OOPS! I Did It Again!
Another DIY “Audiophile” power cord using DH Labs Encore - 14ga 3 conductor – shielded - Audiophile Power Cable DHLABS-75520
Well I couldn’t help myself! I was trolling… Ahem! I mean pursuing another audio focused website/forums when I saw someone touting DH Labs as an affordable, but high-end, AC power cable available either pre-made from DH Labs or as DIY wire by the foot. I followed the link to the Parts Connexion website and found this Hunk-a-Hunk-a, smokein’ lookin’ power cable for $3.75 per foot. This is the DH Labs Encore 14ga x 3 conductor shielded AC power cable. It is only slightly more expensive than my favorite go-to DIY, 14ga x 3 shielded, power cord, Belden 19364. It is also available in a 12ga 3 conductor shielded for $6.00 per foot version.
Needing one more “audiophile” power cord in my system I ordered 10’ and sat back. Parts Connextion shipped the same day and quick as you can say “Hook Me Up!” it was here. It actually beat the connectors I had ordered from Amazon Prime!
When it arrived I took a quick look to see what it was all about. The cable itself is 14mm, just over .55 inches for those of us that are metrically challenged, thick and is a pretty kind of charcoal grey in color. The three 14ga stranded conductors are Black white, and green and the shield is 100% foil shield with a separate drain wire.
You can find this wire for sale in bulk at several different vendors or on the DH Labs website at;
https://silversonic.com/?_vsrefdom=...MInsKcodDk4QIVhYbACh0dbgr6EAAYASAAEgJaxPD_BwE
There is a paucity of specifications to be found on this cable across all of the websites I found it on. I found the thickness and the claim that it uses OFC and that was about it. Nothing I could find told me anything about capacitance, inductance, resistance, insulating materials or strand counts.
I put it together as I usually do with High-Fi King Red Copper 15 amp connectors. And… because Heat Shrink tubing and TechFlexmakes all wire, look AND SOUND,better (and the fact that I had some left from previous projects) I covered the wire with black TechFlex to make it Audiophile grade. The drain wire was attached with the green ground wire on the SOURCE end of the cable.
Cost to build this bad boy less than $50.00
As I did recently I ran a quick test with the resulting 6’ cable by using it as my pre/pro and then main power amp power cord. Just as the other power cables I tested, it did nothing positive or negative to the sound. In other words it did what a power cable was supposed to do :-)
You can find my complete review on the other various power cords that I played with on AV NIRVANA here https://avnirvana.com/threads/you’ve-got-the-power-cables.4181/ if interested.
It’s a handsome cable and does the job as promised. For the next one though I will probably go back to something that is more forthcoming on the specs (Belden 19364 for example).
Or maybe, just maybe…. I’ll go with Furutech DPS-4, sold by the meter by Parts Connexion as well,… Only $450 for one meter! Perhaps if I break the $1000 ceiling for a 2 meter power cord I will finally hear a difference!
I would love to hear if anyone else on AV NIRVANA has played with higher end power cables and what their experiences and impressions have been
Another DIY “Audiophile” power cord using DH Labs Encore - 14ga 3 conductor – shielded - Audiophile Power Cable DHLABS-75520
Needing one more “audiophile” power cord in my system I ordered 10’ and sat back. Parts Connextion shipped the same day and quick as you can say “Hook Me Up!” it was here. It actually beat the connectors I had ordered from Amazon Prime!
When it arrived I took a quick look to see what it was all about. The cable itself is 14mm, just over .55 inches for those of us that are metrically challenged, thick and is a pretty kind of charcoal grey in color. The three 14ga stranded conductors are Black white, and green and the shield is 100% foil shield with a separate drain wire.
You can find this wire for sale in bulk at several different vendors or on the DH Labs website at;
https://silversonic.com/?_vsrefdom=...MInsKcodDk4QIVhYbACh0dbgr6EAAYASAAEgJaxPD_BwE
There is a paucity of specifications to be found on this cable across all of the websites I found it on. I found the thickness and the claim that it uses OFC and that was about it. Nothing I could find told me anything about capacitance, inductance, resistance, insulating materials or strand counts.
I put it together as I usually do with High-Fi King Red Copper 15 amp connectors. And… because Heat Shrink tubing and TechFlexmakes all wire, look AND SOUND,better (and the fact that I had some left from previous projects) I covered the wire with black TechFlex to make it Audiophile grade. The drain wire was attached with the green ground wire on the SOURCE end of the cable.
As I did recently I ran a quick test with the resulting 6’ cable by using it as my pre/pro and then main power amp power cord. Just as the other power cables I tested, it did nothing positive or negative to the sound. In other words it did what a power cable was supposed to do :-)
You can find my complete review on the other various power cords that I played with on AV NIRVANA here https://avnirvana.com/threads/you’ve-got-the-power-cables.4181/ if interested.
It’s a handsome cable and does the job as promised. For the next one though I will probably go back to something that is more forthcoming on the specs (Belden 19364 for example).
Or maybe, just maybe…. I’ll go with Furutech DPS-4, sold by the meter by Parts Connexion as well,… Only $450 for one meter! Perhaps if I break the $1000 ceiling for a 2 meter power cord I will finally hear a difference!
I would love to hear if anyone else on AV NIRVANA has played with higher end power cables and what their experiences and impressions have been
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