Hello!
I have read often diyAudio forum and find lot of useful information, thanks for forum members. Now I have some question for members who have made audiophile AC power cords. Do you use scrimp cable ends sleeves with multicore cables? I know that without is better but with thin multi core wire it is necessary. If the cable is silver plated and plugs are also silver plated is it better to use silver plated copper cable ends sleeves also? Theses silver plated cable ends are available in some audiophile online stores. There will be always some air between cable end sleeve and wire cores left after scrimping, will the corrosion and with air formed sulphide will be problem in some years. Like to make as best power cable as possible. Thanks.
I have read often diyAudio forum and find lot of useful information, thanks for forum members. Now I have some question for members who have made audiophile AC power cords. Do you use scrimp cable ends sleeves with multicore cables? I know that without is better but with thin multi core wire it is necessary. If the cable is silver plated and plugs are also silver plated is it better to use silver plated copper cable ends sleeves also? Theses silver plated cable ends are available in some audiophile online stores. There will be always some air between cable end sleeve and wire cores left after scrimping, will the corrosion and with air formed sulphide will be problem in some years. Like to make as best power cable as possible. Thanks.
I use genuine mink insulators, sleeved in virgin silk.All wires are plated with unobtanium and I'm always careful to orient the cables with the aura of the Grand Poobah of Wankerism. Cables are crimped on the thighs of Cuban virgins.
Ok noted, will use unobtanium plated wire🙂 English is not my first language and jokes about it are welcome.
I hope the original poster's amplifier B+ has enough filtering . . . so that his audio signal does not come back out onto the power mains . . .
Where others on the same power mains can hear the original poster's audio signal.
Where others on the same power mains can hear the original poster's audio signal.
On the real tip, this is what you need, not some ridiculous "audiophile" power chord.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...VeGxvBB1JnAa5EAQYAyABEgLoP_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...VeGxvBB1JnAa5EAQYAyABEgLoP_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Rait, the corrosion you describe it due to stuff in the used crimping sleeve and cable insulation. I know what you mean and have seen it with cheap PVC insulated cable/wire. With good quality materials this is not an issue to worry about.
If you let your head spin regarding the precious metal thingie then your head won't stop turning. Since the cables generally are copper maybe simple tinned copper is a nice "inbetween" solution? When you think of it: what will the 1 meter silver plated cable do when the cable to your home is many meters PVC insulated copper? Before you know it you have created a thermocouple 🙂
I have seen audiophiles with such audiophile cables not having PE in their homes (mains filters won't work without PE) and still old color coded brittle 60 year old copper wiring in the walls. In my book this is simply silly. IMHO good quality professional materials are just right which are already harder to find with the cheap stuff available in abundance. Lapp Ölflex is such a cable type that is way better than the standard cheap stuff one gets with devices. Despite the love for IEC connectors a direct connection at the device side still is best.
And eh... crimped cable sleeves are mandatory. I hope you mean the metal things that crimp stranded cable. In cables I crimp I use Klauke as they are very good quality. The screw of the plug will go through the plating anyway. If there is something to doubt it is the single screw in the plugs/connectors. Of all the failures I see most are caused by the screws coming loose. A 2 screw system as with higher power connectors would be nice.
https://www.conrad.de/de/p/klauke-710k-stiftkabelschuh-1-50-mm-2-5-mm-teilisoliert-blau-1-st-1899412.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4dmH2oiZ9wIVdI9oCR0afwSqEAsYBSABEgKNMvD_BwE&hk=SEM&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=google_pla&s_kwcid=AL!222!3!548862608112!!!u!!&ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI4dmH2oiZ9wIVdI9oCR0afwSqEAsYBSABEgKNMvD_BwE:G:s
If you let your head spin regarding the precious metal thingie then your head won't stop turning. Since the cables generally are copper maybe simple tinned copper is a nice "inbetween" solution? When you think of it: what will the 1 meter silver plated cable do when the cable to your home is many meters PVC insulated copper? Before you know it you have created a thermocouple 🙂
I have seen audiophiles with such audiophile cables not having PE in their homes (mains filters won't work without PE) and still old color coded brittle 60 year old copper wiring in the walls. In my book this is simply silly. IMHO good quality professional materials are just right which are already harder to find with the cheap stuff available in abundance. Lapp Ölflex is such a cable type that is way better than the standard cheap stuff one gets with devices. Despite the love for IEC connectors a direct connection at the device side still is best.
