We have the connector choice design sorted and on the way. It takes longer than expected to get proper fitment across three cord sizes. Keeping with BAV prices, these will be high quality at proper pricing. I have selected a pre-existing cord stock that tested at the top of the heap, so let’s not reinvent the wheel for Audio when we already have a “volume” available cord stock. This turned out to be a great find during qualification testing. We will always tell you what we are doing and why.
The BAV power cord, again, is a RF tested dielectric for UTP cord requirements. It has dielectric built-in RF attenuation, but passes through the audio band virtually unrestricted. I use all BAV power cords myself on my P20 with ZIP 60 Hz noise issues.
I can Email the test data to anyone that wants to see what we’ve done and why. Nothing is top secret. You just have to decide if the performance is proper for your use. But what we measure is indeed what the cord is doing swept to frequency. ggareis@iconoclastcable.com
We will have the data available on the web site, and on some things about shielded cables and what to expect. Shields work, but they need a “situation” that requires a shield. Most of us aren’t in that situation.
Don’t forget, shields are RF only as the 60 or 50 Hz magnetic field around a power cord goes right through non metallic (anything a magnet won’t stick to) materials. Flexible shields are about RF attenuation. Most of us think shield guard 60 Hz “hum”. No, they don’t. Here you need to use BALANCED XLR signal leads that cancel any noise except the signal run by power cords.
Note - I run ICONOCLAST RCA DIRECTLY to my subs and placed over my power cords on risers (distance mitigates the magnetic field strength) that are approx. 3" high from the floor and I get ZERO hum in my subs…and subs should let you know if there is a problem. I recommend cable separation if you have hum, and magnetic fields inductively couples with length, so those cable risers can work to mitigate that problem on long parallel runs. This is with UTP power cords, too. I kind of built a worst case test and UTP power cords are still fine. I do TEST this stuff in use everyone. Pictures are available.
A far more complex ICONOCLAST design with shields is designed. Performance verification is $$$ to do. It will be compared to the BAV cord for swept passive RF absorption performance (should be the same) and it will have a 80 (braid only) or 100 (braid and foil) dB RF attenuation shield. Inductance should measure lower as I will use field cancellation geometry inside the cord. Lowering Inductance and adding a shield will RAISE capacitance some but power cords need low inductance most.
Technically, I could use a lower dielectric constant insulation as I have a SHIELD, and this will mitigate the capacitive effects of the shield (lower dielectric constant lessens the capacitive increase based on a set distance from the ground plane). But, we lose the added RF attenuation that the BAV dielectric provides. We will need to evaluate the COST of the more expensive thermoset EPDM dielectric used in the BAV cord based on a volume basis. Volume really impacts the price. HDPE dielectric is more efficient to extrude in small quantities.
Best,
Galen