HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HI-END POWER CABLE: The fundamental role of power cables in amplification
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- This video highlights the importance of high quality power cables in powering pre-amps and amplifiers/receivers. In the second part of the video we learn how to make our own high quality power cord!
ATTENTION!: If you want a safe cable you should connect the GROUND to the external SHIELD/braid. This will avoid electric shock.
SHIELDING: Due to continues skepticism I am adding an important video ( • Should power cables be... ) released by Paul McGowan ho clearly states how shielding is negative for audio quality in power cords. PS Audio does add shielding but very very distant from the conductor, which makes sense. I say go all the way and if you do not have interference go with out any shielding. The audio signal will greatly improve.
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Music: www.bensound.com/
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Power cables as seen in the video:
- 1 meter (or 1.5 m is even better) Oyaide 102 SSC EE/F-S 2.0 V2
- ELECAUDIO PI-24GC Plug Power Supply IEC Crystal Gold 24K 3μ Ø16.5mm
- ELECAUDIO PS-24GC Connector Schuko Crystal Gold 24K 3μ Ø16.5mm
Power cable for high voltage and power-hungry amps:
- ELECAUDIO CS-321B Power Cable OCC PTFE 3x2.5mm² Double shielding Ø12mm
or
- YARBO SP-1100PW Power Cable Triple Shield OCC 0.5m Ø 16.5mm
- Neotech connectors (highest quality possible): NEOTECH NC-P303GD IEC Connector IEC Gold plated UP-OCC Ø 24mm + NEOTECH NC-P312GD Schuko Connector Gold plated UP-OCC Ø 16mm
- Furutech connectors (good price, high quality): FURUTECH FI-11 (Cu) Connector IEC Alpha α Ø18mm; FURUTECH FI-E11 (Cu) Plug Schuko Plated Gold Ø20mm
Check my other video to learn where to buy these materials:
• Secrets of High-end Au...
ATTENTION!: If you want a safe cable you should connect the GROUND to the external SHIELD/braid. This will avoid electric shock.
SHIELDING (Updated):
Since I have received a lot of criticism on my decision on NOT to shield the cable here is a short explanation that may help you to decide what to do.
I am adding an important video (ua-cam.com/video/ekR5-tUk0tA/v-deo.html) released by Paul McGowan ho clearly states how shielding is negative for audio quality in power cords. PS Audio does add shielding but very very distant from the conductor, which makes sense. I say go all the way and if you do not have interference go with out any shielding. The audio signal will greatly improve.
Here is an interesting article that confirms the presence of this issue and its cause: www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/myths-and-snake-oil
Unfortunately shielding has two downsides:
1 - it lowers the dynamics
In fact, for example 'Audience', one of the best powercable producers out there, has always produced unshielded cables. Only recently they started to introduce some special shielding.
2 - it can vehicle humms
The best is to try without, especially if, like me, you are using a power conditioner. If you hear sone interference, just connect the braid to the ground. Very easy and fast to do in a powercord!
This is my personal experience.
Shielded power cables causing either downside 1 or 2 is an improper termination/application of said power cable. Anyone selling $1k+ power cables is selling audiophool jewelry.
What kind of wiring is in your house and what kind of ground if if is not good power cable is worth nothing think about it lmao
That is dhy I highly suggest to use a mains or power filter: ua-cam.com/video/elU1cEMLjYE/v-deo.html
@@Adam.Brunkhorst Babe ruth couldn't of hit that one home any better lol!!....Some people still believe in Fairy Tales
@@merronphillips7079 Yeah and then they plug it in to a $4 Walmart outlet
I made one of these for my toaster. My Pop Tarts have never tasted better!
Good job! 🤣🤣🤣
Genius!
Did they make them sweeter richer or did they just crunch better
Mostly the crunching sound. As advertised, these cables are acoustically superior!
😂😂
I'm an electrical engineer and I can tell you without doubt that fancy little wire from your wall socket to your amp will make no difference at all, not unless you"ve paid big bucks for one. Then you will hear a difference. Only you will hear the difference but no one else will.
According to conventional wisdom I can't see how the super mains cable can make a difference, other than screening the electrical field of the cable which will decrease pick up by any nearby (imperfectly) screened signal cables and equipment. As others have said it's hard to logic how a short piece of special cable can compensate for standard circuit cables etc and thousands of standard copper windings in the input transformer of the equipment.However as we have a very limited model of what electricity really is, I hold back from saying definitively that such a thing cannot make a difference....
Am a electrical engineer and I can tell you that It most definitely will make a difference I've made my own everything they all sound better lol you have to understand that free cheap power cables that come with your gear are rubbish
@@mfr58it makes a difference because your power supply for the Frist time in it's life gets clean power less resistance so more of a dark background and better base and hi end resolution
Nice shielded cable. Just too bad that the version you make doesn't use the shielding at all. As you clearly state, you're not a tech. Also the magic cable you have must really work wonders, since your electrical wires in your building probably isn't more that ordinary electricity house wiring. From your circuit breaker to the wall socket, there might be 10 meters or more. The wall socket is by chance not gold plated. So that nice cable doesn't do anything to the sound quality. And the mains filters you talk about in your first video doesn't do much to your sound either. If your hifi equipment is of a decent quality there will already be build in mains filters.
So the what you might hear as better sound quality is based on the psycological effect of the price you have paid for the piece of expensive cable.
Next time you make a cable and want to shield it, try to use the shield and connect that to the ground connection in one end of the connector, and only one end, as you might get a groundloop if you connect it to both ends.
By the way, try to unscrew the lid of your amplifier and take a look at the wiring inside it. Then you might get an idea that all those thick expensive cables aren't that important, at least not the mains cables.
As I have already answered to others, you don't always shield just because you have a ground wire in your cable...in power cables active shileding is nit always a good idea in terms of sound...turning to the mains filter....geez! That was one if the best purchases of my life. The change in sound, especially before when I had a worse setup, the increase in quality was stunning.
Agree with you. For who that do not beleive that only changing power cable can significantly improve the soud, just try it man! I can't explained either but I've tired and it does significantly improved.
@@prathanw7091 I just had mine. One for the amp (Outlaw RR2160) and the second for the CD player (Emotiva ERC-3) and man.... the changes were unbelievable! I'm an electrical tech with some college in the field and more than 20 years of experience and still I was not a believer... until I tried them.
@@JulioCSolar You must be kidding right? Unbelieveable changes? How bad are the power-sections of your equipment that actually changing the power-cable has so much influence!. I can only conclude that before the change in power-cable, your equipment must have been sounding really awfull! Otherwise a UNBELIEVABLE cahnge would be impossible.
Your claim is unbelievable.
@@Rob-rg4oe forget unbelievable, it's NOT POSSIBLE 🤣😂🤣
So did you substitute the cable from the wall plug to the power station as well? This is a terrible load of crap.
Kind of a silly argument if you have a decent power conditioner.
In fact! Here it is: ua-cam.com/video/elU1cEMLjYE/v-deo.html
@@jondrubin .. they suck.
A load of crap in your opinion - not mine.
This is best to be done if you don't own the nuclear power stations. Some new home owners in some parts of the world would have done hi-fi wiring lay down and associated electrical supplies hardware as the houses being built.
For old houses, one would choose to manage cleanliness and stability of power supply like the "good" power cables. It is fun and appropriate.
Oops, he forgot to mention that the cable running inside the walls of your house is about $1.50 per metre...but by all means, go ahead and make yourselves " HIGH END " CABLES! ENJOY! 👍
That is a common mistake there. Gear, especially amps, have a push-pull power requirement and if you do not have a good cable the machine is not going to work properly. Secondly, I always suggest to use a power filter and obviously the power cable makes even more sense. Thirdly the power cable I am suggesting is not high-end in its price but only in its effects. Finally, though you do not believe this because of your prejudice you still watch these videos and put a thumbs up on you your own comment...how lame.
I agree, shielding is useless, actually it lowers dynamics!
What I am trying to say is that there is a variable use of power from the machine and the wall socket, and a good cable can optimize that relationship. Obviously it would be better to rewire properly the whole house but that is difficult and expensive. Plus, if you insert a good power filter things will get even better. A bad power filter will suck the life out of the music.
@W N Well said brother!👌
@@anadialog ABSOLUTE LOAD OF SHIT! You keep telling yourself that bro, because it's only your money you're wasting...
Yup! audio cables in signal chain have some effect, 6 foot of power cable between wall and device, unless it's defective is BULLSHIT!!!
Snake oil anyone ? Now for just £899 pr. ml.
I have an even better deal £1999 pr. ml.
