Power cable

You house gets balanced power or 'split phase'
L1 = 120 vac
N
L2 = 120 vac 180 deg out of phase with L1
When summed you get single phase 240

It is derived from a single phase transformer with a 240 secondary that is 'center tapped' (results in 2 x 120) and makes the 2 legs opposite polarity.
The center tap is the N and is grounded.
It's called balanced because if you load both 120 legs equally the N current sums to 0 (it sees the delta between legs).

Looks like this gizmo does the same except 2 x 60 summed to 120. The issue is both legs are hot. Normal 120 has a hot leg and the N is 0 since it is grounded.
It is essentially a separately derived system.
The G is established at the panel xfmr, not the service entrance.
I'd like to see a schematic.

 

My home is the only one on the transformer.
But not by request but layout.
They will do it but will likely charge you.

 

As I posted before the cable I have been using is the TCI super constrictor this is a discontinued cable. They replaced it with the Temple constrictor the next cable in the range is the King constrictor which I have just received. Got this cable for £224 so not extremely expensive. The super as I have said made a huge difference this new cable has improved everything yet again especially bass. I always thought mains cables could make a slight difference but these cables have been a eye opener.

 

Indeed cost of basic, but good power equipment does not have to be excessive. My local dealer offers for example to assemble Furutech power cables as of,
cable (FP-314Ag II) 42,50 €/m, connectors/plugs (FI-4-Ni Gold) 2x 40€). I am sure there is more folk out there in your country that offers this service.

I think a particularly interesting offer comes from a power guru here in NL (the “van den Hul” equivalent for power, if you like ), who sells/ships internationally and manufactures also his own equipment as well premium equipment. It is a high quality power strip with proprietary shunt and quantum noise suppressor. See here
Kemp Elektroniks | POWER STRIP | 4-Way
You can also get the noise suppressors separately for less than 200€.

 

@jea48 Thanks for the post. Pretty interesting article on a (seemingly) touchy subject. Quick question. I run My Musical Fidelity Nu Vista 800 into the wall socket but everything else (Chord DAVE, Chord Blu Transport, Auralic G2.1, Oppo BDP 105, TV, Apple TV) into a PS Audio PS10 Powerplant. I use the factory AC chords that came with the gear. The PS10 is giving me clean consistent power yes? No need for other AC Chords? But possibly I could use a shieled chord for the Amp into the wall socket. Thanks again for posting.
Rob.

 

If you are using equipment that cost what a Chord Dave does, I think you should not try to save on cables of any kind, at least for your higher quality sources.

 

Hi Blakep,

Just a quick follow up to what we were discussing, the Isotek Elite, Optimun and Syncro at least in Australia use actual Furutech male connectors. The other end is made by Isotek.
I presume it might have to do with the approvals because it is very costly to approve a product here, and I doubt people are fighting to buy these cables here to make getting the approval worth it.

 

Thanks @Uglyversal . What if the DAVE, Blu Transport etc are running into the back of the PS Audi P10? This is generating its own clean power.

 

Some components are more affected than others, like in most cases, you'll never know until you try yourself in your own system. Your conditioner is likely improving the clarity, I can't guarantee it you'll get the same results but I am personally finding that good power cords can take things an extra step to justify having them.

The really good ones are expensive and for a lot of people -understandably- it might not make sense to buy them unless your equipment is at certain level. In your case I think you should consider the cable that goes to your power conditioner, the one that goes to the amp and the one that goes to the Dave. If you use a separate phono stage, that one too, the rest I wouldn't rush. At the moment I have a few borrowed cables and I find my phono stage in particular does benefit the most with their use to the point that it is highly likely I will buy some.

 

@Uglyversal . Thanks so much for your response again. You have confirmed my thinking. After some more research I think yes, the Amp and the P10, DAVE and the definitely the my Rega Aria phono stage which supports my Rega p10. Now how much do I spend.... . What cables are you using if I may ask? There was another post in the thread somewhere recommending the German Company Lapp Cables. They supply Rega with their cabling apparently. I have contacted the Australian branch of this company and am waiting for a response. There are some seriously expensive cables out there ... man..

 

There are certainly some very expensive cables there unfortunately the expensive ones tend to make the most difference. I don't want to feel I am pushing you to try, I would like to say that I think they are poor value for money but in the right places, once you get used to the extra sound you might not want to go back to standard power cables.

How much to spend is something only you can decide. I think the first important thing you should look for is that the cable has a metal shield, some cheaper audiophile cables don't have it and they are probably not the best thing to buy just because they are cheap.

