Power cord recommendations: RM150 - RM300

Hi, any hifisifu can recommend what power cord to use in the price range of RM150 to RM300. I'm looking for used power cords. Thks.

Hi daniel,

I am selling a used Shunyata Research Venom power cord. Its price is RM370, you could have a look at [http://www.hifi4sale.net/audio-video-equipment-for-sale-f1/shunyata-research-venom-power-cord-used-t2167.htm?highlight=shunyata].

Give me a call should you need further information and audition.

Regards,
Sam (012-3207119)

I can vouch for the Furutech 314AG. It's cryogenically treated and silver coated and also copper braid shielded. Excellent value for money and best sound i've ever gotten for RM120 per meter. Excellent!!!

If interested let me know and i'll give you the friendly suppliers contact.

encik bimmer

theres heaps of furutech product, & its from hk??

Thks Bimmer. May I have the contact.

Azri , does that mean there are imitation furutech. Understand furutech is from Japan.

danieltan wrote:Thks Bimmer. May I have the contact.

Azri , does that mean there are imitation furutech. Understand furutech is from Japan.

There are Furutech imitation as well as Oyaide, Acrolink, and Harmonix imitation. Furutech is based in Japan but I heard the owner is Taiwanese.


You can drop Graeme Coley a note to verify the authorised dealer in Malaysia if you like at this address : coley@furutech.com.

azri wrote:encik bimmer

theres heaps of furutech product, & its from hk??

I've seen some immitation Furutech power distributors and i won't be surprised if there are more fakes floating around. Furutech is owned by a Taiwanese but i'm not sure where their products are produced. Could be a Taiwanese company posing as Japanese to gain acceptance. But I've sampled some of their stuff and the quality is top notch and so are the results.

bimmerman wrote:

azri wrote:encik bimmer

theres heaps of furutech product, & its from hk??

I've seen some immitation Furutech power distributors and i won't be surprised if there are more fakes floating around. Furutech is owned by a Taiwanese but i'm not sure where their products are produced. Could be a Taiwanese company posing as Japanese to gain acceptance. But I've sampled some of their stuff and the quality is top notch and so are the results.

More likely a Japanese company taken over by a Taiwanese. They have international offices in Taiwan & HK.

I like their connectors for the excellent built quality and performance, but they don't come cheap.

And to do justice to their fine cable, the cost of the connectors would probably be almost twice the price of the cable.

thats the point, but u can rely on taiwanese hifi, no worries

i recommend transparent powerlink cable. the older transparent pl super may cost aorund rm400 but they sound superb.

there's a XLO Pro green power cord at the FS section.

Highly recommended.

PS, i dunno who the seller is. But i am using the XLO PRO green power cord myself.

danieltan..

Few questions up front.

1.Why do you want to spend on power cord,what do you hope to achieve here?

2.What aspect of your systems are you not happy,and why do you think by spending that money on power cord you could achieve improvement?


These are valid questions ,I see so many going around the circle spending unnnecassarily .....if I could help you here I would be very happy

HI Tin,

1. I was recommended to try some powercords since I'm still using std cords provided by the manufacturers.

2. As I have not experience using other powercords, I'm not too sure what improvement can be made.

Until I have tried, I may be able to tell whether by changing the cords would be benefitial. Perhaps you could advise your thoughts of not spending on cords. You can PM me.

Thks.

danieltan,2. As I have not experience using other powercords, I'm not too sure what improvement can be made.

great!!!!I will guide you through ,but do not waste 200-300 on power cord,it will not change your system a bit

I am believe a power cord bring difference~~
When i am just step into world of hifi with a cheap speaker, dad's old av receiver and a china DAC with computer as source
When holiday come, i move my computer back to home town i mass up the power cords, then i simply choose one and plug to the DAC, but the sound weird to me, which blur image, narrow sound stage, weird speed of music flow make me totally can not sit down for music.
I am looking for a power cord with the same price range also, but i do think that power cords make bigger difference in source device, and there are power cords special design for source low current flow and power amplifier high current flow.
Hope my experience help thanks