And eh... crimped cable sleeves are mandatory. I hope you mean the metal things that crimp stranded cable. In cables I crimp I use Klauke as they are very good quality. The screw of the plug will go through the plating anyway. If there is something to doubt it is the single screw in the plugs/connectors. Of all the failures I see most are caused by the screws coming loose. A 2 screw system as with higher power connectors would be nice.
https://www.conrad.de/de/p/klauke-710k-stiftkabelschuh-1-50-mm-2-5-mm-teilisoliert-blau-1-st-1899412.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4dmH2oiZ9wIVdI9oCR0afwSqEAsYBSABEgKNMvD_BwE&hk=SEM&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=google_pla&s_kwcid=AL!222!3!548862608112!!!u!!&ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI4dmH2oiZ9wIVdI9oCR0afwSqEAsYBSABEgKNMvD_BwE:G:s
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To be honest, when I think of an audiophile AC power cord, I think of Marketing.
I am reminded of fixing the inner layers of an onion, before the outside layers are not peeled off of the onion.
Many others have much more positive experiences with audiophile AC power cords than I do.
I am reminded of fixing the inner layers of an onion, before the outside layers are not peeled off of the onion.
Many others have much more positive experiences with audiophile AC power cords than I do.
You'll never get to enjoy your system if it electrocutes you.
I have a box of computer chords. I've never seen a reason to use anything else. I DIY everything but power chords. I even DIY my own RCA cables! Custom length cables are nice.
Do you remember the old ultra flexible (white) Apple power cables with transparent plugs? I have only 2 of them but these are cool as they're hyper flexible. In general the older ones are very good as long as they're reasonably flexible and 1 or 1.5 mm2. But ... recently produced computer power chords can be the worst to use. Many cheap computer power cables today are "aluminium bronze" based. A destructive test is to peel the insulation and try to solder the cable 🙂 I discovered this when a brand new cable started to smell and the plastic began to expand. It turned out the cable was crimped the wrong way and then I noticed the strange colored "copper". Have seen it a few times now and I am very cautious with standard Wang Hai Chu cables as delivered with devices certainly when it is written on them that they exist of 0.5 or 0.75 mm2 wiring.
If one can not crimp safe power cables one better should not be DIYing at all. Not defending the silly industry that empties peoples pockets with overpriced audiophile stuff but good quality cabling is a joy to work with. Building a power distributor with mains filter and true mains power switch for safety is also a nice pastime.
If one can not crimp safe power cables one better should not be DIYing at all. Not defending the silly industry that empties peoples pockets with overpriced audiophile stuff but good quality cabling is a joy to work with. Building a power distributor with mains filter and true mains power switch for safety is also a nice pastime.
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You are kinder and more charitable than I am.
There are no audiophile AC cords.
IMO, this business of audiophile AC power cords is, at best, a case of the blind leading the blind. At worst, it is a ruthless con job, designed by a sociopathic salesman to trick the unwary customer into paying enormous sums of money for utterly useless products.
There is certainly a lot of marketing that is essentially doing the latter (ex. hundreds of millions of dollars worth of makeup are sold every year, allegedly filled with magic unicorn dust that makes you look younger). Perhaps that is exactly what you meant.
One of the hardest concepts for electronics tinkerers to understand seems to be this: all electrons are exactly identical. The electrons in a rusty soup-tin are exactly the same as the electrons in a burnished gold bar. Electric current is nothing more than a statistical displacement of electrons, and the electrons from the soup-tin carry electricity in exactly the same way as the electrons from the gold bar.
