Power Cord Shoot-Out: 16 Power Cords Reviewed

You must..., you have to be..., you cannot possibly.... believe what you have just typed... I am at a loss for words...

Go and look in the mirror right now and repeat that paragraph aloud while looking yourself right in the eye - whatever possessed you at your keyboard?

Andrew D.
shocked and awed in Canada...
cdnav.com

 

Gary, how would the gort team like people to reply to statements like the one above?

There is no way that the copper molecules are shifting when you bend a power cord. Obviously the poster's statement is factually incorrect. I could cite hundreds of years worth of papers and documents stating this physical fact. Is a poster allowed to state such obviously incorrect information? Do we want the SH forums to be the place where inaccurate statements go uncontested?

 

For the record, I never had all these cables at the same time. This review is the result of 6 years of experimentation. So, all cables were fully burned in by me and allowed to sit in place undisturbed for days, weeks, even months.

I did do A/B switches here and there with various of these cables if and when I happened to have them both on hand at the same time. But my impressions are mainly the result of long-term listening.

Which I will gladly point out does bring up another issue, namely comparing current cables to your memory of other previous cables. So, yes, that's a definite limitation of this review (and 99.9999% of all audio reviews on the web; no one keeps every piece of gear they ever owned to compare against each other every time a new piece is purchased). So there you go...

 

I suspect the part about not moving the cords has to do with disturbing fields and the dielectric, not the copper per se...

 

Hi all: Sorry for the tone of that last one - I was just so flabbergasted...

As pointed out however, someone had to contest the obviously incorrect statement. By the way: what is the ‘Gort team’?

Andrew D.

 

-> http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=91174

Well, here at my Forum, I want you to feel comfortable in posting about what is important to YOU without fear of being slammed. I have given power to my sixteen moderators whom I have nicknamed the GORTS and they watch over the various Forums day and night. I've given them power here to do what they think should be done. I do this because I cannot of course be here all of the time and I trust their judgment. I'm very grateful for their help and support. -Steve Hoffman

 

Klaatu barada nikto!

 

If your amp originally came with a two-wire plug and your high-end cord is three wire\prong, I was told before by people in the electronics industry, you should not use the ground and just to cap it off with a wire nut.

 

From my experience almost all noise problems in audio and video systems stem from improper grounding. All the fancy power cable in the world cannot correct for poor grounding. And don't think that a power conditioner is going to solve grounding and interaction problems between equipment either. Nor will an isolation transformer. These products can help - change it, hide it but proper grounding is required. With a proper ground system in place then the power cable selection becomes a matter of wire gauge req'd for proper current load and cable length.

Probably the best article I have read that relates to power, grounding, RF, EM and other problems can be found here:
http://www.equitech.com/articles/enigma.html

I first read this article when it was published in Mix Magazine back in '94 and eventually started using balanced power in some commercial and studio system installations. It does exactly what it says it will. In fact, a balanced power system will also deliver vast improvement in video equipment performance. They can be shelf / rack mounted or installed by an electrician. (I have used the installed units on commercial projects.)

For less than what some of you guys spend on speaker cable you could install a balanced power system and absolutely kill grounding and ground noise problems and make the whole power cable debate moot.

Despite all of the reviews and hype I have still not seen proof of a properly run AC cable shootout. There are ways to switch power sources on the fly - Almost all mission critical equipment in the signal path at any major broadcast plant is connected to redundant power sources. Yes - the equipment has two internal power supplies and AC connects and will switch to the back-up if the primary fails.

Disconnecting and then reconnecting equipment puts all such tests into the realm of subjective - I'm not saying that differences CAN'T be heard but quantifying it becomes very difficult. I also suggest that any test should include some measureable data. Cable capacitance, voltage drop, current consumption etc are all easy to measure and quantifiable. Going further - it would be possible to use dB meters or even mass spectrum analysis tools (such as SMART Live) that are used by acousticians and sound system engineers to analyze the frequency response, phase, NOISE FLOOR, etc.
The system should also be properly grounded and be checked out. Base voltage at the test site should be known and monitored during the test.

