Russ Andrews offers a distinctively functional geometry for his power cords - in the newest Evolution range, the line and neutral are divided into several insulated runs that are interwoven, and the ground wire singularly runs in a spiral around that braid, to avoid common mode noise as much as possible.
His explanations do seem credible from what little (relatively little) I know of electricity.
Anyone here have experience with these? I think they’re very intriguing.
No one?
I guess it’s a little known brand, today at least, then again Andrews has been making his “Kords” for a long time. Could be better known in Britain.
“To our knowledge, we were the very first company to supply a commercially available audiophile mains cable in the UK”
To pique the interest of you guys, here’s a pic of the Evolution power cable:
Russ Andrews is the UK distributor for Kimber cable. He builds mains cables utilizing Kimber 8 or 12TC cable (different colour insulation), wraps an earth wire around the Kimber weave, sticks it all inside a fancy woven sleeve, Wattgate IEC plug and UK 13 amp mains plug… Russ is another self-styled audio guru, cable whisperer, alchemist, shaman, etc, etc…
This isn’t a new design. You can achieve the same effect with Star Quad cable where two conductors are used for Neutral, two are used for Positive (Hot), and an additional single ground wire is wrapped around the cable opposite to the twist of the Star Quad wires.
The real effort in this type of design is in the choice of conductors, connectors, and craftmanship.
Here’s an example of a similar cable I recently built. It’s currently powering a P10.
That’s beautiful!
How many hours does it take for you to build a cable like that?
Do you think I should even bother to try building a design like that with no prior experience?
(…Would you consider building me one, to sell?)
What is the verdict on this? I’ve recently found the Furutech how-to videos on YouTube and am becoming increasingly inclined to act.
Re: experience - I can’t comment on your ability. I suppose if you are handy, have a basic understanding of electricity, a multimeter, a few decent tools, patience, and aren’t subject to being easily frustrated…sure you could make a power cord.
Re: Build to sell - Please don’t take this the wrong way. I prefer to keep my hobby a hobby and adding customers to the mix will move me in a direction I’m not prepared to do. Thanks for asking, it’s nice to have my work appreciated.
I’m exactly like that, except I have no tools other than a multimeter. Could you list the very necessary basic tools needed?
I’ve made many power cords and analog cables for myself over the years. This power cord is quite good. Is it as good as a AudioQuest Dragon power cord at $5400? I can’t say, I’ve never had one in my system. I suppose I should ask around to see if someone has a spare I can borrow.
To your question, it’s very good. It took a week of burn-in on the inlet to a power strip I use to power my workstation and another 2-3 days installed as the inlet to a P10 before I felt like it had settled in enough to start thinking about how it sounds. I compared it to a Cardas Clear Beyond XL power cord that I put together with new Furutech NCF connectors and it compares pretty favorably. I prefer the Cardas, but only slightly so. There’s a bit more body with the Cardas. It’s still in my main system, so I can’t be hating it 
I thought I’d give it a month or so for final judgement.
To purchase a new built 1M Cardas Clear Beyond XL = $2750
To build the cable I made = Approx $500
I suppose that tells the story from me. Is the Cardas cable $2200 better, especially if you have a real-world budget? No, it’s not that much better.
I’ve got a full plate the next day or so. I’m not ignoring you, I’m simply delaying your gratification…
Heh, no hurry mate, my DIY cable building will be months in the future, I will first have to invest in a new mains feed and a dedicated line.
I almost forgot about VHAudio’s DIY pages. This is pretty much everything you need to know about building power cords. There’s one other flavor (Flavor 4) that isn’t described on the site. When you are ready, let me know, and I’ll fill you in. It’s basically a Flavor 2 with a change in conductors.
I suggest you start out with Flavor 1 and 2 and see how you like the results.
Here’s a review of some of the Flavors:
https://positive-feedback.com/Issue18/vhaudio.htm
I highly recommend that you map out the orientation of your male and IEC connectors. Otherwise you may find that you can’t twist the cable enough to plug it in.
For instance, if you are plugging into an IEC, it may have the ground pin :- or -: and your male end may have the ground down or up.
Knowing this will effect how much jacket you need to strip back to get the internal conductors aligned so they easily insert into the connector lugs in the orientation you need. Otherwise you may find that one of the conductors has to loop over or under another conductor to line up with its lug. This makes it harder to get it inserted without splaying the individual wires into a frizzy mess.
Draw out what you are going to do and be as neat and tidy as you can with each step.
Also, I only use TechFlex for covers. I tried some of the knockoffs and each had problems.
Well this turned into a diy advice thread and this is good.
Thanks for the advice Mr. Kennedy!
Thanks for the great information for DIY cables. My handyman level stops at AL/copper wrapping for RFI shielding learned from @vmax It is effective but it’s definitely not as pretty as your cable. Well, one of these days.
What is the brand model of that right angle male plug. ? Is it just the backshell that is different than a straight plug. I need to retrofit one of my cords with one for a bedroom system. Are the conductors soldered or clamped? The speakers were designed for wall placement to get bass down to 20Hz flat and of course must be placed over an outlet. The cord is one of Galen’s BAVs and has a wattgate connector.
Furutech FI-12. It’s a little tough to work with if you’re using huge diameter cable, since there’s less internal room than a regular plug. It comes with decent instructions though, and is pretty much in line with the quality of all the other furutech connectors.
I have one made up with Neotech NEP-3001, which sounds great but is about as stiff as they come.
Furutech FI-12ML(R)
(R) = Rhodium
(G) = Gold
It’s not soldered. I don’t know of any power cord that’s soldered. Solder is too hard and interferes with clamping of the lugs.
This plug can be oriented in multiple positions. This is helpful for addressing the ground position on an outlet, or if you would rather have the cord approach the outlet at multiple angles such as 60 degrees. If you look at the face of the plug you can see the alignment marks. I think there’s eight positions.
