The importance of power cables

Yes, a heavy gauge commercial cable and a quality outlet. We are only moving 120VAC for 3’.

Like the earlier post… spend $1400 on room treatments or something of material improvement.

Iconoclast Silver interconnects? i thought there were Uppoc, OFE, or TPC. Did you mean SPTPC speaker cables?

Or are you one of Galens super secret Beta Testers?

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Ha. I meant SPTPC interconnects as you described which do have a silver layer. I would love to see some power cables from Galen but I understand that is in the distant future.

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What is the length Dragon Power cable you ordered?

I ordered a 1 Meter. I already had dedicated 20 amp circuits right next to my equipment. So a short one will suffice.

What cable is it replacing? Thanks, Paul

I am using a 10 Gauge BAV Iconoclast with C19 wattgate 350i black gold audio grade connector with 4 foot length.

So performance slightly better than a Shunyata Anaconda according to Galen.

Time to see how much more cost truly matters in subjective sound perspective. Perfect trial fodder for cable snake oil crowd.

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I listened to a few podcast videos of Garth Powell from AudioQuest describing developing the Storm Series cables. His first prototype used basic materials and Aluminum Foil Shielding. His prototype beat the sound of all of AQ’s best power cables. On my Amps I have been running A pair of Wally Underwood’s Core Power Diamond Extremes which are a Nordost statement cable design knockoff complete with Furutech labeled connections. Really a great sounding knockoff of Nordost similar design cable including copper, silver plating and multiple conductors, I also do like the sound of. When I bought them I negotiated a a price below his list msrp and sale prices of course and have used them for years.

Anyhow I put on my Aluminum Foil Hat and decided to manufacture one piece EMI/RF shields out of thick Walmart Aluminum foil with drain ground to the power source end. Having invested an hour tops with four continuous wraps around the cable, I decided to give them a trial. They be ugly, but damn if the makeshift RF/ EMI shield really worked. Not in a subtle way either and probably not the degree of a Dragon. Talk about releasing sound trapped in your speakers and adding immersive sound field depth. The RF/EMI in our environment really is killing our music these days. I was and am still flabbergasted. I am looking forward to the Dragon trial versus the BAV.

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Hurry up already! :wink: :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Maybe by next weekend. It is drop shipped from AQ and being built.

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Just got notice Dragon High Current Power cable should deliver 11/1.

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There’s a 20 Amp AQ Blizzard for sale on the Roon forum:

Furutech ncf receptacle with the cover and plate.

I will first say that Power cables are very important in the development and tuning of one’s high end sound system; it isn’t debatable.
As I went thru the process, I WASTED a lot of money on cables that were purported to “sound just as good for less money”. BS
I found mid-priced, or “economical” cables to sound perhaps better than a stock cable but not worth the money.
It wasn’t until I left the “value for money” idea behind that I found cables that were indispensable in my system.
Sadly, if you want to truly hear what’s locked in your system via the power cable, you’re going to have to find a cable that has solid engineering behind it’s design. And that doesn’t come cheap. You might really want it to, but it doesn’t.

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The Dragon Power Cord made me lose any power cable skepticism. The first night was marked improvement but after 24 hours it is transformed past what I thought was possible. Everything written about how balanced a cord it is true. Even at low input levels so much music comes through. Also at higher levels there is not tendency for a single frequency to over take the rest of the room. Nothing ever gets shouty. It stays very smooth.

You know something is good when as soon as you leave the room your wife starts picking songs she wishes to hear on the Roon Streaming library.

There is still some break in left occasionally a rough patch of mids and highs. Plus soundstage width is better

The 20amp BAV Iconoclast on the P20 though way way better than the stock cord doesn’t hold a candle to high current Dragon for sound enjoyment and realism. The most notable differences now is the whole system sounds slow. On a BAV. The Dragon is there in spades for power transients. A steinway grand sounds like one hears in the 3rd row at the symphony. I know having just been there last Friday. Your hearing the pedals, the speed of the key strikes, and clarity of the highs. The human voice is really better fleshed out and realistic too. It improves music across the board.

The thing about the Dragon on a regenerator it leaves one wondering what the Dragon cord on the amps and sources would also bring to the table.

I still intend a swap back to BAV after200hour break in of the Dragon. I will likely keep the BAV with a adapter for devices other than providing full system current. Pulling 10 to 12 amps continuous or in spurts. The Dragon HC is so much more lifelike, full, detailed and lively in the full system role.

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Fascinating! I wonder if @rower30 has any theories on what may explain this?

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The actual Darren/Duncan podcast is about why power cables are so important with some more details than usual. Recommended for those in this thread who are interested.

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The P20 delivers the VA peak power, not the power cable, through the capacitor banks. Never thought one cable over another is “high current”, or not. Certainly not through a P20.

BAV power cord design data shows ground differential with lower DC as you need in your system (pick your AWG size) and passively attenuation RF, which the P20, by design, also should be doing and far better than a passive cord.

The P20 is designed to mitigate any power cord. If it doesn’t it isn’t working or the capacitor banks are too small (the P20 exceed the wall’s VA delivery).

RF, as the BAV power cord data shows, won’t do well through a BAV cord. This allows a far more economical cord to be provided at a better performance level.

The design has to stop somewhere and be affordable for most of us. Can a truly lower inductance cord be made? Yes, at a price. And yes, it can be measured.

Best,
Galen Gareis

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Could the perfect surface silver account for what sounds to be faster transients I have never experienced how a cord makes music sound faster either. Perhaps it is inductance. It is different going from laidback to a quicker sound.

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Are you talking about the shielding episode? I don’t recall one specific to just power cables

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