Power Cables - it's a jungle out there...

Stalemate · 2487

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Offline Stalemate

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on: November 09, 2015, 12:59:42 AM
Hi all,
I've "recently" received my stereomour II - kit and is cautiously pacing around it (damn, that's a lot of parts...) and I return to the safety of google and endless amounts of searches and reviews.
Since the US hasn't updated to 220v yet, I've been left with an opportunity / challenge to find a matching power-cable. The last couple of days I've been litterally lost in the periodic table, from rhodium, via silver to helium in order to find the best value material for a cable, but the reviews all point to one thing: it's all about matching.
So I was wondering of any of the seasoned bottleheads in here would be bothered to give me some pointers on what to look for, what is a good match for a bottlehead-amp? My budget is not limitless, so bang for buck is a valued parameter.

I also have no idea on what state the electrical mains in my house is, I've recently moved there, but how much noise it will contribute, and if a separate psu is to be preferred, I don't know yet.

any help is much obliged.

Best regards!
-Vegar




Offline mcandmar

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Reply #1 on: November 09, 2015, 03:01:27 AM
I am bit skeptical about the whole power cable thing, but having said that i do make my own using shielded Belden 19364 cable and some quality plugs. Dont get caught up in the fancy plating nonsense, any well made connector will do just fine.

There is a Bottlehead kit, its hidden under the parts section in the website so i suspect most people never find it. http://bottlehead.com/?product=bottlehead-power-cord-kit

M.McCandless


Offline Zimmer64

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Reply #2 on: November 09, 2015, 06:00:50 AM
Hi,

on one of my recent builds I went with this one here: http://www.hificollective.co.uk/wires/lapp-olflex-classic-100-cy-mains-cable.html

Makes only sense, if you live in Europe, I guess.

Best

Michael

Nelson Pass F5 Turbo V2, Quickie (mod), S.E.X. 2.1, Tubes4hifi SP14, Dynaco VTA ST 70, Tubelab SSE, Vroemen Diva Superiore ER4, Jordan JX92S VTL, 47 labs 0647 CD, Aqvox DAC, Rowen Absolute pre / psu / power amps, BG Neo3 / Betsy / Eminence A15 open baffles


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #3 on: November 09, 2015, 09:32:44 AM
Use the one that's hanging out of the printer sitting in the dumpster outside your office.

Free is good.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Online Paul Joppa

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Reply #4 on: November 09, 2015, 11:05:27 AM
Changing the subject a little, the first this to do is to check the actual voltage in your house. For the most part, legacy 220v and 240v national standards have been revised to specify 230v, but the actual generators and city wiring have not actually changed - so the actual voltage is often quite a bit different from the specification.

Paul Joppa


Offline Natural Sound

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Reply #5 on: November 10, 2015, 05:34:34 AM
It sure would be nice if there was a local dealer nearby that you could talk to. Someone that would let you take several different "flavors" within your budget to try in your system. We used to have a guy like that here where I live. Unfortunately the gentleman that ran the shop passed away. His kids took over and ran the business into the ground. :(



Offline drewh1

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Reply #6 on: November 10, 2015, 06:59:55 AM
I have a heavily modded stereomour and a fairly resolving system. I notice no difference in various power chords and have tried a few over the years.  Snake oil in my opinion fwiw   now interconnects are a different story and more worth experimenting with.

J-River on Custom built Music Server in Silverstone Case
Ayre QB-9 USB DAC
Kaiju
Stereoumour
Diy Cotton wrapped wire interconnects and speaker cab!es
Green Mountain Audio EOS HDx speakers
Crack with Beyerdynamic T1
Shunyata Diamond Back Power Cable
DIY Sub with Seas L26Roy Driver


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #7 on: November 10, 2015, 08:57:34 AM
In my opinion a power chord is a dyad separated by an interval.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.


Offline drewh1

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Reply #8 on: November 10, 2015, 10:36:37 AM
good one!  ;D

J-River on Custom built Music Server in Silverstone Case
Ayre QB-9 USB DAC
Kaiju
Stereoumour
Diy Cotton wrapped wire interconnects and speaker cab!es
Green Mountain Audio EOS HDx speakers
Crack with Beyerdynamic T1
Shunyata Diamond Back Power Cable
DIY Sub with Seas L26Roy Driver


Offline Stalemate

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Reply #9 on: November 10, 2015, 10:40:21 PM
Hehe,
I bow to the masters and focuses on a cable that looks cool instead, and puts my money where the interconnects are :)

Thanks a lot people!

regards
Vegar