Power conditioner powercord

[Doug Lax]

I think I know the answer to this but does anyone use a powercord on this component? Or would you not see a benefit as the end product remains the same

[Puma Cat]

Most manufacturers of "power conditioners" recommend using a very high quality powercord on them. For example, Shunyata recommends that if one Shunyata PC is better than the other Shunyata PCs you have, use the best one to go from the wall to the conditioner.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Most manufacturers of "power conditioners" recommend using a very high quality powercord on them. For example, Shunyata recommends that if one Shunyata PC is better than the other Shunyata PCs you have, use the best one to go from the wall to the conditioner.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Most manufacturers of "power conditioners" recommend using a very high quality powercord on them. For example, Shunyata recommends that if one Shunyata PC is better than the other Shunyata PCs you have, use the best one to go from the wall to the conditioner.

On the other hand, it was recommended to me by The Cable Company that the better cord should go on equipment (power amps in my case) if there's a choice. For example, put WW Stratus on the conditioner and Aurora on the amps (I was asking about those in particular). Or say, Venoms on the conditioner and Diamondbacks on the equipment.

Is there some objective principle to refer to, or does the answer depend upon whom you ask?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by prepress

On the other hand, it was recommended to me by The Cable Company that the better cord should go on equipment (power amps in my case) if there's a choice. For example, put WW Stratus on the conditioner and Aurora on the amps (I was asking about those in particular). Or say, Venoms on the conditioner and Diamondbacks on the equipment.

Is there some objective principle to refer to, or does the answer depend upon whom you ask?

I think your best bet is to try the different options and see what you think sounds best.

Jim

[-E-]

Yep - try, try, and try.

Wireworld Silver Electra's through and through, here - except on the PPP - which is a 20A receptacle and comes with a rather heavy duty RGPC cord.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by prepress

On the other hand, it was recommended to me by The Cable Company that the better cord should go on equipment (power amps in my case) if there's a choice. For example, put WW Stratus on the conditioner and Aurora on the amps (I was asking about those in particular). Or say, Venoms on the conditioner and Diamondbacks on the equipment.

Is there some objective principle to refer to, or does the answer depend upon whom you ask?

I think the reason that they told you to use the better cord on the amp is because the amp is a high-current draw device, and needs the higher current capacity the better cord can provide.

But let's for the sake of argument, take the power amp out of the equation, and talk about the context of using a power cord to connect to a power strip or conditioner with at least some peripherals drawing power from it (e.g. a preamp, disc player, or phono stage).

All I can tell you that when I talked to Shunyata in person about this and they recommended using the "higher specification" cord (specifically, use the cord with the highest current capacity) to connect from the wall to the conditioner/strip, and use the "lower specification" cords on the components. I think the rationale for this is that you don't want the power strip or conditioner "starved" for the current that it needs to provide to a multitude of power cords pulling current for a multitude of components.

I'll give you an example, say you have a Shunyata Hydra 4 conditioner, a Shunyata Black Mamba HC (high current) CX and two Black Mamba CXs ("regular" CXs) power cords. Shunyata's recommendation would be to use the BM HC CX to connect the from the wall AC receptacle to the Hydra, and then the regular CXs to the preamp, other components, etc from the Hydra's receptacles. The Black Mamba HC CX was specifically designed to connect for high current applications (hence the HC designation), e.g. connecting to a power amp or a power conditioner; devices that pull a lot of current.

The other thing that Shunyata says is that you're better off putting on four $99 Venom3 power cords on four of your components than a single $400 cord on just one, as the effect is additive, as i have personally found out from first-hand experience.

[BlueChiaro]

Originally Posted by Vesuvius

Yep - try, try, and try.

Wireworld Silver Electra's through and through, here - except on the PPP - which is a 20A receptacle and comes with a rather heavy duty RGPC cord.

I agree with V (aka E...aka dude w/ the hot avatar). Anywho, when I bought my first Silver Electra PC, I tried all locations and ended up with: Wall ==> Torus Power Conditioner. I've since added cords from conditioner to amp & CD player, but, my initial preference was to the wall. 2nd best was to the amp, least impact was to the CD player...as always, your mileage may vary, and it's a fun exercise in listening!

[prepress]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

I think the reason that they told you to use the better cord on the amp is because the amp is a high-current draw device, and needs the higher current capacity the better cord can provide.

But let's for the sake of argument, take the power amp out of the equation, and talk about the context of using a power cord to connect to a power strip or conditioner with at least some peripherals drawing power from it (e.g. a preamp, disc player, or phono stage).

All I can tell you that when I talked to Shunyata in person about this and they recommended using the "higher specification" cord (specifically, use the cord with the highest current capacity) to connect from the wall to the conditioner/strip, and use the "lower specification" cords on the components. I think the rationale for this is that you don't want the power strip or conditioner "starved" for the current that it needs to provide to a multitude of power cords pulling current for a multitude of components.

I'll give you an example, say you have a Shunyata Hydra 4 conditioner, a Shunyata Black Mamba HC (high current) CX and two Black Mamba CXs ("regular" CXs) power cords. Shunyata's recommendation would be to use the BM HC CX to connect the from the wall AC receptacle to the Hydra, and then the regular CXs to the preamp, other components, etc from the Hydra's receptacles. The Black Mamba HC CX was specifically designed to connect for high current applications (hence the HC designation), e.g. connecting to a power amp or a power conditioner; devices that pull a lot of current.

The other thing that Shunyata says is that you're better off putting on four $99 Venom3 power cords on four of your components than a single $400 cord on just one, as the effect is additive, as i have personally found out from first-hand experience.

I can certainly see putting the heaviest gauge cord on the conditioner. As for my examples, the cords are all 12AWG. the Aurora uses silver-plated OFC, versus the Stratus' plain OFC. I imagine the (supposedly better) conductor on the Aurora would have more of a sonic impact due to the silver coating, and that may be The Cable Company's logic.

But in your example it makes sense to use the HC cable where you have it, on the Hydra.

[US Blues]

Listening is always best. I recently made a change that I thought would be of small consequence, but listening proved me wrong.

I had my Furman Elite-15PFi plugged directly into an RGPC 400, then into the wall (PS audio outlet, Synergistic Research AC Master Coupler PC's). I plugged the Furman direct into the outlet in parallel to the RGPC 400, and that created a large improvement in every aspect of sonic presentation in my system.

The point being that such a change may not have any logical explanation, and may even run counter to a manufacturers instruction for using a product, but it is always the end result that matters.