@@Les_Grossman you will hear it.... your friends will not. :)
I'm an audio engineer, not an audiophile.
Good shielded power cables are important to isolate the power signal going to the equipment.
BUT IT HAS TO BE COMING FROM A POWER CONDITIONER/FILTER !!
Using them with crappy home depot power extension is just going to deliver the bad power signal very well.
lol good point
Isn't this mostly about making sure that (close to your audio equipment) the mains power cable doesn't cause too much interference on the nearby audio interconnect cables? So it's not about having cleaner power, it's about letting the dirty power noise leak towards the nearby analog cables carrying very sensitive audio signals.
"Good shielded power cables are important to isolate the power signal going to the equipment". Twaddle.
You seem like a good guy who means well, but I have to disagree with your presentation.. There is no magic in building a power cable. Really, the concern is that it doesn't drop voltage or have excessive resistance at the contacts. That's really about it. Get yourself some off-the-shelf cord at the proper gauge. And then get a nice quality male plug cap and female plug cap. Assemble and test. And you're all done.. About the only way you can improve on that is to find cord that has the 'hot' and 'neutral' in a twisted pair. This twist will limit voltages from being induced into the grounding conductor. That is actually how we do AC power wiring in conduit. We twist the 'hot' and the 'neutral' and then pulled that twisted-pair through conduit with a grounding conductor. The twist prevents induced voltages into the grounding conductor, which are the cause of ground loops. No disrespect meant. Just sharing my engineering knowledge.
Thanks Bradley for your nice critique. I understand your point and I also do know about the benefits of twisting. I do have power cables with that solution. I can only confirm how a high quality power cable, especially coupled with a good power conditioner, increase dramatically my system (the power amplifier in particular) in the past. I do notice less differences with high quality gear....
@@anadialog You had a good placebo effect!
Actually gold isn't such a good conductor like copper and silver silver is the number one conductor followed by copper the reason why people use gold is because it doesn't corrode and therefore it protects the connections but it's definitely not the number one conductor
Hey GSUS HC! Thank you for your comment. I can see that you did not see my other videos. I have already said what you just claimed here, take a look: ua-cam.com/video/91cCufCB9JQ/v-deo.html
In the end, due to the decay of the other metals, gold is best. Silver has its numbers, and it is probably even better in high quality connectors, but strage lubricants are used to stop corrosion and we do not know exactly how much they interfere in the transmission. I use both!
Maybe use cold soldered/ crimped cabling. Corrosion is important, but purity is what counts for the audio (= also very very slow corrosion). You are maybe right on the lubricants, f.e. Audioquest uses copper/ silver paste in respect to copper/ silver cable, but that is for better conductivty and I don't know how it will affect the sound on a long term. Even bending of a cable will change it's properties! Change copper/ silver cables to make it sound like you want. High-end cables are composed (different materials) to bring a flat response as much as possible. So it is a matter of taste and you have to test as long as your not satisfied. The diameter of the cable also is responsible for the sensitivity of interference. So shielding (and grounding) is just as important, and the type of shielding, will change the sound too. It's a balance of the entire chain, so test thinner vs fatter cables as well! You're too deep in it already hahaha Good luck my friend....
In my experience the cables that have a mechanical part on the end (speakers/ mic) will have the most audible effect when changed. My condenser mic is known for it's thinny high end (great for recording high frequencies) until I replaced the XLR cable. (Audioquest in this case). Man, the difference is night and day. Noise levels are negligable now and it sounds warmer to say the least, without comprimise of the high frequencies. That being said it still is a compromise.
I'm using gold connectors, because the sound is best to me. I don't like silver, highs are harsh and unnatural to my ears. People like silver, because of the details. I like gold, because of the musicality.
I think I agree with that...
Oh, but it costs 30€. How can you flex on the people you annoy by being reasonable? 🤷🏽♂️
" HIGH END " POWER CABLE.....BWAHAHAHA! MORE GOLD FROM THE SNAKE OIL DEPARTMENT!👌😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Come on bill just chill my man if audiophiles would spend so much money on it it must pass blindfolded tests and as an electrician i can confirm that whenever i plug my crappy laptop charger i hear a pop in my computer speakers but whatever i guess
Much appreciated! Today I finished assembling the power cable as per your instructions. I'm happy to report that the investment paid off really well. Thanks a lot!
Je hebt uiteraard, tussen je oren, nu een geweldig geluid!
how does it sound?
Dynamics may seem better when not shielded, but the fact is that is effect may be artificial. Noise below audible level may be giving this feeling of added dynamics but in the long term it is making the sound more fatiguing. I prefer the relaxed sound a shielded cable brings. There is no problem with the dynamics. Do you honestly think if you measure dynamics, peak vs min dB level with a shielded vs non shielded cable that you will see any measurable difference? You most certainly will not. The unshielded cable simply sounds more superficially dynamic and this will come to the detriment of long term listening pleasure and a natural sound.
If shielding isn't properly done and isolated from the conductor the sound is going to be lifeless compared to the same without. No fatigue, it's the signal in its purest form. Shielding will introduce artificial color to the sound. If you enjoy that be my guest!
@@anadialog I will take properly done shielding, thanks.
I see it like this. The mains supply to your house has travelled hundreds of miles from the power station to your local sub-station. From there, it's probably gone to a ring main in your street then into your mains box where it's split into spurs such as downstairs power, upstairs lights etc. You're saying that changing the last metre of your electricity's journey has changed the sound ? Your new cable certainly isn't acting as a filter.
If so, then I can only suggest that what's happened is either:
1. your old cable was somehow faulty possibly picking up RF interference, or, more likely..
2. the placebo effect.
There's no such thing as audiophile electricity. What's most important is that your system doesn't share its mains spur with appliances such as fridges, washing machines, vacuum cleaners etc. Nice looking cable though.
Hi Someblocke, as I replied to others, first of all you need a good cable that can serve you gear when it needs more power or less, high quality shielding (not used in this video), preserve the quality of the electrivity that comes NOT from my wall sockets but from my main filters, which deliver pure and stable power. Here is a video I made on this topic: ua-cam.com/video/elU1cEMLjYE/v-deo.html
I think it would be interesting to dismantle a generic power cable in order to measure the diameter of the cables and the (lack of) quality of the connections. Then we will rush to the cable store to build one like yours!
Electrical insulation Test Must do! The cable you used does it meet electrical safety standards for your country? This may be nit picky but SAFETY FIRST. What about your house electrical system, So in your house there may be up to 100M+ of cable from the fuse box which will be made of ordinary materials for a normal house in your country Not to mention the cables from the street and so forth,. So what difference would the last meter do? I have seen house earth connection replaced/repaired in a older house to fix a safty issue and the end user said there AV systems worked so much better...
Check the other answers here to your reasonable question please!
The answer to your question is....
NOTHING.
Du hast die Stecker verkehrt herum angeschlossen. Stromfluss,wenn nicht anders markiert,immer gleich Schriftrichtung des Kabels. Abschirmung nur am Schuko anschließen. Ansonsten schönes video.
I've watched this video on three different occasions now, and I still come to the same uncertainty regarding the cable's inability to twist, as I presume it could make it annoying trying to plug it into the amp and power board without having to move stuff around.
Do you recommend any other OCC based power cables due to it being nearly three years later, or even more important, if you had seen any of your regular vendors who made a male AS 3112 plugs for Australians.
Thanks.
Of course! That is just an example. The best of the best, unbeatable for performance and sonics it the Yarbo SP-1100PW....simply speechless. All OCC and teflon insulation. A dream cable at a right price, at least here in Europe. I used this for my high-end equipment!
This crap will give you nothing over the supplied power cable of the audio component! Power cables are the biggest snake oil products you can find.
Only audio fools believe in exotic power cables.
If you want to further increase the noise amunity, then you need a twisted pair power cable in which the live and neutral wires are twisted while the ground conducted acts as a shield. This is the only construction which may give a slightly noticeable difference, at least on paper...
BTW, I have a PhD degree in electrical engineering. I design switching power supplies used in many audio products...
And though you just keep on watching these videos and spread hate! IMHO, they make a huge difference. That is my opinion and most importantly I am not moved by interest as you (I hope). So, as I said to others it's a matter of one's own experience. In some cases and systems things are very clear in others, not so much. That is why we have so many people that firmly believe in both directions. In any case, no need to get upset. It's just music!
Betcha my balanced power, with the original power cables sound better than your high dollar cables. You need some learning there, son.
Hatred?!? How prolific from the nonsense you spread. A laugh a minute.
