Finalizing the system with power cables

stoutblock

"If it sounds good, it is good." Duke Ellington
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I’ve been building my main system now for several years and finally got it to the point I think I am at my end game. One of my pet peeves is having well routed cables with no excess clutter. It is just one of those things that bug me. I had Mike at Avanti audio make all my custom length speaker cables and interconnects and they work and look exceptionally nice. I’ve had the system mostly stable now for several months so decided it was time for the power cables to be optimized. I saved the power cables for last mostly because I wanted to make sure all of my equipment was finalized and locked in for location plus I have never been a strong believer that they have a significant affect on system performance. I have a dedicated 20 amp line and good plug ins for the system so that end was covered.

I decided to make the cables myself, and even though I don’t think they are sonically that critical, I decided to splurge and bought 30’ of 14g Ag wire. I used very modest Marinco 5-15 and C13 plugs that I have used before and like how they connect and function. My system took 12 custom cords (yeah I have a lot of equipment!) with everything going through a Richard Gray power purifier. Every chord is the right length, nothing more, nothing less and gave me great satisfaction for tidiness and reducing clutter etc.

I listened to the system for a couple of weeks not really even thinking about the power cable other than things were visually better. Before I just used whatever cord came with the equipment. Then I was listening to some very familiar tracks and noticed that things were sounding exceptionally good for some reason. I just figured my ear wax had dissolved or some tubes we blossoming or something? After a few days of this, I remembered the cables and decided that is the only alteration that could have effected what I was hearing. High frequencies a little more precise and delicate and overall things just sounded a little more open and exact.

My imagination or not, I like what I am hearing and I like the looks of my new power cables :)
 
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They won’t make or break a system, but I found they can improve things long ago. Several of mine are DIY using Belden 83803 cable with Marinco plug and IEC.
 
Oh NO! Another cable opinion. LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBLLLLEEEE!
Seriously, I am a firm believer in quality cables and that they can and do make a difference in the sound quality. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Example: Hi quality Morrow phono cable in my basement system with my AR XA turntable. HORRIBLE. Switch to a lower quality Linn Phono cable and TOTAL BLISS. Go figure.
 
I’ve always felt that cables should be the icing on the cake. Too many people want to use cables as tone controls. If your system is that far off you need to look elsewhere other than a new cable job.
 
Guess I need to say it:

:needpics:

Ha, somehow I knew I should have taken pictures. They really are nothing special to look at but next time I have a chance I will pull one out and take a photo.

I’ve always felt that cables should be the icing on the cake. Too many people want to use cables as tone controls. If your system is that far off you need to look elsewhere other than a new cable job.

Agree, Of all the decisions I’ve made on the selection of my audio components I would have to say the power cable is near the bottom. Without the Richard Gray purifier and dedicated 20 amp line I think cables would be even lower on the list. Solid and clean power is important.
 
I think cables/power are important considerations but don't take on debt to get them --or even put a large chunk of disposable cash toward them.

Sensible, and a nice improvement, for me, were Cullen power cables and speaker cables, a Dectet power center, and Audioquest component cables.
 
I found morrow cables out of Kentucky and I bought the map 2 power cables they are decently price and made a difference.
 
I'm going to say something about power cables here. Some of the improvement observed and reported by users of aftermaket power cables comes not from 'improving' the quality of the electrical supply from the power pole. I posit that what aftermarket power cables do, to a greater or lesser degree, is filter out some of the dross that the digital components in our systems and houses are dumping onto our power lines.

That makes a huge difference to the sound and is just about all that a power cable would need to do in order to modify the mains power in an audibly improved manner.
 
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I've found that installing good quality AC outlets and good connectors (a/c plugs, iec plugs) has lifted veils from the music reproduction. The improvement was not slight or negligible. I built my power cords from generic cables I had at hand but I did use better connectors and already had the Oyaide R1 outlets. I do agree with Theophile about digital components may corrupt the power signal.
 
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One of my pet peeves is having well routed cables with no excess clutter. It is just one of those things that bug me.

Agreed!

I decided to splurge and bought 30’ of 14g Ag wire.

WOW! Make sure it's marked for the executor when the time comes
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