Power Cable DIY - Please advise
@ Steve (williewonka), thank you for sharing your work. However I'm not much of DIYer and might find it difficult to build upon your experience. I'll send you a separate mail.... The Furutech FP 3TS762 comes highly regarded as one of the best VFM PC by a very credible audiophile who has done 100's of reviews for uber priced equipment. |
@ Erik, thank you for your response.. Could you please elaborate on what you mean by "Connect the ground at both ends but ONLY use the wall end for the shield" Do you mean something described in these pics.. Here's a link to a reputed Chinese site Hong Kong actually, I wish it was in English. Nevertheless, nice pictures... Please have a look.. http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=96293&extra&page=1 |
Kind of. So in the US wiring is usually black, white , green. Then in rare, audiophiliac related cases you have a shield. The green is the safety ground. You MUST connect the green conductor to the center pin at both ends. No and /or/buts. MUST connect it. However, the fourth conductor, a shield, only connects at the wall, or male plug. The green wire, being of equal gauge to the current carrying wires (black and white) is all that’s needed to act as a proper safety ground. The shield is not required to be connected at all by any codes or safety procedures, but to be an effective noise shield it needs to get grounded somewhere, and the place to maximize the noise rejection is at the wall, not your equipment. Here is a link to the DH Labs power cable, so it’s more clear. http://www.partsconnexion.com/DHLABS-75520.html So of course, IEC connectors have only 3 pins. How do you attach 4 conductors when you have 3 pins? Carefully. :-) At the wall, all 4 conductors. The green and shield get twisted together. Usually black would go to the "hot" pin, white to the neutral. At the other end where you attach your amp/preamp/DAC/whatever, only the 3 insulated wires get attached. Neatly trim any shield so it's not in the way of your work. Best, Erik |
I have two systems, a computer audio system upstairs and my main home theater system. In the home theater, I am actually using the rhodium plated FI-52 for all my primary amps because it was the only 20 AMP IEC (C19) connector that was pure copper. I use rhodium FI-50 IEC for my Krell processor and rhodium FI-28 IEC for surrounds (as well as anything upstairs). I’m using rhodium FI-28 for the male plugs everywhere. Upstairs computer audio has a Belkin power conditioner that everything plugs into (I use it as a master switch as well). It’s a modified DAC, with a modified Rane stereo line mixer going to two Yamaha studio monitors. Downstairs, I use a Furutech GTX rhodium outlet for the Krell processor. I’m currently using Furutech FPX-Cu outlets (un-plated copper) for all amps, but I will be converting to rhodium plated GTX or FPX in the next few months. All my power cable is hand made. I use 20awg solid-core OCC copper conductors with Teflon coating (the Neotech chassis wire) for my power cords. Each power cord has eighteen 20awg conductors -- 6 conductors per leg (hot/neutral/ground). I braid all the conductors -- each braid has a hot/neutral/ground, so that makes 6 braids for a power cable, making it a 12awg power cable in total. All my computer audio system equipment uses Furutech fuses. Downstairs, the Krell processor uses Furutech, but all my amps use Isoclean. I will be converting those amp fuses over to Furutech in the coming months. I’ve gone through almost every power cord situation. Many years ago, I started with stock cables, then upgraded to cheap 12awg cables. Then went to DIY cables using stranded THHN 10awg copper from home depot. Using shielding/non-shielding. Tried different solid-core conductors (16awg, 18awg, 20awg, 22awg). Tried straight/twisting/braided (braided was the best as it calms down brightness and for some reason it just sounds "right" -- it also provides a natural shield because of the counter-rotating ground/neutral conductors) Tried Hubbel hospital outlets and Wattgate connectors until I determined the brass was causing a lot of sterile/shouty character. Tried different gold-plated and rhodium plated Neotech connectors. Tried gold-plated, rhodium-plated, un-plated Furutech. In the end, I think you get what you pay for, but component synergy is a big factor. If you’re on a budget, you could try getting the brass PorterPorts as outlets and then use a Furutech gold-plated male plug to compensate for the fast/sterile character of the Porter. Then use a rhodium plated IEC. Further tweaking could mean trying an Isoclean fuse, or a Furutech rhodium fuse. The gold-plated male would probably equalize the very forward/fast/sterile character of the Porter outlets. That is just an idea I think might work out based on my historical experience with different types of metals. I ended up with rhodium-plated all the way through. I believe this sounds the best, but it is also the most expensive. |
