would be your budget be?
 
I have Shunyata cables and they make a huge difference in my system. Gone are the high frequency harshness. The sound is more fuller.
 
For Digital, I love the ASI loom.. ie power and ICs and speaker cable.
 
Shunyata diamondback if you are sensitive to brightness. Gives an awesome rich sound without being bright at the slightest.
 
After experimenting with power cables for several years ended up introducing a power supply unit Equitech 2RQ and all power cables are made of 12 AWG solid core copper wire. The end result is is very fulfilling and at the same time confuses me further as to what all places things are going wrong :).

Most of the times what happens is that I like the end result and it becomes difficult to assess if detail retrieval became better or there was some sort of hum/grunge.

I would encourage that you build one using thick copper wires, preferably solid core and start from there. You might even get surprised and may settle for at least a few years before you will start think again about power cables.
 
Power cables make a big difference in sound, with the right cable details and air are smoother, mid range fuller & punchier bass can be achieved. they can also change the sound and take it away from neutrality.
I use Isotek and highly recommend it. Very neutral while enhancing the sound as I've described
 
Been dying to ask this forever...So please pardon my ignorance, and absolutely no pun intended. If one had absolutely clean AC power, free from all the usual gremlins, and with a perfect 60hz sine wave. Would power cables still matter. Will any cable with decent sheilding to keep away stray emi/rf be sufficient.
 
I am not sure how much of a shielded power cable helps. Because the wire that is inside your wall has travelled many meters to the wall outlet. So it must have picked up all the RF & EMI on the way. IMO more than a shielded cable a ferrite core will be of more benefit to remove RF/ EMI noise.
 
Emi/rfi get filtered out by step down transformers during power distribution. Hence the shielding is planned for the area around the equipment as power cords can act as antennae into the equipment for the same.

Whether it helps the sound or not is a different question as it helps in some and in others makes the sound feel less alive. No idea on the theory behind it.
 
Been dying to ask this forever...So please pardon my ignorance, and absolutely no pun intended. If one had absolutely clean AC power, free from all the usual gremlins, and with a perfect 60hz sine wave. Would power cables still matter. Will any cable with decent sheilding to keep away stray emi/rf be sufficient.

I would suppose so..although in india it would be 50Hz. as per the explanation by Shunyata cables, dont consider the cable as the last mile but the first mile.
The PC is NOT the last 6 feet as stated in #1 and the local current and EM effects directly affect the sonic performance of the component. The power cord is not the last 6 feet, it is the first 6 feet from the perspective of the component. The further a noise source is from a component, the less of an impact it will have on the components power supply. The high-frequency noise sources that have the greatest impact on audio and video performance are the system components themselves — which are usually all in close proximity of one another and all emit radiated fields of high-frequency noise. A well designed power cord can act as a noise-isolated extension of the primary winding of a component’s power supply and will help isolate the power supply from the fields of radiated RF and EM noise energy that is ever present in all electronics systems.
 
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Emi/rfi get filtered out by step down transformers during power distribution. Hence the shielding is planned for the area around the equipment as power cords can act as antennae into the equipment for the same.

Whether it helps the sound or not is a different question as it helps in some and in others makes the sound feel less alive. No idea on the theory behind it.
Imo EMI radiation from transformer will be more than through a power cable. I am not sure how a power cable be a source of noise radiation. It can be a victim of noise but not source of noise I think.
 
After I introduced Equitech 2RQ, I have never had any urge to look into power cables anymore. Also, based on my experience I have noticed that shielding has always made the sound dull be it in power cable or speaker cable. Not sure why buy does it act as antenna for EMI/RFI? Not sure but I have always avoided using shielded cables.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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