About 7 years ago I became intrigued by stories of guitar players (such as Eric Johnson) who claimed that they could hear the difference in the batteries that they used in their effects pedals. At first I laughed but then while working with a well known metal band on power issues for their guitar rigs they told us that they preferred the sound of used batteries in their pedals. They would use "fresh" batteries in their wireless units each night and then rotate them to their effect pedals at the next gig. Hmmm. I got with a good friend (a EE type) and we sat down with an o-scope, wave form generator, and some voltage and current meters and looked into it. We found some basis for this supposed "myth". A fresh alkaline 9v battery could measure up to 10.2vdc. A fresh carbon battery would measure at 9.6. However - with use the base voltage level changes - as low as 7 or 8 volts (or lower) with carbon batteries but would still flow enough current to operate the circuit. Different brands and types have different base voltage and depletion curves. If you take a simple op-amp circuit like most guitar pedals use and change the supply voltage you can change the headroom, frequency response and THD in the circuit. We could measure this by putting a sinewave in and then looking at the effect of voltage on the circuit. So - some truth was found. We also found that since a battery has a finite reservoir of current available that the voltage can fluctuate (sag) with current demand. So - a full on barre chord may cause higher current draw than a single note and would sag the voltage while the battery tried to maintain constant current supply. This does not happen in a power supply with "infinite" current available. (Such as an AC line source.) So - myth confirmed both measureable and audibly. We went on to develop a line of power supplies and accessories for guitarists that addressed these issues and also allowed the guitarists to repeatedly and easily get the voltage effects they were wanting.

The moral of my little story? Power does have an effect on the performance of audio equipment and I bet it can be measured.

 

Gary, Sorry for the late answer, I think shielding is the most important thing that after market power cords do over standard cords.

 

Shielding definitely and proper gauge to prevent current starvation. However in a properly grounded system the shielding is really not necessary.

 

Folks, My house is old enough that it is built with BX wiring in the walls of my house. BX is armored wiring, there are two copper 12 gauge wires loosely twisted inside a flexible alumina shield. So the wiring in my walls is shielded. When I first put together my system with ordinary unshielded power cords all of which are three prong cords to help with grounding I noticed some low level interference probably between the power cords and the interconnect cables which cannot help but be in close proximity in a multi unit system (I have also noticed this in video systems). When I changed to relatively inexpensive power cord that are shielded the interference went away. Thus I like shielded power cords.

 

Michael Wolff's Latest Power Cord....
OK, so I just received Michael's latest and greatest power cord. It's so new it doesn't even have a real name yet. It has all his latest technology in the cable itself, but instead of the absurdly expensive Acrolink carbon Oyaide connectors, it has the next level down Oyaide's with aluminum barrels. These connectors look SWEET, and clamp down very well at the same time. This cable is so new, Michael hasn't even been able to listen to it yet (all my best to him and his at this time), so I'm a real guinnea pig. I hope my feedback helps...

This cord contains all of Michael's latest thinking on power cord design for sources (and headphone amps); it's an all-out assault on the high-end, except with this version, it has very upscale connectors but not the absurd Acrolinks that you can get as an option if you are extremely well-heeled. The cables are super-pure flat silver conductors combined with carbon. This cord is designed for components that draw less than 350 watts from the wall, which is everything but the biggest power amps, for which Michael has another cord. I'm currently using this latest Wolff cord on my headamp, the Rudistor RPX-33 mark II. On my source is the $1300 Virtual Dynamics Nite II power cord.

Sonically, this new Wolff cord is a real WINNER. It's so typically Michael Wolff-- super smooooooth and CLEAN and CLEAR, and Hi-Rez. NOTHING sounds like a Wolff cable and that's down to his innovative use of carbon. It removes a layer of grit and grain you didn't even know was there. It has an EASE to the sound that's enchanting. Yet it leaves nothing to the imagination, it's as full-rez as you could hope for.

More to follow as it burns in....

 

Thanks for your putting this up! It makes for good reading.

Tim

 

This reads like an advertisement. Any real information that can help me make an informed decision?

 

I wouldn't buy any expensive cable without being allowed a home audition. Most dealers allow for this. Listen at home and make an informed decision.

 

Thank you. I wasn't aware of this possiblity.

 

Even Grover offers a 60 day money back guarantee trial period if asked.

 

Cable makers don't present real info about the how or why of it all.
To ensure you get your money's worth...do only sighted listening!

