Where should you place your best Power Cord?

Bill, this is cutting edge, you can't argue. You can state your opinion and others are supposed to respect it and offer their opinion, not sling mud. If someone slings mud, a report to the mods will sometimes get things cleaned up. Seems this only happens in cutting edge the other forums are the wild west. I would put a stop to the trashing by publicly calling out the offenders with a nice long weekend off. That might quiet things down quickly, but I'm not a mod and...

if you saw who was aker of the year last year it was 4.2.7, one of the smartest asses on ak. he says so himself. wonder how the admins liked that vote? But if you don't want to get into it, that is fine. I have some experience plugging stuff in differently and having a change in the system. So I have some ideas but no technical thoughts.
 
I've had the Cullen Crossover Series ll power cord on my APC power conditioner for a month now. It has settled in nicely.

Just like when I added other Cullen cables it improved the sound of my system. There is another reduction of noise with added detail and resolution.

Last October I tried my first Cullen Cable. I figured I'd try it and if there was some improvement I'd take the next step and try cables from a couple other companies I had on my "short list".

Well, Cullen Cables changed that plan. I was so pleased with each cable I added that I ended up with a complete set of Cullen cables for my system.

http://www.cullencable.com/

Cheers,

Scott
 
Still waiting on my Cullen power cords and speaker cables. At order it was one and a half week lead time. 2 weeks and a bit more passed. I emailed him. He stated I am working on your order now and it should ship Monday. Monday has come and gone and soon it will be the next Monday and not a peep. My experience I am afraid is very different than what I have read others say. I think the cable business is a very low key side "hobby" that he does when he has not much else to do. He should be up front about it.
 
Still waiting on my Cullen power cords and speaker cables. At order it was one and a half week lead time. 2 weeks and a bit more passed. I emailed him. He stated I am working on your order now and it should ship Monday. Monday has come and gone and soon it will be the next Monday and not a peep. My experience I am afraid is very different than what I have read others say. I think the cable business is a very low key side "hobby" that he does when he has not much else to do. He should be up front about it.
How many did you order? Maybe he has been getting swamped with orders because of word of mouth.
 
How many did you order? Maybe he has been getting swamped with orders because of word of mouth.

Six. At order acceptance he said he was slammed with orders therefore it would be a week and a half. I did not contact him for 16 days. He then said working on them now--should ship Monday (Monday would have been 3 days after that email exchange). Now another Monday is about here. I don't think he is slammed. I am decent at ferreting things out on the Internet. Looking at he and family member's facebook and his linkd in, he is just apparently busy
with things other than Cullen Cables.
 
Why all the juvenile replies; and so many from longtime members who should know better?

Cheers,

Scott
Possibly because this is one area where there is the most skepticism. I am all in when talking about interconnect cables between components and especially between low signal components like phono cart to pre-amp. The power cord is where I have trouble seeing the physics. I know this may be heresy to question this but I really cannot understand. The power comes to my home at 3 phase 120 VAC. The transformer is likely 2+ miles away. My breaker box does nothing to that power except to add local grounding. My audio equipment is at least 40 feet from this point and the power is transmitted through regular copper Romex cable and is not isolated from other electrical devices in my house. How does the last 2 feet from the power outlet to the audio device make a difference? I can understand a power conditioner that is removing spikes and attempting to provide a clean 60Hz 120 VAC power but a power cord is not doing this. All it needs to do is be of sufficient gauge to handle the current. I am willing to be educated and I am open minded but I really do have trouble with this and I suspect others do also. For my money, this is the very last place I would spend dollars for improvement. I hope this doesn't ruffle any feathers and adds to the discussion.
 