Try to borrow some power cords and try them if possible. If not, just buy and sell them off it the cords do not perform up to your expectations. As usual there will be two camps of people, one who is the believer and the other the non-believer. In some systems power cords will make a difference while in some there won't be any difference, depending on quality of power supply and a few other things. Most folks who own Bryston SST amps would tell you power cords dont' make a difference on the amps due to the nature of the power supply design that is not affected by after-market cords. The manufacturer has stated this as well in using stock cords. Also, some folks have better ears in discerning small differences compared to some other folks. FWIW I have tried quite a number of power cords, some costing >RM1.5k. In my system and to my lousy ears I cannot detect any "significant" or appreciable sound differences between these cords compared to the stock cords. There may be subtle differences I don't know. I have Virtual Dynamics Nite II cords on both my CDP and amps. These after-market cords do look impressive with their thick and fancy sleeves. Looks good on the equipment. Sound-wise not too sure.

I have had better luck with interconnects and speaker cables.

YMMV.

Excellent advice from Ryder. Some equiptment are more receptive to power cords and some aren't. In my case, both my CD player and Amp benefitted heaps.

Try talk to your local hi-fi store that you frequent and ask if you can take some cords home for a home trial. You'll need at least 1 week to test out each cord as they need to be run in to provide their best. But again, two schools of thought exist. Some don't believe in running in.

Anyway, once you get the sound you're looking for then part with cash. Also, there are individuals in this forum who are willing to bring their stuff to your place for you to try. Some do it as a hobby, some do it for a living. Ask around.

I found myself a good sound tweaker who helped me save thousands because I now have the sound i'm looking for without having to buy and try and sell and buy again.

Whatever you do, make sure you try it out for yourself before buying. What works in my system may not work in yours. What works for my ears may not work for yours too.

Happy searching

Thks all for your advise. I will try to borrow some ...

tin wrote:danieltan,2. As I have not experience using other powercords, I'm not too sure what improvement can be made.

great!!!!I will guide you through ,but do not waste 200-300 on power cord,it will not change your system a bit

This is quite confusing ..... you mentioned that you don't have experience using other powercords, but then give advice that wasting 200-300 on a power cord wont change the system one bit. ?

So ... is this advice is based on "have not experience using other powercords" .... ?

mugenfoo wrote:

tin wrote:

danieltan wrote:

2. As I have not experience using other powercords, I'm not too sure what improvement can be made.

great!!!!I will guide you through ,but do not waste 200-300 on power cord,it will not change your system a bit

This is quite confusing ..... you mentioned that you don't have experience using other powercords, but then give advice that wasting 200-300 on a power cord wont change the system one bit. ?

So ... is this advice is based on "have not experience using other powercords" .... ?

I believe the post by tin should be something like this. This should be clear enough.

This would make an interesting read on power cords - A Tale Of 3 Power Cords

http://singaporehifi.blogspot.com/2008/07/tale-of-3-power-cords.html

There is a demonstration of using 'clean'(power isolation transformer & filter used) and 'dirty'(equipments just plug direct into the nearest wall plug) power in the recording of a solo violinist playing a brief cadenza in this album:- Best Of Chesky Classics Jazz Audiophile Test Disc Vol 3.

Try listening to these two tracks(35 & 36) to see if you can hear any differences. If you do not have these, I can send them to you via email. To some it may subtle, and to others it may be obvious.

Personally, I would prefer to upgrade interconnects first.

tycham,

thanks for the corrections.that was precisely what I meant.

Anyway,I've pm danieltan about the secret

tin wrote:tycham,

thanks for the corrections.that was precisely what I meant.

Anyway,I've pm danieltan about the secret

For the benefits of the rest, please share the secret.

Tycham,

1.http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/silclear.php

My American dealers call the Silclear the magic potion,and I couldn't agree more.Best money i have ever spent on hifi,and It cost less than 200 bucks shipped!!!!!a 20 ringgit cords dabbed with this stuff sound better than 1k power cord,seriously.

2.Audiodharma cable cooker.
http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/audiodharmacablecooker.htm

Everybody should cook their cables on this stuff,;done correctly the results are nothing short of phenomenal....


