Power cord upgrade

polk500

So I'm thinking about upgrading the power cord on my B&K 5000 series 2; the one I'm using is the standard 18 awg.

I've been cruising the net and this forum of course and the price ranges from $10.00 to $100.00 and higher.

The price is not a big deal but trying to guess what is the best is a guess on my part

So what do you folks recommend all advice is appreciated.

Cheers Roger

Erik Tracy

I'd start with the good valued Pangea AC-9SE, 1.0m version from audioadvisor.com

chumlie

See pepster, he makes them. Mighty fine one's i hear.

thsmith

Comes down to budget, signal cable makes nice ones.

I like PS Audio for their removable ground pin.

Blue jeans I believe offers them as well.

BlueFox

Erik Tracy wrote: »

I'd start with the good valued Pangea AC-9SE, 1.0m version from audioadvisor.com

Yes. Good start. The Pangea is what started me on a pwer cord upgrade path. It made an audible imrovement, yet is inexpensive.

However, a better upgrade is the Shunyata Venom cable. Shunyata knows AC power better than anyone.
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-9670-shunyata-venom-3-power-cable.aspx

polk500

Thanks for the quick replies folks, done some reading 10 awg now that a heavy duty cord and the prices are not to bad.

Now as for getting hold of pepster to inquire about his power cords and if he have any to sell ;I'm not sure how as I don't have enough posts to PM him. As getting a custom make one from a polkie have it merits.

So if someone would let him know that I'm interested that would be great.

Cheers Roger

chumlie

Done. sent pepster a pm for ya. you should have enough posts. just click on his name and hit private message.

Toolfan66

Erik Tracy wrote: »

I'd start with the good valued Pangea AC-9SE, 1.0m version from audioadvisor.com

+1

My whole system has Pangea PC's, Signal has great power cords as well..

BlueFox

There is more to a good power cord than slapping AC connectors and plugs onto a big piece of wire. You get what you pay for.

polk500

BlueFox wrote: »

There is more to a good power cord than slapping AC connectors and plugs onto a big piece of wire. You get what you pay for.

I agree with you that's why I'm getting advise from you folks; I know awg, shielding and copper content is important.

As well as connection points as brass is not preferred it should be gold plated I think.

And the length I don't want too long of a cord as I don't want to create a ground loop problem.


So that being said thanks for the advise so far.

Cheers Roger

polk500

thsmith wrote: »

Comes down to budget, signal cable makes nice ones.

I like PS Audio for their removable ground pin.

Blue jeans I believe offers them as well.

Good evening,

I was checking out some of these sites (by the way PS audio makes wicked looking cables) and I got to thinking about you saying you liked the removable ground pin; doesn's that defeats the the purpose of the grounding or is it that most folks
plugs everything in to a power bar of some sort which is grounded.

And what would be the benefit of removing it. Sorry if these sound or are dumb questions.

cheers Roger

thsmith

I had owned gear that no matter what I had a ground hum. I could replace that piece of gear and not have a hum. Much easier to remove the ground pin. YMMV

polk500

Thanks that makes sense.

Cheers R

SDA1C

chumlie wrote: »

See pepster, he makes them. Mighty fine one's i hear.

+1^^

B Run

I've had several of Pepster's and can HIGHLY recommend them, I guarantee you can't get a better one for the price.

F1nut

PS Audio or Shunyata for my money.

headrott

I recently bought a couple of DCCA power cables (Musical Essence II and Reference Extreme). I put the Reference Extreme on my Equi=tech balanced power condition and this power cable made a massive difference in the audio my system produces. The low and mid-frequecy bass is much better. The imaging of my system is also slightly better, but the main difference is the bass!! There is much more gusto to the music. One thing about this power cable is that it is very very heavy and is very very stiff, but it makes a huge difference and would be excellent used on an amp! Previous to the DCCA Reference Extreme I was using "The Musician" power cable. I will be recieving a DCCA Musical Essence II power cable to put on my Aragon 8008bb amp and switch the VH Audio flavor 4 power cable into my transport. It will be interesting to hear the differences this make! I am expecting good things.

The link to a review of a couple DCCA cables is here. You would have to buy used for these two DCCA cables though as they are not made anymore.

I have also used the Shunyata Venom cable, but after buying the DCCA Reference Extreme it is sitting in the closet. Not really a fair comparison though as the Venom is about 1/6th the price of the Reference Extreme. Shunyata cables are very well made though. I hope this helps you out.