Possibly because this is one area where there is the most skepticism. I am all in when talking about interconnect cables between components and especially between low signal components like phono cart to pre-amp. The power cord is where I have trouble seeing the physics. I know this may be heresy to question this but I really cannot understand. The power comes to my home at 3 phase 120 VAC. The transformer is likely 2+ miles away. My breaker box does nothing to that power except to add local grounding. My audio equipment is at least 40 feet from this point and the power is transmitted through regular copper Romex cable and is not isolated from other electrical devices in my house. How does the last 2 feet from the power outlet to the audio device make a difference? I can understand a power conditioner that is removing spikes and attempting to provide a clean 60Hz 120 VAC power but a power cord is not doing this. All it needs to do is be of sufficient gauge to handle the current. I am willing to be educated and I am open minded but I really do have trouble with this and I suspect others do also. For my money, this is the very last place I would spend dollars for improvement. I hope this doesn't ruffle any feathers and adds to the discussion.

No ruffling feathers from me DJH33.
But, do you really have 3 phase power delivered to your house, as most homes are provided split phase L1 120 + L2 120, 240 volt combined leg service?
Just curious ?

OKB
 
No ruffling feathers from me DJH33.
But, do you really have 3 phase power delivered to your house, as most homes are provided split phase L1 120 + L2 120, 240 volt combined leg service?
Just curious ?

OKB
you are correct on the home power ... I stand corrected. The point I was trying to make there is that the power company doesn't use expensive cable to deliver power to my home.
 
I know this may be heresy to question this but I really cannot understand.
Not at all. AC noise is quite prevalent in modern homes.

...and the power is transmitted through regular copper Romex cable and is not isolated from other electrical devices in my house. ...
Not isolated. Bingo! A good place to start is using dedicated lines from the breaker box to a single outlet. I have two 20A lines in the music room.

How does the last 2 feet from the power outlet to the audio device make a difference?
How does the last six inches from the faucet to a water filter make a difference?Similarly, are you familiar with the concept of a "back flow preventer"?

All it needs to do is be of sufficient gauge to handle the current.
The "miles and miles" from the sub station canard conveniently ignores the location of the villains. They live in your house. Many of them. Some - even in your audio system!

Digital based devices of all manner radiate local RFI and happily spew noise back through the AC. Amplification stages pick up the noise components and add them to the mix creating a sort of "false brightness". I use a range of aftermarket cords, some commercially produced and some DIY using shielded cord and better connectors than lamp cord. I didn't believe their benefit until I borrowed three Kimber Cable Palladians from a reviewer friend and gave them a listen in my system for a couple of days.
 
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How does the last 2 feet from the power outlet to the audio device make a difference?
Actually the cord from the wall and going to the system is more important than say the wire in your walls. I don't know about you, or what you have for a system?
But mine has a lot of wires crossing each other in the back of it, Interconnects, Speaker wires, AC power cords. It also has a bunch of unprotected RCA jacks. Then if we look at a modern house today and the neighbor hood, it has all sorts of RF kicking off, WiFi, Blu-tooth, Infrared controllers as well as Am/Fm Radio.

For a lot of us, the back of our stereos are a very big antennas and if not well laid out with quality wires we add noise into the system. It can be as bad as loud hums and buzzing, to just changing the sound we get out of the speakers.

Lets again look at todays world, quality wire is not the norm today. Most lamp cord and AC power cords are not copper, they are copper coated aluminum. There also is not a lot of attention to shielding in most cords today. Then the fact of most products are from over sees where we can't control what we get.

You might say, well just go buy quality wire, plugs, conectros and make your own cables and cords. Well thats a option and while that to some is fun, to others it's not. While to some it might save some money to others it will not. First off one will needs the parts that cost money, they will also need the tools and that cost money, they will also need an area to do the work and the time to do it, and that cost money. Some people don't count the cost of their time and tools when they say they save money making cables and cords.

Lets say I take an hour shopping on line to buy parts.
Another hour going to the hardware store to buy tools... don't forget gas cost here.
Another hour when they finally got everything to do the job putting them together.

That's three hours of my time and not even out of pocket cash.

