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Mains Cables

G

garysummerhill

pfm Member
Morning Guys,

Can anyone recommend good quality mains cables?
I have a full Naim set up but cant afford powerlines all round?
I see Chord and Russ Andews have cables around the £60 mark. Any good?

Thanks
 
Oh dear, this won't end well.

Any particular reason why the cables supplied are deficient? Assuming they are long enough, of course. :D
 
I use the chord power lines (orange colour) on my nearly all naim kit. If you buy second hand, you should be able to pick them up for about £70 each. I noticed my naim dealer uses the lower (blue) version all the naim kit he demos.

Plenty people here will tell you the std leads are ok. I did a quick test a few years ago and felt the chord cables worth the money. I posted results on here and got told I was deaf.

Best try yourself and sell on if you can't detect a difference.
 
I'm generally an advocate of decent power cables, and the Chord ones do seem to be worth checking out. I had one of the budget RA ones for a while and, TBH, didn't notice any improvements.

If you're prioritising, get a lead for the feed to your your mains block first (you are using a star-earthed mains block, aren't you?), then source, then pre-amp, then power amp(s) in that order.

For a fair bit more dosh, I also rate the Nordost Blue Heaven mains leads, but they're £150 a shot so probably out of budget.

There, I said it. Take your best shots, guys! ;)
 
Wouldn't it be a refreshing change if those who doubt the performance advantage of high end mains cables etc just stayed out of the thread and let those that do chat away. Sadly they must impose their belief on everyone else and spoil everyone's day, sigh
 
Yes! Absolutely.

How about they start a "Can you believe what those knobheads are saying over on that cable thread over there" thread, and we'll promise to stay out of that one, too.
 
Dinovector said:
Wouldn't it be a refreshing change if those who doubt the performance advantage of high end mains cables etc just stayed out of the thread and let those that do chat away.
Click to expand...

Personally, I've yet to see any company prove that there is an audible performance advantage.
 
Personally, I tend to favour shielded mains cables to reduce the risk of radiation to the interconnects and sepaker cables they inevitably meet behind the racks.

Supra LoRad is my current (haha) favorite @ around £15 per metre unterminated in the heavier grade.
I suspect that the quality of the connectors has a greater influence than the cable itself in mains leads.
 
I always use mains cables that meet the standards of the country I happen to be in. They all seem to perform their function well.

Dino and Sue, nice to see you already on the offensive against people whose opinion is different from yours. Can't you let your provocative postings rest? These are only peripheral bits of hifi, which in itself isn't important in the overall scheme of things.
 
Thanks everyOne. I'm not interested in the negative comments tbh. I much prefer real life experiences. As with any upgrade you are best to audition first.
I see there are a few the bay at the moment starting at the £50 mark.
I have chord odysey2 speaker cable. It was a big step up from naca5 so I'm sure the mains cable are superb also.
 
I'm fairly new to the uprated cables scene but noticed an improvement on my Arcam alpha 10 amp and its soundstage when I went from the OEM kettle lead to a Clearer Audio shielded mains cable.

Also noticed a big difference in sound going from QED Silver Anniversary speaker cable to my Chord Odyssey 2. Really opened up the soundstage (deeper bass, smoother & more detailed midrange and top-end)!

I think its definitely an 'each to their own' category but for me cable changes do make a difference

I'd recommend the Clearer Audio cable; there are quite a few on eBay currently. Just search on "clearer audio": http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=150806469499
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
garysummerhill said:
Thanks everyOne. I'm not interested in the negative comments tbh. I much prefer real life experiences. As with any upgrade you are best to audition first.
Click to expand...
That says it all, really, head-in-the sand. You forget that some of us have experimented, and not found the difference that others have, but you don't wish those people to comment. That's a true negative attitude.
 
SteveS1 said:
Any particular reason why the cables supplied are deficient? Assuming they are long enough, of course.
Click to expand...

I can recommend cables that are long enough to reach the socket. I've used cables that are long enough for years now and I've never had a problem with them. Ok, to be fair I've never tried a cable that was not long enough but I've heard enough negative opinion on them to be convinced that it would have a detrimental effect on performance.

Other performance factors I can't comment on but a long enough cable is something you definitely want.
 
Pig, that's just the kind of closed-mind attitude that gives these threads and audiophiles in general a bad name. How can you judge if by your own admission you've never even tried a cable that isn't long enough? Don't tell me that you've measured it, measurements are worthless. The very act of measuring changes the physics of the situation. It's clear that the only way to establish the truth is to buy a selection of cables, some of which may not be long enough, and try them. Obviously you need to live with each for a period of time to exclude testing bias.
 
As Mr Micawber said in David Copperfield:

"Distance from hifi to wall socket less than length of cable, result happiness. Distance from hifi to wall socket greater than length of cable, result misery"
 
interestingly and exceptionally, blind tests show that people can tell the difference between those that are long enough and those that aren't.
 
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