Gotta go now and blow up things in a microwave
nice, but if you don't connect the shield to the ground (do it in one end) then it will actually work as an antenna causing more interference :/ maybe not a big problem with the short lenght of cable you have there
It will also act as an antenna if you connect the shield on both ends.
Pontus Åkesson Which end is the best one to connect? Thx
@@zhiyaoyang3389 The Shuko end (the wall plug )
Shielding at plug end connection only is necessary. Even using a good power unit with effective filters, you are cleaning up the point before at the wall. The power cable with proper shielding, after the power unit, is to shield off interferences at its surrounding (electro magnetic field, radio frequencies, etc). I used not-thin single core copper wires insulated by solid teflon with two shieldings (braided to ground, and foil). I am happy with the musical sounds.
The antenna wont happen unless by capactive coupling, but the whole idea of shielding doesn't work. But the author said he is not an EE. so trying his best. the interesting fact is he heard an effect. So mains cable is important ! Which as an EE i know to be true -without snake oil peddling which i hate.
What about the wiring from the breaker panel to the receptacle?
Hifi and power cabling , we won't win. If we say we can't hear it, they say we are deaf or don't know how to listen. Best is just shut up and sell them the crap and collect the commission.
No need to mark hot and cold on the schuko, you can flip it this way or that way and it makes no difference.
It does. It's important to match the polarity of the plug with that of the socket. I made a video on this and it is a well renown practice in the hi-fi world. Obviously from an electrical point of view who cares, but the quality of the music does change. ua-cam.com/video/zOPD7lKqEP0/v-deo.html
@@anadialog Then just flip it this way and that way and see what sound best to you. My power amp makes a slightly audible hum if the shucko is oriented one way and it is almost dead silent when it is the other way so it must make some difference...
You buy an expensive SHIELDED cable, then cut the drain wire at both ends??? The shield will be doing nothing . You are supposed to connect the drain to the earth wire connection at both ends. What do you think the drain wire is there for?
Using the automatic wire stripper is also bad practice - you can see how it damages the insulation just where the cables are near each other in the plug.
Not necessarily...read the other comments. I do agree on your last point...
ana[dia]log I think you should read this very useful note about shielding. www.rane.com/note151.html
I think also that the key thing about mains cable shielding is to stop the radiation of signal from the cable to other cables like interconnects, hence the name of Supra’s mains cable “Low Rad”.
ana[dia]log this is also useful. Unconnected shield can induce current into signal.... forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/why-we-need-to-connect-shield-of-shielded-cable-to-earth-ground.71926/
I agree that the hest thing is to usually ground the cable. But that is not always true. Shielding may induce re-rediating fields. Considering that I am using a power conditioner and the rest of the gear in grounded and shielded I decided not to shield the cable since IMHO it performs better. In all other cases I do suggest to shield!
@@anadialog is this not about each component part having an easier time performing it's function. The shield should be connected at earth. Each item is working at its best because it is dealing with less possible issues. Agree your conditioner should and will but why not allow it to perform with less possible RFI. I always connect the shield, its there so best to use it. Will it make a difference, well that is debatable.
Thanks for sharing, it is explained very clear. I already ordered the materials to make one myself.
It's an important part of the system if you want it to look fancy. The top most important factors are: The room, speakers, power amp, pre-amp, and the audio source. Of the cables, the speaker cables are most important, then the interconnect. The least important is the power cable. The power cables that comes with the equipment is more than good enough for the task. Use your money on speakers and amplifier.
Hi-end needs to cost a lot for reasons that sound confusing, stop making sense :)
Power cables are importatnt part of hifi systems. Chines cables are the best price/performance, incfuding fake cables.
Really appreciated, thanks for your video. I'll try to make this cable (matte I'll use less rigid wires) and I'll compare with the np one. Homemade products give more satisfaction :-). Greatings from Italy
Great! Give us some feedback!
I don’t know much about it but, if the electricity coming out of the wall socket has noise, does a good power cable minimize the noise? Also ideally should every component have a power cable? I appreciate your time in responding not just for me, perhaps other people have the same questions. Thank you!!’
Good quality power cables, IMHO, are very important, especially for amplifiers. Moreover, they should be paird with good quality power filters: ua-cam.com/video/elU1cEMLjYE/v-deo.html
If you buy this materials somewhere that's not an hardware store, you deserve the 30€ cost of the connectors 🤦🏽♂️
Ciao Guido, ma il cavo Yarbo che vorrei prendere per il mio Amplificatore valvolare (2 mt), può andar bene anche per il prephono (black cube) e il giradischi sl 1210 GR? Così ne ordinerei 4 metri (2+1+1)...
Intendi sempre per l'alimentazione, certo! Mi sembra un'ottima soluzione! È il cavo perfetto...difficile da preparare però, occhio a non incidere i filamenti quando li sbucci!
@@anadialog il metraggio è importante? Oggi il corriere mi consegnerà 4 metri di cavo YARBO, inizialmente pensavo di prendere 2 metri (vista la distanza) per l'ampli valvolare, 1 metro per il prephono e 1 metro per il giradischi (ho preso anche 3-3 IEC-Schuko della ELECAUDIO); però forse riesco a recuperare da ognuno qualche centimetro per far uscire fuori un quarto cavo (per il lettore Bluray/CD). Per da questo posso ridurre il cavo per l'ampli a 1,40 metri forse anche un po' meno (vedo in corso di montaggio), 80 cm per il prephono, 80 per il giradischi e mi avanzarebbe così un metro per il lettore CD... pensi sia cosa buona, oppure un buon cavo di alimentazione richiede almeno un metro di cablaggio?
È un argomento delicato. Ho sentito costruttori dire di usare almeno 1.5m. Secondo me, dopo anni che me li faccio da solo, più sono corti e meglio è come tutti i cavi. Per esperienza ti dico che spesso uno riusa i cavi e li sposta. Se sono troppo corti non puoi più utilizzarli con altro oppure le prese troppo lontane.
@@anadialog ottimo! Alla fine ho ricavato 4 cavi, quello per il giradischi ci sta giusto giusto, 50 cm... così è uscito quello per il lettore CD, solo che avevo iec e schuko scarse, non ci entravano tutti i filamenti di cavo... li ho ridotti alla fine... poi rimedierò.
Al momento, con breve ascolto, mi sento di dire di essere soddisfatto... forse le medie frequenze troppo squillanti... domani proverò meglio, poi mi sa che sarà necessario anche un po' di rodaggio no?
Assolutamente si! Dagli un po' di giorni...
Sooo... What about the other thousands of miles of copper in the circuit? It starts at some generation/plant forever away. You're telling me that the last 0.00001% of the copper from source to your home is worth this absurd cable?
I can also understand trying to minimize "interference" but wouldn't it be most effective just to put your amplifier in a small faraday cage? Way more practical especially since the claim is that shielding is generally bad...
There is a lot of misinformation on this topic, some of which can result in dangerous situations. I would like to offer a brief summary of the role of power cables in audio equipment. Firstly, in my country, the alternating mains voltage is 240 volts, but the same principles apply for countries using 110 volts. The power wires that supply energy to an amplifier consist of an active, a neutral and in some countries an earth wire. The earth wire is usually bonded to the neutral wire at the switchboard for a Main Earth Neutral design. Earthing designs in audio equipment can be an issue in the audio signal path when multiple components are used, because multiple paths to earth can cause nasty earth loops. But that is another story. Here we are talking about mains alternating current which at no time comes into direct contact with the audio signal. That is why the quality of a mains cable cannot possibly have any effect on the quality of the audio signal. The only quality a mains cable needs is to be of adequate cross section to easily carry the current required by your amplifier without producing heat. ALTERNATING current at mains voltage is connected to the primary winding of a power transformer, whose task is to provide whatever voltage and current is required by the amplifier design. The output of the mains transformer is STILL ALTERNATING current. For the purpose of illustration, let's say that the secondary winding produces +/- 15 volts, thus making the transformer a STEP DOWN TRANSFORMER. The secondary winding can be tapped at the electrical centre, thus producing a reference zero volts that will be used for the amplifier section. Now, audio signals from, say a magnetic cartridge on a record player, output a tiny and very complex alternating current. The function of an audio amplifier is to raise the level of that tiny signal so that it is strong enough to drive a loudspeaker. In order to do this, we can make use of a very wide variety of designs. For simplicity, we are trying to achieve this without adding or subtracting anything, as far as the sound is concerned. The perfect amplifier behaves like a simple pair of wires, with gain. Amplifier designs that do this require a reliable, clean consistent DIRECT CURRENT supply to provide the power for the circuits. SO, the alternating current from the mains power transformer must be RECTIFIED into DC. This can be achieved, for example, by using a BRIDGE RECTIFIER connected to the secondary winding of the transformer. Then, and ONLY THEN, we have direct current that can provide the energy required for the amplifier design. There is NO SUCH THING as positive and negative wires comong from a mains supply, because a mains supply is an ALTERNATING CURRENT. It has two wires which are called the ACTIVE wire and the NEUTRAL wire. The neutral wire should be at zero volts with respect to the ACTIVE wire, but for complex reasons to do with power distribution design across three phases, this is not always true. (Another story). If you swap the ACTIVE wire with the NEUTRAL wire in a power cable from the mains outlet to the audio equipment, the amplifier can see NO difference, because the first thing that happens inside the amplifier is that the power supply is RECTIFIED into DC. However, depending on your country, you could produce a very dangerous situation by doing that. In Australia, our mains supply ( I will only speak of SINGLE PHASE) is 240 volts, or thereabouts. Each wall outlet has an isolating switch on the ACTIVE wire. If you switch the active and neutral wires in the power cable, the ON/OFF switch inside your amplifier will switch the NEUTRAL instead of the ACTIVE, leaving hot voltage inside the amplifier. If a fault develops inside the amplifier, you could end up with a dangerous situation, even when you think you have turned your amplifier off (at the amp switch). As far as filtering and power conditioning is concerned, this is the job of the electrolytic capacitors and voltage regulators inside the amplifier. The only piece of equipment I use to protect my precious audio equipment is a surge protector and an isolating transformer. I have always used isolating transformers in recording and post production studio design for safety reasons as well as earth loop reasons. I am sorry that my post was long, but perhaps it has been of some interest. I am happy to answer questions to the best of my knowledge.