Greg

Edit: The DCCA Reference Extreme is 6awg. Yes, 6awg!

nhhiep

18awg is way too thin. try 10 or 12awg monoprice cable first before dumping more than in a brand name cord.

F1nut

Monoprice is a brand name.....hello!

drumminman

DIY route can yield very good results for no alot of money: I've built the several Venhaus Flavor 1's and 4's.

Using good quality connectors for the 4's (aggreggate 9 awg) = $150. Lesser quality connectors still make a good PC, but you can hear the difference.

He has DIY instructions on his website, along with all necessary materials: http://www.vhaudio.com/

No connection ( pun intended), only a satisfied customer.

tonyb

B Run wrote: »

I've had several of Pepster's and can HIGHLY recommend them, I guarantee you can't get a better one for the price.

Amen brother, same here. Pepster can make you one for a price you can live with. Power cords like everything else vary greatly in price/performance. Peps cords perform well above his price point.

You have to keep things in perspective in this hobby. You don't want to spend 300 bucks on a PC for a 50 buck cdp. My general rule is as your electronics increase in quality, so should the cabling, as best as you can afford anyway. One thing I have noticed over the years, is any piece can benefit from swapping out the cord that came with it to an after market cord, Signal cable, PS Audio, Pepster's cords, Pangea, are all pretty reasonable to start your journey with a plathoria of other cords that will fit any budget as you move up.

Face

The best bang for the buck is Wireworld's Aurora, it puts any PS Audio or Signal Cable PC to shame. Lower floor noise, cleaner sound, and a larger soundstage.

polk500

Thanks once again for the comments folks; I spent several hours last evening reading up on the cords you guys suggested, it made for some good reading.
And man some of those cords prices are outrageous now I suppose the old adage you get what you pay for applies here.
Now my wife was looking over my shoulder a couple of times and made snoring noises and commented about how much time I was putting into making a decision on a power cord. What do you say if they don’t have an interest it just wasted breath?
Cheers Roger

breal74

I would recommend the Shunyata Venom 3. It sounded as if a veil was lifted on my Parasound HCA 2205AT that I never knew was there. Better bass response and an overall clearer sound is what I heard and at around $100 or less it well worth the improvement in sound.

doctor r

I have been using Zu Audio Power cables for years. You can l0ok on their E-Bay auctions for the "Birth" cable or the next step up the"Bok" cables which they no longer have in their retail lineup. I started with the Birth and moved up their line as time went along. Really nice cables for the bid prices they can go for.

A description from another forum's review "I actually like the Boks, the Bok uses hybrid silver alloy & copper wires in latest Zu B3 wire configuration.........Birth is all copper wires and plastic plug housings."

polk500

So after a lot of reading I went with the PS Audio xstream Power Plus SC used. I ordered 3 will have then by the end of week.

Should be a improvement over the 18awg as for sound I'm looking forward to checking it out this weekend.

Cheers
Roger

chumlie

Where did you get them from ?

polk500

Off of EBay.

Roger

Gaara

nhhiep wrote: »

18awg is way too thin. try 10 or 12awg monoprice cable first before dumping more than in a brand name cord.

Was looking for a few short power cords, didn't even think to look at monoprice. Thanks.

grimmace19

+1 to Pangea - I have ac-9s on my amp and cdp
+1 to Pepster - Have one of his ogre green cables on my JL sub
+1 to Signal Cable - Used currently on my umc-1

All of these cables have been switched and swapped onto the different pieces here and there in the last month or two when changing things around and do great on every piece of gear I've hooked them up to.

Given, they are all in the same price range, there doesn't seem to be a clear winner in my rig for what does the best job on any one thing.

Let us know what you think of the PS Audio cable. I just realized they are based out of Boulder which is pretty interesting to me.

polk500

polk500 wrote: »

Off of EBay.

Roger

With embarrassment I have to re-tract this statement. I guess it’s like the old saying don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
So this was my first time bidding on an item of off EBay. With 12 hours left I had bid 2 x the current bid. And figure I had won and was winning up to the time I went to bed. I had set my alarm to wake up five minutes before the ending of the auction looked at my Ipad seen I was outbid kept increasing my bid by $20.00 increments ran out of time and was outbid WOW.
So needless to say I learned a couple of lessons.
So not to dwell on that I found a couple of Cords from PS audio on Canuckaudio Mart made an offer to the seller and waiting for his reply.

Cheers Roger