Power Cords

[Jaynaldo]

Has anyone replaced their stock power cords on your Rotel equipment? If so what brands are recomended and how was the improvement?

[begood]

I used an MIT Z-Cord II to replace the stock power cord for my Rotel RSX-1056. I was very pleased with the results. I had less background noise and bass became more pronounced and tighter.

[bzrk]

Do you really think this last meter will make a difference when in your walls and maybe even to your house they used the cheapest available cable?

You only want to hear because you just spend big cash on this cable

[foeth]

Power cables do not offer any improvement as long as they are well-made, and most are. This is one of the audiophile products that just rips you off. Double blind tests with a 20 man audience and different powercords scores no better than chance. If people claim they hear a difference, they either did not compare the chords in a good and quick volume-calibrated A/B setup or they are lying.

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/downloads/article_1.pdf

[voxy]

Has anyone replaced their stock power cords on your Rotel equipment? If so what brands are recomended and how was the improvement?

The stock cord should be replaced when you have spare cash to tweak. I use only DIY Belden and DHlabs which had lowered background noise. These will blow the stock ones away.

Don't spend too much here bec the returns are low... I would reckon a good power cord with good connector should not exceed 80 bucks.

[Kevin D]

You'll get all kinds of answers on this one. Most conversations about it get out of control pretty quick. Let's keep it civil and open minded..

Kevin D.

[gregj66]

If you haven't already bought one, your money would be better spent on a surge protector / line conditioner.

However, I did make some DIY powercords and was quite please with the results.

[NonSense]

Jaynaldo

I have changed out the stock power cords and have been happy with my results.

When I built my Home Theater a few years back, I had dedicated power circuits wired for each of the major components, using 12AWG, terminated with Hubbel Hospital grade receptacles. (No wories about the plugs getting loose now) This really wasn't very expensive when considering a major renovation. (And considering how the rest of the house is wired, I really didn't want to have the ceiling fan or the blender on the same circuit) From this point, I used 8 to 10 inches of DIY DH LABs flexible 12AWG cable terminated with economy Hubbel/Wattgate plugs. (Again, not too expensive) This kept the wire sizing at 12AWG into the gear, with short lengths, using snug fitting connectors. (No bundles of AC wire mixed up with the analog audio cabling.) Worked out great!

Did I notice an improvement? Yes! When compared to using several bundled 2 Meter power cables @ 18AWG x 3, through a power bar, into a circuit that was being shared with who knows what other appliances in the house.

In conclusion, I would have to say that the custom power cables play their part in the new power distribution which offers a modest SQ improvement along with exceptional tidy cabling. Well worth my expense, IMO.

[foeth]

Even though your house is wired with possibly the cheapest wiring around, people tend to notice a huge difference when the end is suddenly lenghtened by a few meters of additional quality power cord. There is only room for improvement if those last few meters are exceptionally bad and they normally aren't. This is comparable to claiming that the water from your tap suddenly tastes better when you add 1 meter of titanium tubing. If you want to spend money, please do. Do not expect any audible improvement.

Going from ungrounded to grounded cables can increase nosie, btw. resulting in a hum, it does not produce "tighter bass or clearer highs" a so forth. If you do hear a significant change (for better or worse), return your amp to your dealer: it is broken.

Buying a cable because it looks better can be a reason though :B

[Dmantis]

I replaced all my removable power cords in my system. The reason I didn't it wasn't for improved performance. I wanted to clean up the wire mess. I don't like alot of extra wire laying around behind my rack. I also use a high quality surge/conditioner in the Panamax M5500ex.I have a deadicated 20 circuit ran to my gear, I have a upgraded Ps audio hospital grade outlet. All these changes made a difference in overall performance of my system. I have no noise.


Dan

[shadow]

I bought a $56 aftermarket cord on the net for my 1056. The main improvement for me was a tight connection at both the receiver and the power conditioner. No audio improvement to my ear, but I was not expecting any so I am happy.

[Nolan B]

going from the wall to your equipment with a high quality power cord is nothing but a waste of money. It is however a slightly different story (i think) going from a high quality power conditioner to your equipment.

When I bought I Richard Grey power conditioner and needed a longer power cord for my 50" Fujitsu. Since I didnt know where to go to buy a longer cord I just bought one from my dealer (who only sells high end). I got a three meter length Tirbutaries power cord. It looks great and while most propably couldnt tell the difference, i am brainwashed to belive it does :

piece of mind i guess.

[calgaryguy]

Yes, they DO work!

Power cords do make a significant, and audible improvement to the sound that is produced from a component. It is probably the most important upgrade to make, especially to the source (cd/sacd/dvd player). It was only 20 years or so ago when there was maybe only a handful of power cord manufacturers. Now, there are thousands. If there wasn't an improvement in the sound quality, do you think that all these thousands of companys that have come out of the woodwork would honestly exist? The markup is tremendous on power cords, as is the improvement in sound quality. It was only when I upgraded power cords that I was finally able to make my speakers disappear! Imaging, and soundstage are now real.

Two recommendations for upgraded power cables for Rotel gear are:
1. Harmonic Technology Pro AC11 (increased dynamics, lower background noise, much better soundstage and imaging)
2. Acoustic Zen Tsunami Plus (a warmer sounding cable if you think your system may sound a bit on the bright side.....lower background noise, better soundstage and imaging, much like the HT Pro AC11).

Both of these cables can be had for a reasonable price on Audiogon used.

Give it a try, you won't go back!

Calgaryguy

[foeth]

Go away, you're confusing the locals with this nonsense

Aussie Geoff - here. Now that is IMO being disrespectful. Everyone is welcome here, so long as they "play nice" we are all friends and healthy discussion is good.

Power cords are always controversial and we need to respect the difference of opinions, especially from something as subjective as this. The reality is that Power Cords gather opinions from "the best upgrade you can make" through to "snake oil, they only difference is in your imagination". What you hear with your system and your ears / brain is important. There is also IMO a lot of "snake Oil" sold with many unreasonable claims made or promised and silly prices offered.

I recommend everyone listen and decide for themselves. I was a non believer until I tried quite a few and for my ears I found some that made no difference and a few that were surprising - becuase they made things worse or better! One of the cheapest cables was the best for my ears and system (lucky!) So now I have after-market power cords on my Rotel amps, pre-processor, CD player and Tuner (blush) and am happ(ier) as a result. Fooling myself - maybe. But a number of people helped me test the swap in and out and heard the differences. Subtle but worth while in total, especially with several components power cords changed. I have even lent a spare power cords to several friends. Some of whom went out and bought them the next day, others said “what difference”. So this is truly a personal thing. What the science is I couldn’t begin to guess, but interestingly the one I like the best is both shielded and ferrite coated on all three cores filter higher frequencies from the mains. So (maybe) it actually does something other than fool the mind (I hope so!)

[maddog]

There is a post on this forum somewhere where they make a good argument for upgrading to a 12 awg power cord since that is what they claim is in the wall. Even most of those that are in the "wire is wire" camp agree that that is only if you are comparing wire of the same awg. Most will agree that there can be a difference between wire of different awg.

[foeth]

On no instance can any golden-eared audiophile positively identify the change in a power chord in a good test setup. People always tend to hear a difference when switching components. Doing a proper A/B setup usually proves that no difference can be heard and the audiophile doesn't do better than chance. If you do hear a difference, you started with a particularly bad cable, and you really need to do your best to find one. So I do not believe anyone who says they can objectively hear the difference.

http://www.verber.com/mark/ce/cables.html

[Kevin D]

And there you have it, another cable discussion turned sour. We're all for debating topics here, but not arguing one.

Kevin D.