 

I'm not sure what info you are looking for, that's all the info I have. This cable is not on his website yet either so that won't help you. One new tidbit I did glean from Michael is this cable also has a flat copper conductor as well as the silver and carbon. Does that help?

I'm still formulating my thoughts on the cable, I only just received it and I've been burning it in since then. Once I have my impressions together (besides my positive initial impression), I'll follow-up.

 

More Thoughts on teh New Wolff Cord
I now have close to 150 hours of burn-in on the latest Wolff power cord. Probably needs another 100 hours or so to reach full maturity, but it's already over any rough spots, and damn, does it sound GREAT!

This is definitely one of the most unique sounding cables I've heard (although typical in some ways of the oddball designs of Michael Wolff), and I have to chalk that up to its totally unique design/build. With all those different conductors (copper, silver, carbon), you'd think this cable could be an incoherent mess, but it is anything but. Typical of Wolff's design, it speaks totally and completely with it's own voice, one that is utterly unlike anything you've heard before. There's no other place to get this sound, so if you like it, he's the MAN for you.

I can verify my earlier initial impression that this cord is simply fantastic, at the top the class of what I've reviewed so far. If you read my earlier review of the previous model, you will recall I went through a lot of testing with my Rat Shack level meter to inspect bass response on that cord. To my surprise, the tests showed absolutely zero drop-off in actual bass response even though subjectively, I could never shake the impression it was *slightly* bass light.

Well, this new cord has no such issues; it has sumptous, full bass. And it retains all the goodies I've come to expect from Michael Wolff-- namely smoother than smooth, cleaner than immacualte, sound. 16-bit cymbal crashes that normally sound jagged, crispy, grainy, harsh or frayed on other cords are simply rendered complete and full through the Wolff cable. Is that because all other cables are false or inadequate, or because the Wolff is adding or subtracting something that's not there? That is the question, I guess, to be answered by each listener.

The Wolff cord handles high frequencies in a totally unique way, and that's something I expect listeners to react to most strongly and immediately. Depending on your ears and biases, the Wolff cord is either artificially smooth and grainless in the extreme (although I'm not sure how you'd fake that), or it's actually rendering lo-rez 16-bit digital in a completely novel and natural way that you haven't heard before-- i.e. immaculately clean and well-rounded, not spitty and harsh. So, it definitely sounds "different" from what you are used to. It's certainly not rolling the highs, but it finds a way of cleaning them up along with the rest of the frequency spectrum, and that I suspect may sound slightly "weird" at first blush.

If this cable rolled the highs or created a foggy or muddy or blurred un-detailed sound that obscured the audio signal, I could see how some might label it "artificial" or "colored", but this cable is as un-veiled and hi-rez as it gets, and as black of background as possible. It's not withholding anything I can detect.

I could see some folks feeling this presentation of the highs is a bit lacking in "bite", "sharpness" or "crispness". Maybe so, but that's where personal preference and system synergy comes in. This could just as easily be labelled "harshness" or "hardness" or "grating". Is that extra edge real and "supposed" to be there, or is that the limitations of other more conventionally-designed cables revealing itself? Which presentation is more natural and real? I don't know the answer for you. But I do suspect the absolute grainlessness of this cord can be disconcerting, especially for ears raised on and trained on digital that naturally expect spittiness or harshness to extreme highs. Wolff-y don't play that game.


An Embarassment of Riches
OK, so the new Wolff cord (wish it had a proper name I could call it), along with the Virtual Dynamics Nite II currently sit perched at the absolute top of the heap for all these cables for me, anyway, in my system. :rs1smile:

But I've got a new ringer coming in. Namely the Black Sand Cable Violet cord with very expensive Oyaide connectors. The earlier Violet I rated so highly had pretty pedestrian connectors on it. This cord is pretty well maxed-out in terms of the Oyaide connectors used.


So stay tuned for further results!

 

Sorry to dissapoint you boys, but that's exactly what happens when you bend a power cord or any other solid objects. Talk to any Physics PhD and they will tell you the same thing. There is obvious, measurable distortion when you bend any object. I don't make stuff like this up, I ask friends of mine that are scientists to explain it.

Granted, it's not a huge difference in sound, but it's there. Again, the higher level of resolution your system offers, the more you will hear it.