Extremely detailed answer on topics that I am not an expert. One thing I must say. Changing power cables had a significantly change in the quality and fidelity of my sound reproduction. Don't ask me why but it did, and in a considerable way. I will do a test on this topic but the problem wity tests is that the recorded sound does not transmit the change that ypu would hear if you were in persion in my living room....byt we will try to sort things out in the best way! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passione. P.S. I hope that surge protection is wired properly and with high quality components because it might kill your sound.
I too am not an expert, but I would be very grateful for you view on this: I thought the idea of a good quality mains cable was that it was shielded and so did not produce magnetic fields (?) in the region of the hi fi interconnection cables - it is only this last meter or 2 that is near the interconnect cables. My expensive hi fi components come with cables that are not very well (if at all) shielded - so for this reason should I not buy or make shielded cables?Mitch
Sure Mitch! Go ahead. Even though I prefered not to shield mine (and I forgot to explain why in the video) unless you have a completely solid system witu clean pure power, it is better to shield the cable!
Well said. A thorough and detailed response. We deal with this a lot and psychoacoustic has a lot to answer for. We actually have issues with “high end” power cables for many reasons... 1)They are often assembled by unqualified persons. 2) Some of the imported “fancy” plugs are not approved for use. 3) Finally and for us, most of all, the cables and plugs are often so damned heavy and often poorly fitting that we often find them working loose and have seen arcing damage or just simple disconnection caused by these. At HTE we do not promote or recommend these especially in densely populated equipment racks. As a final comment I would like to think all cables have been properly tested and meggered prior to application. Note my understand is that in Australia it is not legal to make your own cables but willing to stand corrected on that.
Hmm... Custom power cables huh? I'm like 3 more autosuggestions away from 'the moon is a hologram' videos. Time to slowly back away...
and yet behind your wall the wire is connected with $5 screw terminals. I'm yet to come accross someone who's exclaimed, "I've run a continous length of romex from my breaker and directly soldered it to my transformer primarys and the sound is amazing, I turn my hifi off at my breaker" just doesnt happen
I was interested until the cost. I am trying to AVOID spending 100+ for a power cable upgrade. Psaudio has a badass one for the same cost as you have here and no work plus resale.... but I love the video and it looks fun and satisfying to make.
+cardiobroker thank you for your comment. The Oyaide is just an example...try this baby: YARBO SP-1100PW Triple Shielded Power Cable OCC Ø 16.5mm (about 65€/80$).
It Will blow the PSaudio out of the water. There is even a smaller gauge version that is even cheaper! All OCC Cooper. Impossible to find at this price as a finished cable!
Why bother to sleeve the cable with some fancy looking red/black mesh? What is shown here is nothing more then cable-dressing. If your equipment actually sounds different after replacing power-cables, have it repaired! Or change it out, because it's badly designed from a electrical engineering standpoint.
Making your own cables is nice, but my lord the nonsense.
It was proven during the 90's by people who did it as a job. Here we are in 2024 and still proven engineers with equipment more accurate than the stereo we use are still showing us it makes no difference.
Unless you live in a DIY shed that Bob the Builder did the mains ring on, or have appaling equipment that can't do AC to DC properly and is so poorly designed it isnt filtering that correctly.
Gold pins on mains cables too. After a wall socket and 10 cents IEC socket.
Which quality cables have you tried?
can i use this type of cable to be used with a CPU power supply?
Sure!
@@anadialog great thank you, i will proceed to buy all item soon, but where to find the nylon sleeve for this type of cable? and what is the diameter for the cable?
This was painful to watch. Not only did you damage all 3 conductors, by not connecting the shielding to PE, you pretty much turned it into an antenna. And what made you think it's a good idea to use solid core for a power adapter? People like you should stay away as far as possible from anything electrical.
You see Mike, the problem is that you have a preconception finall these aspects. Shielding reduces dynamics, as also Paul McGowan finally declared. Check his video in my video deacription. Don't always follow the book, there much much more out there and finally things are changing. Solid conductor? Again, you do not know what you are talking about. Some of the top cables in the world are solid core. The cable I am using is a Oyaide power cables. One of the top cables in the world after their model Tunami. Please, please explore true high fidelity and not manuals only. They are both important.
Nice vid, good to see you taking cables and powerchords serious. You could improve on the powercable by connecting the copper shielding to ground on the shuko side. I made my own powercables with the Oyaide Tunami and Oyaide connectors and I am very satisfied with the result.
Ivar! Thank you for your comment and for your suggestion, I Will try that! Well...the Tunami is much better...congratulations!
Thanks Ivar and Anadialog on a great subject/demonstration. Regarding connecting cable sheilding to ground, just want to confirm that the sheilding should only be connected at one end (power outlet side) instead of both end, is that correct?
+Richard Gan Yes! That's right!
Grounding the copper shielding makes a huge difference, but only ground it at one end.
Yes, but it does degrade sound. Check my video description for more info.
Most people’s house wiring sucks, the whole room may be on the same circuit, or worse interference from other devices. The wiring in the wall has no shielding and the wall outlet is most likely regular copper builder spec outlet, sorry but it’s a waste of money.
What you are reporting is a common mistake and misconception. Check the info I added in the video description. Plus, I also highly recommend to use a power filter for even better results.
I think you have to be careful when doing DIY power cables. If someone screws something up, they could start an electrical fire or blow up their system. lol Better to have the pros make you one.
I have been doing my own for over 20 years. Never had a problem. It's the easiest cable to make DIY.
I made the experiment! Separated 3 meters of just one thin little thread out of the whole big fat monster cable which the other speaker had, and I could NOT tell the difference!!! (mono) Even when it was loud... The speakers are 100 kg each and 300W Amp. Now it could be that with longer cables or extremely high volume there might be a difference. Probably. I don't know. Expensive cables seems like a waste of money
You just need goid cables, nit high end cables...because they are the same thing! ;-)
Sorry, I can get behind quality interconnects, speaker cable and even headshell wires in a turntable, they are dealing with very low voltage, very low current, high frequency signals where microvolts and microohms can make the difference, but you cannot condition the power in 1 metre of power cable.
To do that you would need to have the connection from the transformer in the street to the house, and the house itself rewired. You may make some difference with a power conditioner, but the real issue is RFI in the property itself. That cable is going to amplify it, In reality you would be better with an unshielded cable made of normal copper.
OCC copper for 1 metre carrying 230V 50Hz is going to make didly squat difference, and as for that not being of suitable current carrying capacity for a power amp? Don't make me laugh. That cable is 2.5mm2 from looking at it, which coincidentally is used in UK fixed wiring for socket outlet circuits.
I think what you have is a placebo.
Which high-quality power or interconnects did you try?
Where can I find cable and plugs to make these? I am in the US. Also I have a two prong Pioneer SC-81 AV receiver that I want a cable upgrade for. How should I deal with that?