Of course ,I also feels that anybody should have the Foundations of the system right.By that I mean..

1.Dedicated cuircuit.This is THE most important part of ANY hifi system.YOU could have a whole phase dedicated to hifi(like I do0,but the simplest form,having a dedicated spur ,unshared,is the MINIMUN.

2.Audiograde receptacles.OYAIDE R1 is the best IMO,and the best place to get it is
http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/oyaideinfo.htm

Of course you dedicated spur/cuircuit has to have correct polarity....


Why,?Because Alan Krafton Cryoed the R1 first and cook it in his cooker.


Once ALL of the above has been done,THENwe can talk about cables;otherwise you will be wasting a lot of money;believe me.....

tin wrote:

My American dealers call the Silclear the magic potion,and I couldn't agree more.Best money i have ever spent on hifi,and It cost less than 200 bucks shipped!!!!!a 20 ringgit cords dabbed with this stuff sound better than 1k power cord,seriously.

This at best enhance the connectors, it does nothing to the whole cable. As an analogy, it is like building a bridge with four lanes approach at both ends and between these are only two lanes bridge proper.

tin wrote:
2.Audiodharma cable cooker.
http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/audiodharmacablecooker.htm

Everybody should cook their cables on this stuff,;done correctly the results are nothing short of phenomenal....

Isn't this kind of expensive to own?

tin wrote:

1.Dedicated cuircuit.This is THE most important part of ANY hifi system.YOU could have a whole phase dedicated to hifi(like I do0,but the simplest form,having a dedicated spur ,unshared,is the MINIMUN.

2.Audiograde receptacles.OYAIDE R1 is the best IMO,and the best place to get it is
http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/oyaideinfo.htm

Once ALL of the above has been done,THENwe can talk about cables;otherwise you will be wasting a lot of money;believe me.....

I do agree that Oyaide connectors are excellent in built and performance. I am using the C046 IECs and SYT spades for my power cords and speaker jumper respectively .But if I were to have a whole phase dedicated to power my hifi system, it would be in the form of an Isolator-the type where you just connect directly into the receptacle(can use a dab of Silclear here). Would save on the expensive R1.

!,.well it is well docomented now ,that the most important part of the cables are the connecters,apparently more important than others ;according to Frank Tchang.I think your analogy is not quite accurate........The point I was trying to make is that spending 200 bucks on the Silclear will bring you more sonic benefits thatn ANY power cord that cost that much...or triple that amount...



2.Audiodharma is not expensive for wht it does;but then again you can't showit off

3.No substitute for dedicated phase or at least spur in my experience..Again done correctly,you could even spare the money in on a power conditioners.........Again i do not think the R1 expensive for what it does......To each his own

tin wrote:!,.well it is well docomented now ,that the most important part of the cables are the connecters,apparently more important than others

I do agree as this appeared in my earlier post. But then Silclear applied on a RM100 cable would still sound better on a RM20 one. Assuming that this works on the RM20 cable, this only resolve the transmission part of the cable: it doesn't solve the problem of shielding which is just as important.

tycham wrote:And to do justice to their fine cable, the cost of the connectors would probably be almost twice the price of the cable.

tin wrote:2.Audiodharma is not expensive for wht it does;but then again you can't showit off

3.No substitute for dedicated phase or at least spur in my experience..Again done correctly,you could even spare the money in on a power conditioners.........Again i do not think the R1 expensive for what it does......To each his own

Do you mean save the money on a conditioner or have spare money left for one?

Whatever it is you had burst danieltan budget if have to do as you recommended.

"it doesn't solve the problem of shielding which is just as important"

well I beg ti differ...some of the best Power cords i have heard are unshielded;Bybee and Argento for eg .........

the question is what to do with 200-300 bucks,,,,,,and I suggested to him that it would be better off spending it on the Silclear.

a 200 bucks PC will NOT make any difference IMO,you have to spend quite a bit to hear the benefits ,and I the above was a road made towards moving to the power cord stage....