Gold and steel (soup tin) certainly have different resistivities; to do the same job, you'd need thicker wire if it was made of steel. Copper happens to be better than either of those (yes, copper conducts electricity better than gold), so it's been the material of choice for most of the last 150 years or so.
For an AC power cord, the only things that matter are its ability to carry its rated current, and good-enough manufacturing quality for it to seat properly into the wall outlet at one end, and the AC inlet on your equipment at the other. Contacts plated with something that won't corrode for at least some years are important too.
Other features like larger plug ends (for easier grasping), and more flexible insulation, are nice, but don't affect its function.
Again, there are no audiophile AC cords, though there are unfortunate victims who have been swindled into buying things with that label on them.
If you read Mark Twain, in the 1800s there was a thriving trade in "pieces of the true cross" in Jerusalem. Con-men sold small chunks of wood, allegedly taken from the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Of course, having a piece of the true cross was going to cost you. 🙄
Audiophile AC cords are today's version of "pieces of the true cross".
-Gnobuddy
All the cables are pretty old as far as I remember.
Aluminum wires have usually been a bad idea. Are you aware of when they used aluminum wires for house construction, during the 70s I think? The price of copper skyrocketed and the industry rapidly changed to aluminum wiring. Oh there were so many problems with that aluminum wire. It was discovered post hoc that traditional wiring methods didn't work very well at all with aluminum wires. There were dropouts, flickering lights, and even fires. By the time they figured out that aluminum house wire only worked with Phoenix type connectors (driving cost and complexity way up not to mention the retraining of all electricians) copper prices eased and they quickly switched back to copper wire. But many people were stuck with aluminum wire in their house, and all of it was eventually replaced at great expense.
That aluminum wire also required special devices (switches, outlets, etc) with Phoenix type connectors. More money spent to put a band aid on a band aid on a band aid solution.
Aluminum wires have usually been a bad idea. Are you aware of when they used aluminum wires for house construction, during the 70s I think? The price of copper skyrocketed and the industry rapidly changed to aluminum wiring. Oh there were so many problems with that aluminum wire. It was discovered post hoc that traditional wiring methods didn't work very well at all with aluminum wires. There were dropouts, flickering lights, and even fires. By the time they figured out that aluminum house wire only worked with Phoenix type connectors (driving cost and complexity way up not to mention the retraining of all electricians) copper prices eased and they quickly switched back to copper wire. But many people were stuck with aluminum wire in their house, and all of it was eventually replaced at great expense.
That aluminum wire also required special devices (switches, outlets, etc) with Phoenix type connectors. More money spent to put a band aid on a band aid on a band aid solution.
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There was a prankster that sold pieces of "Noah's Ark" just to prove how gullible people are. He took scrap construction wood, broke it into chunks, and soaked it in soy sauce to "age" it.
He sold a whole lot of those chunks of wood. He proved PT Barnum right too, in a big way.
When my colleagues and I found out our distributor sold us iron CAT5E cabling we were more stupefied than angry (at first). Aluminium cables/wires are still used in mains distribution and high voltage but it is not liked by the people that must work with it. Terminating the cable needs more care and special stuff and... it hardens after time. Chosen for the wrong parameter: low price.
For audio there is a middle way between cheap computer chords and overpriced audiophile stuff: industrial quality Kopp Schuko connectors and Lapp Ölflex cable are not that expensive. At least one can see and check the connections in the plug!
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Aluminum has a much higher coefficient of expansion than either copper or steel. This is what caused the problems in residential wiring installations. Basically screws and wire nuts never stayed tight.
Working with aluminum wire requires special procedures all the way. I know it's still used in mains distribution.
Working with aluminum wire requires special procedures all the way. I know it's still used in mains distribution.
Jean-Paul, thanks explaining, you understand my question correctly and you answer helped.