I think I miawednyour comment...sorry about that! It's probably too late but a good starting point is for the US is this one: www.thecableco.com/diy-cables-and-connectors.html
I also have a two-prong power cable on my integrated amp, and the manufacturer's tech said to get a decent-grade IEC C14 inlet (Amazon sells them) and ground the middle prong to the chassis.
I’m sorry to say it, but I would not recommend anyone to follow up these activities. It is a waste of time and money.
The amplifier should have a good powersuply. Also the chassis should have a safetyground and be separate from the signal ground.
A well-known problem is the occurence of ground loops that cause 50 Hz noise in your speakers when an additional grounded apparatus is connected.
A complicated problem that is far worse than the hypothetical problem that is adressed here.
Unfortunately your presentation is also negatively influenced by some background “music”.
Glad to here your point of view. Which cables did you build?
If you use single ended triode amplifiers they do not draw more current from the wall outlet during loud music passages so the power cable is less demanding than a solid state amplifier which draws more current. Also, a large enough capacitor bank takes care of momentary brief loud passages. Proper power supply filters: transformers which isolate, filter capacitors, and chokes all remove noise from appliances on the power line.
These considerations having been made, the see-through plugs themselves look good to me, even if some think I have bad taste for liking them. You can buy different colored neon bulbs you can put in these plugs (with at least 100 k resistors to the neon bulb) so they light up when the power is live.
Don't quite understand these thick copper cables - what cable is in your walls - do you have this kind (gage) cable all the way to the fuse table of the house? And what type of cable (gage) is the service provider providing to your fuse table? Or am I missing something here? Do you really ear a difference in your audio equipment? One would assume that it would not benefit to go any higher (gage vise) than the smallest one on your way to the "source" of the electricity .... Just asking. Thanks for great, entertaining episodes!!
The point here is to use high quality OCC copper and good quality connectors, possibly with a power filter. Then you will really make a change in your system. The cable can be solid or multistrand, no problem. This oyaide bulk cablebus just an example. I love to use all different kinds of cables of OCC copper or OCC silver.
You are forgetting that most homes have crappy wiring and grounding, also the power from the grid is dirty and not stable so cables Make no difference until these other issues are resolved
That is a typical misconception, the machine is the point of view not the electric power plant. For the amplifier, for example, it's the first meter, not the last. And for example a Class A push-pull amplifier is very demanding and requires a high quality, shielded if necessary, and low gauge, low resistances cable to work at its best and keep the power easily coming, for peaks, and clean. In fact I highly recommend also a quality power filter. A low quality filter will kill dynamics.
Rhodium??? Wtf are you making catalytic converters or something? Rhodium bahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Can you tell the difference?
I'm an audiophile i can hear the difference.
Can you prove it ?
I don't have too ,I'm an audiophile.if you cant hear it your system isn't resolving enough.
If something can be asserted without evidence it can be dismissed without evidence.
Good bye.
I see some strong prejudice here, more than the one you are pointing at. A difference with what? articulate! With a normal cable? Actually you can hear the difference more on simple systems. You should give me a chance Chuck. I present in what I believe and don't sell anything. As I have explained in several videos numbers and measurements are important but tell us only a part of what is going on, in fact they describe QUANTITY not quality. You can infer quality from quantity but not always and certainly not for every aspect. An example I always make is, can numbers and measurements tell us which wine or chocolate bar is better than another? Here is a video I did on this: ua-cam.com/video/rMfr8BG335w/v-deo.htmlsi=0JE6-nEY799acP8T
I can only say that when I try to record the difference among cables, these are cancelled by the conversion while in person things are more evident. Especially with speaker anbd power cables. Let me ask you if you ever tried using a quality speaker cable? Please reply in a new comment otherwise the system does not notify me...
So the hundreds of miles of wire from the power company to your house and the dozens of feet of wire in your house doesn't count right?? only the last few feet of the power cable, right??
Yup! Unfortunately you are following a huge misconception. You must reverse the point of view. It is the 1st meter of cable for the machine, the most important of all, especially if we are talking amplifiers with a push-pull configuration. Try!
Pure BS.
I did not go through all the comments so this may of been pointed out. Watching you build your cable you made two huge mistakes. 1 The copper shielding should be grounded at the wall. Only at the wall as you may introduce a ground loop if you ground it on both ends. 2. When you strip a solid copper wire you make sure you do not touch or gouge the wire with the stripper, this creates a break point in the wire and could cause a internal short in the cable. (this is electrical wiring 101). You can clearly see large gouges in your ends when stripped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you made all your cables this way I would strongly recommend you go back and remake them properly.
Number 1 is not a mistake but intentional. As for many audiophile manufacturers a powercable with shielding may loose dynamics. Its is not necessary to ground and shield. Obviously the cable is dangerous at that point as most cables made in the past century that we still use in our homes. For number 2 you are right but trust me, the indents are minimum and I have been using that cable for years now with excellent results.
What is the point of this expensive cable , the power cables in your walls and power connector are much
Lower quality.
That is the most common and reasonable doubt. Well, the push and pull power demand from your socket benefits from a good powercable, plus if you are using a good power conditioner or mains filter then it makes double sense!
First of all, high-end power cables aren't for everybody. If you have a 5.1 (or 9.2.2 or whatever combo of surround) system in a box that you bought at Best Buy, you have no reason to buy a cable like this. (But, if you feel like making one on the cheap for the experience and fun of it -- go for it!!) I think most people who loudly object fall into this category because they feel like the existence of the product somehow pressures them to buy one, fearing friends will think their system is lacking and want to find support for their decision to not buy one. A symptom of the consumer culture, if you will. The good news for those in this category, is that there is no reason to have a high-end cable and you won't notice any difference if you do buy one. Save your money.
This cable is for the people who don't buy a system and enjoy using it without much additional thought, like most people do. It is for people who have a strong interest in sound quality and pursue this goal as a hobby and spend considerable time researching the various components that go into their system and are constantly looking for ways to tweak and improve their system to their liking. It's like the difference between the vast majority of people who buy a car for transportation and look for something that is good quality and reliable and buy one of the most popular cars like a toyota minivan or SUV, mercedes sedan, or Ford truck, compared to the few who buy porsche 911s or Subaru WRXs, who spend their weekends on tracks or in the garage tweaking their cars for better performance. The people driving regular cars are happy with all-season radial tires, but the people who make their car their hobby pay much more for tires that are stickier, have a higher speed rating (and wear out faster) because it improves performance. Most people would be wasting money to buy those tires for a Toyota Camry. Same with cables.
Second, even for people in this hobby, cords and cables are one of the final steps in a long line of upgrades and tweaks. Nobody debates spending their money on upgrading speakers or cables first - you always upgrade speakers first, and most other components because the benefits of better cables don't emerge until you have a system with high enough resolution to take advantage of the benefits.
Finally - and to answer your question directly - people who buy these cables usually don't plug them into the wall outlet. It's true that the power coming from the Romex in your wall has traveled a long distance over (comparatively) crude wiring, picking up RMI and EFI interference along the way and subject to fluctuation in power from other demands on the grid. So, people with these types of systems use power conditioners and/or isolation transformers (in the place where most people use just a power strip/surge suppressor) and these cables are plugged into those, which deliver cleaner power than what comes out of the wall. We tweak power out of the wall all of the time. Any time you use a wall wart or brick in a laptop cord, you are transforming that power from 110V AC (in the US) to 5-24V DC to go into the device. A good conditioner/transformer will remove the RFI/EMI interference, protect from surges, and deliver a constant stream of power at 110V, which the components were designed to receive. This rectifies the fluctuations in power from surges and drops caused by demands on the grid and also from inside the house when people turn on high-power devices like hair dryers, microwaves, or even the refrigerator turning on and off automatically. To play music, timing is extremely important from the speed the record or CD spins, the clock for digital decoding and conversion to the speed the speakers move. When power fluctuates, timing can be thrown off. Also, many people with vintage equipment or vacuum tubes (valves), risk damaging equipment with fluctuating power. Some people even have an electrician install a dedicated 20-amp power line in their home and bury a dedicated copper grounding stake in their yard to isolate their system from other electrical activity in the home. This is why cables are one of the final tweaks in a system and also why your average person with a big box home theater surround system need not give a damn about these cables. They aren't intended for them and their system isn't sensitive enough to realize a difference in performance.
@@esquiremoderator32 Timing is not going change when mains power fluctuates. The speed of a CD or turntable motor is not determined by mains voltage. The frequency of a reference clock in a DAC will not be affected by fluctuations in mains voltage either. Certainly not if your audio equipment is reasonably well designed and in good working order.