Anyway,we could go on discussing theory and having an armchair debate.

the advice i.ve given him is based on my personal experience,if he or no one else do not want to follow, I cant force anyone,)

Noted. But please get the MSDS(Material Safety Data Sheet) form the supplier.

is that Silclear in watery form, or is like toothpaste-like ?

mugenfoo wrote:is that Silclear in watery form, or is like toothpaste-like ?

Looks like spoilt peanut butter!

Yummy! Makes me hungry for a PBJ (peanutbutter&jelly) sandwitch.

Are there any local distributors yet, or is it mail order only?

I have a drawer full of quality HP printer power cords which look better than the standard kettle cord and I would really like to try Silclear on them. Who knows?

bimmerman wrote:Yummy! Makes me hungry for a PBJ (peanutbutter&jelly) sandwitch.

Are there any local distributors yet, or is it mail order only?

I have a drawer full of quality HP printer power cords which look better than the standard kettle cord and I would really like to try Silclear on them. Who knows?

Only found these stores in Singapore selling Silclear.

Our store is located at the 4^th floor of the Plaza Singapura, next to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station and Causeway Point Mall, next to the Woodlands MRT Station and Bus Interchange.

We are open everyday at the following hours:

Daily: 11 am - 9.30 pm

If you have any question regarding our products, please do not hesitate to contact us at:

Causeway Point
1 Woodlands Square #04-08/09/10/35
Singapore 738099
phone: +65 6894 3601
fax: +65 6894 0326
Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road #04-06
Singapore 238839
phone: +65 6336 7113
phone: +65 6336 7114

Email:
[url=http://www.hifi4sale.net/javascript:void(0);/*1247962982391*/]stereo@stereo.com.sg[/url]

I have tried something similar but call Silver Contact bought it from Octave Electronics. At the initial stage, it does bring up the performance a bit but over time, i think silver will get oxidized. I have stop using it & clean all the remaining residue (really messy & sticky) after applying it.

Silver oxide [the oxidized form of silver] is an extremely good conducter,unlike Oxiodized copper...

So,the reasons you do not get the good sound is NOT because of the oxidized Silver,It must be something else..........

There are many oroducts That Claim to do the same thing,Haven't found anything that works as well as the Mapleshade ones..

Maybe you should try thge real McCoy..

Since we're on the subject of silver oxide and conductivity, i'd like to bring up a point just for sharing.

Silver oxide is conductive but it is not as conductive as silver. When silver oxide forms on silver, you have a conductive surface with varying degrees of conductivity and as such, other unwanted side effects will occur, such as skin effect and microsparking which can be detrimental to your audio.

This is why Gold being free from oxidation is still the plating of choice although gold is a relatively poor conductor compared to silver. Rhodium is a better conductor than gold but it is costlier.

I use silver spades and van den hul SCS12 silver wire for my bi-wiring jumpers and I have to polish my silver spades quarterly or else the effects of silver oxidization can be heard through the speakers.

Silver Oxide is JUST as conductive as Silver...A lot of the So called Silver conducters are not PURE silver,they contains a number of impurities most NOTORIOUSLY Nickel....so you have to take the manufacturers claim with more than a pinch of salt;)In fact a lot of them use' copper'[If thery use copper you are lucky,most of them actually use BRASS,believe it or not.....]


Those of you who are used to Using Bocchino connectors will understand this ...

Those opf you Who are used To Bocchino connectors will understand the benefit of using 'pure'metal. mind you the benefits are not subtle...in fact i would go on to say that if you have less than 3k to spare, it is better to spend all the money on a pair of the best connectors ....rather than waste on a lot of mumbo jumbo wires.

bimmerman wrote:Since we're on the subject of silver oxide and conductivity, i'd like to bring up a point just for sharing.

Silver oxide is conductive but it is not as conductive as silver. When silver oxide forms on silver, you have a conductive surface with varying degrees of conductivity and as such, other unwanted side effects will occur, such as skin effect and microsparking which can be detrimental to your audio.

This is why Gold being free from oxidation is still the plating of choice although gold is a relatively poor conductor compared to silver. Rhodium is a better conductor than gold but it is costlier.

According wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_conductivity) silver is the best conductor by not counting the super conductor, in none scientist logical thinking, oxygen is none conductor which mix into conductor normally will cause higher resistance

Gold will be oxidase, but gold is stable material so it oxidase very slow which you can found that some rings not shiny as when it is new, thats why normally gold used to plate on connector to ensure good conductivity in long time

Bellow is the intrinsic resistance of material(The lower value has lesser resistance)

www.odysseyaudiohk.com wrote:
intrinsic resistance
Copper: 1.7 X 10^-8 ohm-m
Silver: 1.6 X 10^-8 ohms-m
Gold: 2.4 X 10^-8 ohms-m
Silver Sulfide: 1.5 to 2.0 X 10^-3 ohm-m
Silver Oxide: 1 x 10^+9 ohms-m

http://www.odysseyaudiohk.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Tweaks;action=display;num=1139155941

Let alone Silver, even copper connectors are a rarity ...

Similar Question on Audio Asylum.....Not surprise Al Sekala gave the same advise with regards to Outlets as I did........

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/14/142541.html

A good power cord should be one that has the following:
1. Good noise (EMI & RFI) rejection from radiated sources.
2. Electrically phase-neutral. Meaning the cable should neither be capacitative or inductive optimised for 50Hz electricity.
3. Enough metal (be it silver or copper or whatever ) to carry ample current to the equipment.
4. The proper insulation (very important safety issue) for the intended voltage and also durability since its to be used in a home environment.


What this means is that most US-designed powercords would not be fully optimised for our power supply, coz USA is 60Hz, Bolehland is 50Hz. But still its not that bad, coz 50Hz to 60Hz is not too big a difference in terms of absolute value.

This makes a design for power cables very forgiving in terms of mitigating skin effects. So long as the radius of the bunched-up strands are less than 1/2 of the skin depth, it should be fine.

Skin depth at 50 or 60Hz is much larger than the skin depth of a signal at 20KHz.

Hence Skin effect is generally not a concern for power cords.

mugenfoo....

.Power chords are Not designed to be 'frequency'sensitive.In fact the US plugs are better suited because it doesn't have any Fuse to degrade the sound.Transformers are different matters,and there are huge difference between 50 hz and 60 hz....!!!!!!

2.The "skin' Effects ARE very important for power cords too!!!!!In fact it is soo important that ACOUCTIC REVIVE advise the users to use their CABle Elevators on Power cords first ,then only adding on to others as the funds allow....

[i]Power cables are affected not only by speaker vibrations, but also by ]the electric power flowing through the cable itself, which leads to loss in voltage and distortion]

[/i][quote]

that is from Acoustic Revive website

[quote="tin"]

[i]Power cables are affected not only by speaker vibrations, but also by ]the electric power flowing through the cable itself, which leads to loss in voltage and distortion]

[/i]

that is from Acoustic Revive website

Why is it that, with tin, information transmission are always unclear or incomplete?

tin wrote:mugenfoo....

.Power chords are Not designed to be 'frequency'sensitive.In fact the US plugs are better suited because it doesn't have any Fuse to degrade the sound.Transformers are different matters,and there are huge difference between 50 hz and 60 hz....!!!!!!

2.The "skin' Effects ARE very important for power cords too!!!!!In fact it is soo important that ACOUCTIC REVIVE advise the users to use their CABle Elevators on Power cords first ,then only adding on to others as the funds allow....

yeah alot of hi-fi sites & manufacturers use fancy engineering terms without regard for proper context and usage. Lets stick to good engineering principles to help us filter out whats real and whats snake-oil.

Incidently, I assume you are familiar with the engineering physics & electrical principles behind "skin effect" right ?

electron flow create the current in the opposite direction. the skin effect analogy is as good as a train riding on a track.

chua55 wrote:electron flow create the current in the opposite direction. the skin effect analogy is as good as a train riding on a track.

Traction?

train wreck ? hahahahahahahahahaha

Lets stick to good engineering principles to help us filter out whats real and whats snake-oil.

[quote]

That is precisely what I am trying to do;)

Frequency specific Plug?!!!Well you cant find a bigger snake that produces oil that is bigger than that.........

Like I say before,A lot of Hifi companies headed by engineers do not believe in shielding at all