I haven't tried it but Rega makes one that sells here for about AU$250 and is probably very good value. The cheapest one I've tried is the Isotek sequel AU$600 and I was convinced that was the one to buy, but now I have tried a couple of others and I have my doubts. One of them being the Isotek Optimum and it is a really nice cable at a crazy price.

There might be better value to be found but I am a great believer in trying before buying expensive stuff. The Isoteks are the only ones I've managed to get hold of through a friend. For the moment, if I buy which is now almost certain, I will stick with those as I actually know the difference they make in some particular parts of my system instead of guessing and paying for the unknown.

 

@Uglyversal Thanks again fellow Sydney sider!! I have been in touch with my hi fi store and they are going to give me a couple of Isoteks ($200 - $500) price range and an Australian brand (DanA ?) starting at $500 and above to trial for a week or so. Going to be interesting listening!

 

No problem and great to hear you can borrow some, much better to try without buying. With the Isoteks try to get them to lend you a sequel, that's the cheapest from that brand with a metal braid. If you are interested also look into this Australian brand, some people on the Net were talking positively about them.

Signature Shielded Power Cable | Audio Principe

 

So i have been reading a lot about the power cable thing and nobody is delivering any measurements. That's strange right?

The only one i could find was this:
Archimago's Musings: MEASUREMENTS: Do power cables make a difference with audio amplifiers?

Don't buy into the cable can change soundstage, bass, depth thing. Buy a better cartridge or well pressed records.

 

Well, the cables do. Audibly. Not always to the better, but sometimes.

500 Dollars is unnecessary, 50 Bucks are well worth it. Even better spent on CD Players at times
(funnily my Quad 67 CDP like better Power Cords, my Rega doesn’t although it’s the Upgrade cable they sell)

Afterwards money spent on other things has a much bigger effect

 

Yeah, i'm not buying it sorry. But i'm open to receive some proper measurements from different power cables.

 

Measurements. Well, HiFi is Voodoo area, you can’t measure better sound.
Probably you even can’t agree on that with your best friend.

Trying out 2 or 3 different ones will give you a first empiric inside, result exclusively for your ears only

 

Haha yeah sure. I have two laying here. Nothing. Sound the same.

A 4000 (!) euro cable:

The benefits of applying Nordost DeoxIT gold are:

• Improved Conductivity
• Maintained optimum signal quality
• Reduced wear & abrasion
• Prevents fretting/dendrite corrosion
• Forms a protective anti-tarnishing coating
• Stabilises connections between similar and dissimilar metals
• Reduces arcing, RFI and intermittent connections

NOTHING MENTIONED ABOUT SOUND!!! That's strange right?

 

Isn’t it fantastic, they aren’t even lying - people dream something into them.

In my experience the only expensive power cables which really did something were pure silver Argento Audio.
The rest was not worth the money.
Vintage amps/receivers show no reaction, the modern stuff seems to need it a bit
A 50 Dollar Lapp Cable is maybe worth the investment (or DIY it), nothing else
Speaker- and RCA-Cables are more important

 

I forgot to say in my original reply that Russ Andrews offers 60 day no quibble try at home guarantee, simply buy try at home & if you don't like it return it for a full refund (minus postage) .... which i realise to Gurnsey maybe more than mainland UK ...

PS apart from being a happy customer i have no affiliation with Russ Andrews and i bought & returned a couple of items over the years from him as well as having kept probably over 90% of what i've bought from him

60 Day Money Back Guarantee
100% satisfaction - or your money back
Ever bought a Hi-Fi product that sounded great in the dealers but not so good when you got it home? We know from experience that the only way to ensure a product is right for you is by having the time to trial it in comfort at your own home with your own system.

We're so confident that you'll be happy with the performance of our products that we give you a full 60 days to try them at home.

If you’re not 100% satisfied with the improvements, you can send them back for a full refund of the price you paid for the item. You can’t say fairer than that, can you?

Why 60 days?
All new cables and conductive metal parts need time to 'settle' before they perform at their very best - we call this process the Burn-In period and it can take anything up to 500 hours. By allowing you 60 days to test them you can be sure that you’re hearing the performance you can expect in the longer term rather than having to make a snap judgement based on a product the character of which may change.

 

Cable burn in is complete nonsense.

 

"I believe audiophiles and music lovers should just be reasonable and follow straight forward electrical principles, turn up the BS detector when you see the ads of 4-figure power cables claiming apparent sonic improvements."
Archimago's Musings: MEASUREMENTS: Do power cables make a difference with audio amplifiers?

Nice measurements.

 

Yeah. That’s a great read. But some will probably hear the 0.1db difference here

 

Yup