@@ProffAndy ..... and if your power is ideal. If not, the rest won't be in proper working order. You can test some* of this quite easily by playing a CD and tweaking power with a variable voltage regulator and simulate power drops and spikes. I guarantee your music won't sound the same if you swing between 90 and 135 volts. You can even do it without a regulator, using only "real-world" changes to your power by running multiple high-current devices and switch them on and off while listening.
You're correct that CD transports and DACs have error correction measures that minimize these problems, however, in the real world they don't cover up large swings of mains power. The specs advertised with the products are all measured in perfect lab conditions, ym-will-v.
There are some instances, where you might find it more difficult to detect (hence the * above). The transport first employs data correction for errors caused by power problems and other things like scratches on the CD. however, when the problems are too much to correct, the transport then uses error concealment, which is the CD transport essentially making its best guess and substituting data, which is not the actual data present on the CD. You'll hear something, just not what the artist recorded. This article explains this in more detail if you are interested: www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-how-much-impact-can-cd-transport-have-sound-quality
@@esquiremoderator32 CD players and DAC have error correction to correct errors. They have voltage regulators to "cover up" large swings in mains input voltage. Feed 9 volts into a 5 volt regulator, you'll get 5 volts at it's output. Increase that 9 volts to 14 volts and measure the output voltage. I bet it'll still be 5 volts.
all these cables are snake oil,you can change them and listen,no differnce.all cable sin walls whats about them__
Use that cable for my electric fan & WOW! IT GIVES MORE CHILLS
Show me a significantly measurable difference.
I bet you can't
I've sold loads of these Oyaide cables, this one and Tunami, they should always be sheilded at the wall plug end.
Hi there, yes you are right...if usee that way. I tene not to use a shield when I am using a power filter (no wall socket). The dynamics are a better that way!
Ok great, you have an awesome 2 ft power cable. But what are you going to do about the 25 ft of cheap copper 14/2 in your walls or the miles of power lines that aren't super duper aligned power crystal copper?
That is a common misconception. You must change the perspective. The cable is the first meter for the amp, the most important of all, especially in a push-pull configuration.
Even the videos that come on your channel I watched them all to cooperate in thanking you for making those cables
It can be very nice to have a cable like this to power the system but it doesn't solve anything, it's like having a water source for human consumption connected by a meter or two of stainless steel pipe in an old lead installation. Electricity is the same thing, if the way you pass is polluted, it will not be a meter that will remedy.
Now we can make a cable path with mesh or a screen, cables commonly used in the industry but taking into account where the electricity comes from, polluted or not. A small isolation transformer solves the problem of eddy currents.
You must reverse the perspective, this is a common mistake. You must think this is the very first meter of cable from the amp perspective (or any other piece of gear), which is crucial, especially in the push/pull power demands. Moreover, I also suggest a quality power conditioner and at that point your system will really start to sing.
hello, pardon my ignorance but how do you guys deal with equipment without an IEC inlet ? like my receiver for example, the only way for me to make this happen would be to open up said receiver and solder the power cable.... any ideas ?
Older gear has in most cases its own cable. Yes, you could do that and substitute the cable or drill a hole for the inlet but you really need to know what you are doing besides decreasing the value of the machine.
@@anadialog thank you, guess I’d need to open up the receiver and check it out myself...
Shielding should NOT be necessary if you have CLEAN power coming in. If a power cable presents a very low impedance from power to amplifier, that's all it needs to do. It apparently requries a high quality cable and high quality connectors to get a very low impedance connection. But unless you're running more than a thousand watts power output you don't need even as large as 12 gauge power conductors. Anything beyond that is overkill.
Finally someone with a little more knowledge on the topic! Thanks!
I like your vids and I myself am an audio/video fanatic. However, when it comes to cables especially mains cables- a quality grounded and shielded cable is just fine and you will see/hear no benefits from an exotic fancy overpriced cable. Whatever result you are getting is strictly placebo. The only way going with an exotic cable will improve your noise floor is if you ran this same wire from the grid, to your mains, your entire mains and receptacles would have to be of equal quality and then run your fancy cable to an isolation/filter bank.
That said, I am of the mind of if it works for you than go for it. I myself have many over priced cables, but I buy them mostly for the build quality not with the expectation of making my system sound better. If a cable made your system truly sound better then you were simply replacing a defective or under-rated cable.
Thank you for your (calm and not angry) comment! I do not agree but there is no problem with that. I had a fantastic hi-fi cable for my amp. I changed it with a better one and the jump in quality was simply amazing. In this case, night and day difference! Always use high quality mains filters and a good cable to maintain pure the electric current fed by the filter!
@@anadialog Expectation bias, it's a known thing that if you expect a difference your brain will produce one. If you're happy to pay a lot for that good luck to you, but power cables make little if any difference to the sound.
Your claim is already fallacious. Does or doesn't make a difference? In any case as we all know this is an endless debate and I've realized that it all depends on one's system and listening environment. In some cases its night and day in some much less because you already have effective components or, worse, very very bad components and can't hear a difference. But it does. Fortunately I am good company so don't take my word for it!
@@anadialog Expectation bias is a real thing. Like when people say their car runs better when it's clean for example. Read up on it, and I'm not saying people won't hear a difference, like I say if people want to spend a million dollars on a power cable good luck to them, if they hear a difference it's debatable whether it's due to expectation bias or the properties of the cable itself. You're in one camp I'm in the other. And Kudos to you for showing people how to make their own. Cheers.
I want the A/B test. Where is it?
Just so you know, I pay my power company extra to send me super clean, noiseless, audiophile AC right through the public power grid.
It makes my stereo sound fantastic, superior toast, and my blender makes tastier margaritas!
Cool! I want that feature too!! I did set it up multiple times...man, the things I heat in real life on my couch just disapppear when converted and digitalized...that is why I am not doing it for now.
...moreover, now thst my system is optimimazed the effects are liwer than when I started when each quality tweek was hugely significant...
@@anadialog I know how to make any amp and music sound better with a cable. But you have to apply it appropriately to the baby. J/K ;)
Is it worth the extra cost on audio power cords if we opt for cryogenically treated connectors?
Thank you very much.
I never noticed much an improvement. If it is there good, I wouldn't look out for it.
Thanks for your fast replies.Big help again. Now another Q for you. I have lost about a 3rd of my hearing in right ear and have the wonderful sounds of tinnitus in same ear. Are there phones that can calibrate for that.Have tried friends Nuras and the setup seemed to have equalised (witchcraft/convinced myself?)but still would like to check out other options. Onya dude. Keep up the good work. 🤘
The power (mains) cable is one of the 5 most important thing in sound reproduction? Oh yeah, here comes Snake-oil gibberish.... Looking at the whole mains supply, what do we see?
Well, first we see the power plant. There are various big chunky transformers with enourmous power capabilities.
Then we do see hundreds or thousands of *kilometers* of aluminium cables going to the region where you live providing power for millions of power consumers.
then we do see transformers to get the extremely high voltage down from HV to medium voltage range.
Again some tens or hundreds of kilometers of (aluminium-!?!) cables going to the transformer bringing that voltages down to the usual mains voltage.
From there you have again some spiderweb of thousands of usually aluminium-cables going to thousands of households with all various power consumers. Some of these will draw some Mili-Amperes (one-thousandsth part of one Ampere) of current, some of them will draw 60 Amperes of current or even more in all weird and wonderful forms and shapes - some of the, usually the high-power ones will even produces lots of noise, spikes, distortions which is transferred partly back to the mains grid! Think only of your neighbour, sawing and chopping wood in his garden, some big electric engines for production facilities, the car shop in the neighbourhood welding some metal from that soruce.... These cables to the household have a length of some kilometers, up to maybe 10km or so and are all connected together to the starpoint distribution at the transformer formerly mentioned!
Now the power reached your building. From there you have some cabling inside your house going to the mains socket in your room over tens of meters all through the wiring cabinet, the fuses inside it, the way to the facility levels, the different rooms, through all kind of screwing terminals and into the mains socket. All that cables from your wiring cabinet do have usually some copper-thickness in all households (at least for the 230V-240V mains grid, which we are talking of ) of maybe 1.5 mm² or in the very best case 2.5mm². Then there is all that Resistance by screwing terminals, distribution terminals, the sockets, the fuses in that way. Then there is all the noise induced into the whole system from all kinds and numbers of switching power supplies, as for example your TV set. Then there are power consumers being switcht on and off, some of them will even draw a short spark when switching off...
And now, finally, you come and want to explain me why you need PCOCC cables and gold plated contacts to get the best sound out of your amp system, which either has an regulated power supply in the form of some switching power supply or (hopefully) some very high quality regulated linerar power supply?
Even if we just inspect the last section of thinner wires, tens up to hundred meters of thin, standard copper wire, and the last meter will make the difference? Seriously???