So if someone buys a $150 power cord made up of $40 of parts and all they had to do was click on Buy it!! and it lands on their porch they are far ahead of cost involved of the guy thinking he's saving money IMHO.

So I think I addressed SQ and Cost involved.
 
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Digital sources.

Clamp on/Clam shell type ferrite power cord noise suppression/decoupling worked very well for me on nineties dirty computer`s SMPS/CRT`s situated in my radio/computer room filled with 5Kh ~ 30Mhz Shortwave receivers, and low VHF ~ 2,6 Gig receivers, as well.

May not be a very sexy method to show off, when implemented with stereo equipment, but no reason why using could not show improvement in sound clarity provided they were placed very close to the digital noise source/equipment chassis.
And their not expensive at all, and can be used on any equipment`s non removable power cords..

Just a thought folks.
 
The point I was trying to make there is that the power company doesn't use expensive cable to deliver power to my home.
I think you would be surprised at the price per foot on those huge rolls of OFC wire the electrical companies string for miles and the quality of it. Trust me that's not what your buying in Best Buy & Home Depot when you pick up a power cord.
 
Clamp on/Clam shell type ferrite power cord noise suppression/decoupling worked very well for me on nineties dirty computer`s SMPS/CRT`s situated in my radio/computer room filled with 5Kh ~ 30Mhz Shortwave receivers, and low VHF ~ 2,6 Gig receivers, as well.
That works for radiated energy, but does nothing to filter SMPS noise from getting back into the AC.

I use a JPS Labs digital power cord with my DAC which uses Eupen shielded wire and contains an RF filter network.
 
That works for radiated energy, but does nothing to filter SMPS noise from getting back into the AC.

I use a JPS Labs digital power cord with my DAC which uses Eupen shielded wire and contains an RF filter network.

Yes E-Stat, that would be correct, and my bad for not mentioning that the computer/monitor, were in fact, plugged into a Panamax model "AllPath" modular filter/surge/spike multi outlet protection device to deal with line protection & pollution from the back fed power line dirty digital noise.

Which seem to work very well on all accounts, even after a direct lightening strike to a 30ft elevated vertically polarized log periodic wide band(low VHF~ to 1.5 Gig antenna feeding into the room .

Vaporized the antenna`s coax feed connection point(carbon black smudge), but no damage to any radios or the operating, at the time computer and CRT monitor(however the monitor`s display was magnetized from the EMP, had to be manually degaussed afterwards), but the blast ate the rotor controller box, as the control cable was not protected, but it is now.
 
... the computer/monitor, were in fact, plugged into a Panamax model "AllPath" modular filter/surge/spike multi outlet protection device to deal with line protection & pollution from the back fed power line dirty digital noise.
What you're illustrating is the need for multiple strategies to address the different challenges posed.

Having done that, is the wife going to burst into the room asking what incredible change you just made? Certainly not, but I find there are noticeable gains to be found with a lower noise floor and improved resolution by eliminating the intermodulation of RFI components into the signal path. Closer to the "straight wire with gain" ideal.
 
What you're illustrating is the need for multiple strategies to address the different challenges posed.

Having done that, is the wife going to burst into the room asking what incredible change you just made? Certainly not, but I find there are noticeable gains to be found with a lower noise floor and improved resolution by eliminating the intermodulation of RFI components into the signal path. Closer to the "straight wire with gain" ideal.

Thank you E-Stat, and I agree.
 
Not at all. AC noise is quite prevalent in modern homes.


Not isolated. Bingo! A good place to start is using dedicated lines from the breaker box to a single outlet. I have two 20A lines in the music room.


I do believe that a dedicated line and breaker could actually make a difference and like I said, a power conditioner that filters the AC could definitely provide improvement. As for a power cord, I am still not convinced but concede that others are and I could be wrong. My reply was simply stating that I believe that many are skepticle and that was why so many 'juvenile replies'. This is a great hobby with endless possibilities so to each his own.
 
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