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Power Cords

I currently have Wireworld Silver Electra power cords with upgraded Platinum plugs. I had two 1M Wireworld Platinum power cords, but rearranged my system and required longer cords. Yesterday I borrowed two Shunyata Sigma NR power cords. On the first note my wife softly said, "that sounds better". She said it was clearer. I listened for a couple hours, changing the power cords a couple of times. In my system and to my ears this is my conclusion:
The Sigma's are cleaner, definitely has more bass, a dead silent and completely black background. The Wireworld cords are more detailed, with a wider soundstage and better spacing/separation of instruments. All things considered I'll keep my Wireworld, but I'm curious to listen to other power cords.
After inserting the Sigma's I just don't understand how anyone that listened to different power cords could conclude that they can't hear a difference. There is a difference, but like any other component the individual has to decide if the change is worth it. $6K for two power cords is relatively expensive. Expensive, but oddly maybe a good value? In my system there was a definite improvement with better bass impact and articulation. Would spending $6K or just changing amplifiers yield similar results? As with most components there are trade-offs...is there a power cord out there that has the benefits of the Sigma's and Wireworld Silver Electra's? If so, at what cost?  
ricred1
auxinput
1,538 posts
 

@ricred1 - I don't know that the older Audioquest power cords were that bad.  The cord itself (such as NRG-4) is very good, but a significant amount of the sonic signature is also determined by the terminations, which were typically gold-plated.  An excellent high end cord terminated with gold-plated plugs will sound very nice - it will hit with authority and weight, but it will just not have as much attack and detail as a rhodium connector.  Silver clad (like the Wire World) can help things.  But once you get into silver / silver-plated stuff it will push the sonic signature towards the "silver" character. 

There are definitely some exotic designs out there (High Fidelity, Verrastar), but I still focus on what they use for terminations.

ricred1 OP
1,412 posts
 
auxinput,
I agree that how power cords are terminated is important. That's why my Silver Electra cables have upgraded Platinum plugs.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Innocent question. As Audioquest is an outspoken proponent of wire directionality one feels obliged to ask, does Audioquest ensure their power cords are constructed such that when they are plugged in the correct direction of the conductors is maintained? In other words do they track the directionality of the wires during the construction process, albeit stranded wires? They obviously do for speaker cables and interconnects.
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,626 posts
 
First of all I never wrote that the Pl-500 is the best loudspeaker. Because it is not. The thing about audio is that most people are only able to use a very small part of the quality it is able to deliver.

Electricity is the fuel to your system. You even can describe it as the oxygene to all your parts in yoyr system. It makes a huge difference. But a powercable is only a part in the whole system.

First you need a separate audio group for the electricity. What kind of conditioner do you use?

The things most people have no idea about are: SMOG, HIGH FREQENY NOISE AND MAGNETISM.

And mann they have a huge negative influence on your system.

I see you use a Marantz for surround. We did recently did test a 8801 pre map. And mannnn it was extremely poor in all parts.

Marantz is for 100% a 2D product. No one can change that. The other part in which Marantz is very poor is the quality of their videoscaler inside.

We use the best and most expensive Calman 2017 software and the new 2017 tools to calibrate screens and beamers.

Even the LG Oled 2017 topmodels gave a very poor result even with the 8801. It lacked 3D image, the colours were not that natural. And the details were rather poor as well. The best AQ HDMI cables were not able to solve it.

When you take a look inside the Marantz products you see the cheap parts. This proofs how limited they are. The company who does the technical support of Marantz in my country told me how poor the parts are they use.

Onkyo in 2017 do it even the same way. it shows how low quality you get for the money you want to spend. The reviews are often paid. So Ricred what would you like to hear?

The truth or the thing you would like to hear?
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,626 posts
 
Since 2010 I said to Audioquest that competitors are better in powercables. For a perfectionist like me there is only one which counts. And that is the best one.

2nd best is for born losers in our world. We protect all our clients to the max. And we want them to receive the best quality possible. We don't care about a name.

I tested the Wel and Wild as well and they were not good enough. Based on 2 facts. They were to thin and silver soed not work that well for powercables.

They only cable I liked was the NRG-1000 with the new plugs. But I only used it for some powersupplies.

But the Hurricane is the same material as the NRG-1000. But it is 3 times as thick. And mann that creates a different league.

I also tested the new AQ conditioners, I don't like them. There are others which are better. When you compare the conditioners to the cables there is a difference in properties.

I am only interested in products which are able to reveal all details on which sound is being formed.

They are not good in individual focus, Shunyata products show exactly these kind of limitations.

Most people who have audio as a hobby have no idea on which parts sound is being founded. Then it is easy to buy products which are incomplete.

Most audio products are incomplete based on facts. We can proof this and demonstrate it very easily. We work by Tru-Fi and make all the systems of new clienst complete.

The first time when we audition an audiosystem of a new client it is always incomplete. I invite them or I send then to clienst who also own an audio system who can reveal all 8 parts of Tru-Fi.

It is very easy to understand what the differences are with your system. The level in emotion and intensity of each Tru-Fi audio system outperforms any audio system which is being created by trial and error.

Each single person on this planet prefers any sytem what can reveal more details and emotion compared to any incomplete system.
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