Only if you would measure with a caliper gauge, then mark sizes with some crayon and finally cut it with some axel
And, btw: Copper will conduct your current about 1,27 times better than gold for same surface and squares, so gold will definitely not be the best conductor you could use...
Apart from all the typical blabbering, I am amazed how many people write the same thing over and over, have you ever tried? Is your criticism based on experience? If so what is your system? A true critique starts in empirical way, not opinions. I truly hope you belong to the first category. Then we can start discussing. Remember that I am not selling anything, I am just doing this for passion. That is an important factor to keep into account.
@@anadialog I did not *try* it, i BUILD systems. You ask me if I did try it, so I ask you back: Did you do a proper double-blind audition of the power cords? And what was the result? Was it reproducable showing exact results? How many times did you try it?
Did you ever hear about the Plazebo-effect? For sure, gold contacts look amazing...
You should run the cable through the acrylic back piece of the connector before you strip off any insulation. Easier that way. Also, what you call Hot, Neutral, Ground we call Line, Neutral, and Ground in the US.
I purchased an SKW OCC power cable based on your recommendation of their speaker cables. I am now considering opening up my Tripp-Lite Isolation Transformer to replace its stock power cable w/ a custom made OCC power cable probably from SKW to connect it to the mains. - Cheerio
Nice! Thanks for sharing that!
Dont forget to change power wires in your walls.
Also the power grid.
You should connect the shielding to the ground, if not the shielding does not work
I know. It dies shield bit in a passive way. I have explained my choice in other comments. For my merda I do non want to connect the shield bit dir others it May workout.
forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/why-we-need-to-connect-shield-of-shielded-cable-to-earth-ground.71926/
What is the equivalent AWG guage of the wires? Doesn't look that thick - maybe 12 or 10? What guage woud you use for an amp? What Is the theory behind needing such cable? How does it make any difference?
We are in the multiple 0 area (below 1) if we are talking overall diameter. Very big cables, for less resistance and higher capacity, plus there is more space for insulation. The single conductor, I don't remember.
We must change our perspective and stop saying there are hundreds of meters from the power plant up to our homes or studios. A good power cord is the first meter or so from the amplifier perspective, a very important part.
@@anadialog no just the conductor awg.
Hello there, thank you for the great video, I want to ask though
Looking on the video, you are using a "3 * 1.5mm with stranded shielding" as the base, but only using the 3 cable with no shield.
What I want to ask, can I use standard NYY cable with only 3 * 2.5mm cable with exact plug type in this video? iec+...sucko? And no braided shield too within the cable
Thanks in advance
Sure! For security it is better to connect the ground to the shield.
I would try to use high quality OCC copper. I recently recommend my favorite for DIY cables: ua-cam.com/video/zRkZEAYwIGA/v-deo.html
@@anadialog thank for the reply!
Hmm, I don't know if I can find this "3 x ?.?mm with braided shield" in my country that's why I ask, can it still be used,
For now, I'm still waiting either plug arrive from overseas order, but yeah, to think even for 1m high quality cable can cost me more than 40$, is fearsome...
hey bro try duelund tinned copper cotton sleeving as a power cable 12 awg for power amp 16 awg for pre cd and st...you will be amazed.....
Your circuit is only as strong as your weakest link. from the transformer on the street to your house is most likely aluminum. the wire in your walls is regular old copper and the inside of your outlet that makes contact with your new plug is brass. You ad all that up and that 3 foot peas of high end top of the line copper power cord does noting.you may think you here a difference but its suggestive of the mind. Im all about using some kinds of power supply to scrub the power to filter out spikes and fluctuation in the AC power. but adding a cord like this does noting. Think of it as pluming. if you already have bad water pressure problem would a high flow shower head fix the problem? no it wont. If you want best performances for your sounds system run a 10# Gage dedicated circuit on a 20 amp circuit breaker and look into a good surge suppressor to protect the service service panel you came out of. iv been in electrician 20 + years and have done data centers that required high end clean power to supply sensitive servers. trust me on this
That is a famous misconception. You must think it from, for example, the amplifier point of view and not the electric power plant. So its actually the FIRST meter of cable, not the last.
Even the ultra repeated mantra 'your circuit is only as strong as your weakest links may work in a real metal chain but not a hi-fi system. In fact each component is an individual and independent part of the system. If a single part is upgraded, regardless if another si crap, the sound will improve no mater what so its just simply not true. Let's start to think with our own head and not these preconceptions that are typical from those who reasonable have been in the business 'for 20 years'. There is nothing to trust. Buy or make a high quality cable and try. Your ears are the best judge. Do you really think I enjoy spending hundreds of euros or dollars on cables? Not me, I would prefer to invest on components or records but unfortunately this must be done and must be done correctly, with proper materials and construction.
@@anadialog sorry but i still disagree with you but i guess we are all allowed to disagree. good luck with your syatem
Good isolation from the wall socket to the amplifier. But how about the rest of the wiring? As far as I know the rest is just 2.5mm² Copper wire with basic isolation, picking up noise just as well. How does this small length of 'hi-end' wire help you?
Hi Uberhood, the answer to this relevant question is in my first video: ua-cam.com/video/elU1cEMLjYE/v-deo.html
There's a vid here on YT of an elderly Japanese man who paid to have the power line to his home replaced to improve the audio in his home, but I still dont get how that insulates him from the factories and other businesses sharing the same power grid. I'd also be looking to isolate myself from every refrigerator, television and bandsaw in the neighbourhood ;)
The answer to this common question is divided in two. Good cables interface between your gear and the power supply. It plays a role and must correctly respond to the gear need of power. Plus, a goid cable IMHO should always be attached to a good mains filter. Yhat chsnges completely your system (check my first video for this topic) and in thst case yoy want to deliver that good power thr best way as possible to your gear with a goid cable!
Hi! I have question. Is it possible to buy USA type power plugs. Does this product sell USA type power plugs?
Yes, of course!
@@anadialog Ok! Thank you for your answer! ☺
You are very welcome!
Balanced power baby. My US systems run on 220 as I have all my components that can run on 220. Power induced noise that is symmetrical in nature is no 180 degrees out of phase and cancels it self and you now have the ground as a drain. Look it up.
A clean tight connection from any cable will do. Exception is speaker wire, heavier guage for longer runs.
High end cables, especially Monster branded ones are a joke.
I did look up and I decided to use my brain and my ears. Shielding and ground reduce dynamics. I do it this way consciously. Monster cable highend? That tell me everything of your experience and knowledge.
@@anadialog Grounding reduces dynamics? Show me proof. The most idiotic statement you have made so far.
@@Mike-fi5se actually several manufacturers make their cables that way. It's not my idea, its science. You're lucky, Paul McGowan has just published a video saying exactly this : ua-cam.com/video/ekR5-tUk0tA/v-deo.html
Yes, he claims what I said but in the end he thinks it's better to put shielding but far away from the conductors for noise reduction. I suppress noise with power filters but the point is, that him and PS audio follow this principle, that shielding is negative for the audio signal!
Ciao, quel connettore IEC riesce a stare dietro al Technics 1200 GR? Tu hai il 1200 G e sai come è l'attacco della IEC, angolato e nascosto dietro-sotto il giradischi.
Ora non ce l'ho sottomano ma penso proprio di si, almeno nel 1200G. Mi pare di averci messo roba anche più grossa...
Hello bro. Can you please give me or do a run down on Nura Headphones. Heard a lot of hype. Any deapth;and a price comparison please. I have faith in your ears.
Hi John, I haven't tried them but the concept seems very intriguing. What I don't like on the paper is noise cancellation and the the normal frequency response. At that price I would look for a classic but solid pair of cans like the the Meze 99, which are also dam gorgeous!
Hi! I understand You.. But what about the kilometres of cable between your connector on wall and your electriciti provider?
I do not think that 1 metres from wall to the main amp will makes miracle.
I belive in 1 or 2 class better cables (interconnect and speaker cables) than the basic or cheapest cables, but upper I think it is a "magical money spent for nothing".
I remember that the vintage receivers, amps, other goods sounded awesome with normal, cheap cables. I feel that most of them better in our days than the modern ones - without magical cables.
Just my subjective comment,
have a nice day!
A lot of people make this mistake. You must change the perspective and use that of the amplifier, or any other piece of gear. In fact, for the amp, it is the first meter of cable, which is fundamental to correctly feed the push-pull power demands. In other words, you don't judge the miles of underground caverns a stream made before reaching the well, but how clean is the bucket you are using to collect that water, which is where you are going to drink the water from.
@@anadialog Ok, but if it is the right way - inside the amp lets change the power transformer, change all wires, cables, and all capacitors to high grade, first class pieces.
It is no way to the ordinary entry or mid levelled systems.
I think is important to the 1st class very expencive systems what are sensitive to every little components and pieces of itself.
Best regards.
I agree 100%...if I had the skills I would!
Many Years ago, I had kinda "sparkling realization" that much more People than we could even imagine actually don't hear even the Difference between poor 96Kb MP3 and actual full-analogue, very nice Recorded Sound...Also, too many People lost "Pitch-Harmony-hearing-capability", let alone such a fine Nuances like Jitter, Intermodulations, or Power Supply Influence to final Audio-Output. We have no Choice but to start believing them- they really don't hear the Difference, and there is a staggering, mind-boggling Percentage of such Population, ESP in Urban, heavily Noise-polluted Areas. It is what it is....Some other People still could/would hear it- if they tried a "Blind-Test", but they don't want allow anything to change their Mind....Also quiet often Phenomena. So suit yourself.
Sadly true...
@@anadialog Somebody finally hit the nail on its head! I always wondered why some claim they CANNOT tell the difference using different cables. The hearing of some people may have been so abused by 'city' living that differences in audio escape them. I noticed this when I left milwaukee where I live and took off for a 3 day stay up north for a camping trip away from all noise.... when I got back to the city ... it was such a difference just the background noise was oppressive...just my 2 cents here.
Sorry, this is not hi-end. You don't know what you are doing. cut off the shield and without grounding it, which means your cable is not effectively shielding from EMI RFI and also the AC Power will interference other cables nearby.
Ethan, that is prehistory. Shielding lowers dynamics. Don't take my word for it look around. Interference? May happen but very unlikely plus, I always suggest to use a power conditioner. This is the formula for best results. I know exactly what I am doing and I do it out of the box. Don't follow always your 80's manual...try different things! ;-)
@@anadialog Shielding on power cable lowers dynamics? you really don't understand EE. Please name any hi-end power cable without proper shielding. Power conditioner can replace hi end power cord? you are joking, right? please upgrade your gears to hi end system with high resolving power, then use hi end parts to assemble a real hi end power cord in a proper way and verify what you did.
Think out of the box! Here is the first article I found of someone following this idea. I have spoken enough. If you want a shield go follow current shopping trends and have fun! www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/myths-and-snake-oil
I really am interested if you could compare this cable that has solid conductors with some version of the same quality from Oyaide, but the not solid core, multi litz wire, to compare the dynamics, the speed, and the richness of the sound. I've only used litz power cables and I am curious what is your take on this matter. I believe that you have realized by now that I am another compulsively obsessed music lover and audio gear lover.
Hi there, I have these: ua-cam.com/video/K5tFrlCvn3o/v-deo.html
Which are very good, especially the OCC copper one and they are litz. But they are interconnects not power cables. In my experience quality OCC copper it silver cables like Neotech, Oyaide, Furutech, Zapfino, Ramm etc. is all you need!
I don want to criticise here because what you doing is really great.
However, I am a tech + audiophile. So if you don't mind I would add little bit info which is IMHO relevant.
I have DIY cable (FURURTECH) and as tech I know if shield is not connected = you have NO shield. However for audio it is not a rule.
So I decided to ask Furutech support. Is it supposed to be connected to both sides or one (which one) or not connected ?
Answer was - it supposed to be connected one side (wall socket side) I guess same suppose to be in case when you use OYAIDE
If you do not use shield it is better to use cable designed without shielding at all.
However, many audiophiles believes that all shielded cables lower the dynamics.
In your case I think it sounds better without it because you didn't use OYAIDE connectors.
Believe me they are fantastic and they worth every penny! You don't have full potential of your cable without them.
Gold is used only because it is not oxidising. Rhodium adds something magic...
I compared dozens connectors and rhodium is always winner, especially cryogenic treated.
Instead of insulation tape it better to use heat shrink. It looks more professional.
Great comment, thank you! I do agree. As I explained in other comments I did not connect the shield, as ai usually do, for the readon you just mentioned dynamics. Plus I am using this cable with a power filter that will already produce a clean signal. I know, interference is always creeping around but I just prefered this option. I should have said this in thr vid. That is my mistake! Yes, I love oyaide conbrctors, probably among the best out there. I have them on other powercables. But as you know they are VERY expensive and the goal of this vid was a high quality cables at a decent cost.
You need to connect the shielding leeds to grond on the wall connector!
Yes, to be protected by electrocution. But not to get the best out of your component. Plus, we have dozens of stuff with bipolar cables, not everything is grounded.
I upgraded to Nordost Valhalla 2 power cables and new power distribution and Nordost Frey 2 speaker cables. I will try to make an updated recording of the new cables...My partner is into high end cables and Hifi and listening to Madness or Depech Mode, the extra 3D dimensions were produced, more details were apparent, sounds of individual instruments were separated very easyily to hear the difference. I purchase Nordost Sort Kones an placed these under cd Central area, one other under the power inlet, another under the output side. Definitely more defined and clearer sound. Where do you stop? Enjoy the music. The purer the copper, the less the neutrons have stopping the transmission. Dirty copper or cheap copper is no good. Also termination to stop eddy currents , make asymmetrical at degree angles. Tuned lengths for the 50/60 Herz cycles. You need to know where to cut the cable.
Dave Jones, thank you again for your interesting comments. I'm not sure I understand the last part...do you Think bullet plugs and alike are good or not? Explain better the cable cutting procedure!
i just upgraded my spotify to premium!
A year later, how is it going with you snakeoil cable?
It's doing great! IMHO you should address your snakeoil concerns to those who charge 500$ or 1000$ or more for 1m of cable...
How many hours need cable for warm Up? 100 hours or less? Thanks
You mean to burn in? Around 40 or so IMO
that iec connector is generally known as a kettle plug
got any tips for people that cant change power cables not all vintage u can change the power cables becuse its built into it
Well, you can change it inside. You just need to desolder it. If it is ruined that is the best thing to do. As an upgrade I would focus on a good power conditioner or at least get a good connector.
Just a little heads up in terms of country specific regulations: here in Germany it is not allowed to use rigid cables for connecting electric devices to the wall plug. Rigid cables are only allowed to be used for permanent installation...
Interesting! I did not know that!
Totally out of sync, which is more than ironic given the nature of your channel.
Where? I am afraid the issue is on your side...
I did the same with all my audio hardware (not that quality) but I changed the standard cables for better ones and like you said! It changes the sound dramatically! Sharper, brighter, more dynamics, bigger Soundstage, more volume and etc and etc.... I highly recommend to upgrade your audio cables
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Only the speaker cables make a difference.
Power cable does not make any difference in sound unless you rewire you whole home and carry on all the way to the grid with this stuff.
That is a common misconception. You must change point of view. It is the first meter for the amplifier or else, the most important of all!
@@anadialog So, if use monocrystalic oxygene-free copper for the first meter of my speaker cable, and aluminium cables for the rest, will it sound better, becouse it's the first meter for the speaker?
At least this Oyaide cable with the ELECAUDIO connectors costs $ 100 and not $ 5000 as some bloodsuckers usually sell
Exactly! But if you would sell it it would cost 10 times more.
@@anadialog That is why audiophile world is full of snake oil, and a lot of intelligent people buying that oil. Someone need to believe, some one need to sell, magazine and youtuber also selling, big oil snake party. Thanks for the reply, but don't like this party
I am not selling anything. Just doing this for passion.
If the shielding grounded, high freq will be dull and lowest will be too rounded not extended
I agree
@@anadialog thank you
SORRY snake oil BS, unsubscribing
isnt there potentially crappy wiring going from the xfomrer to the outlet then 2 ft of 'high quality' conductor?
That is a common mistake. You must use the amplifier's perspective (or other component). It's the FIRST meter for him!
I tried to understand this because you ask a good question and shunyata cables website has a good answer but I needed more so I looked further so here's my attempt as I understand it because more info helps finally solve this right?
Think of power flowing from your component and the power source as a circuit. It circulates. The power is alternating current. So that means it changes direction 50 to 60 times a second. Google water analogy ac current for a good visual. There should be a gif of it.
Next it is important to understand the component is drawing power not receiving it so what that means is it is doing the pumping in the circuit because it demands the power. The power source is letting the current flow as the component pushes it and it makes its way around to the component. Because the component is the one drawing power and the power cable is the first thing connected to it. That cable decides how good of a boost you're going to get before the rest messes with the sine wave. Adding the distortion. The better the cable the more it will resist the distortion and reflections and stuff like that.