Power cord for a pre/pro or amp... (1 Viewer)

[Kevin C Brown]

Figured I'd try here before the "accessories" section.

Need a 3 x 14 gauge conductor (15A rated) 4 to 6 ft AC cord.

All I want is a good quality, well made, "utility" AC cord. Not some fancy $100 (or more!) tweaker cord.

I know that a place like mcmelectronics.com has them, but I'm looking for a local store. Maybe Radio Shack? A place like Frys Electronics? One person I work with suggested a hardware store?

Any ideas? Thanks!

(I did learn that SJT cords are better than SVT so far. (Rated for wider/higher temp use. And that you need 14 gauge wire per conductor to get a 15A rating...)

 

[DanaA]

Don't know if power cords make much of a difference, but some like this one (rated at 15 amps)

Here

 

[Chu Gai]

Wish I had a definite place where you are Kevin, but I might suggest the yellow pages and calling either some large electrical supply houses or large electronic distributors. Newark Electronics has a shop in Palo Alto. Phone: (650) 812-6300

For example, they've got a right angle 10 amp Belden, 6 foot for $6.47.

 

[Al B. C]

Try Signal Cable.......

I have bought a few things from them, speaker wire & interconnects, and both pruducts are top notch quality.

Great service, fast turn around time, real reasonable prices.

http://signalcable.com/index.html

 

[Frances_H]

I would seconded Al on Signal Cable MagicPower cord, I have two of them, and yes, they do make a difference..

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Frances,

"and yes, they do make a difference.."

The key word being "To Me" not "To Everybody".

Kevin asked for a place localy to get cables he didn't ask
for mail order spots selling magic cables.


Kevin,

I would try getting some raw 10/3 from Lowes or Home Depot
it's cheap and then all you need is an IEC end and a 125V
end. You can make your own cable as "well made" as you want
for less than $50.00 (actually $50.00 will probably do a
couple cables).

Radio Shack may have OEM type 14/3 and 12/3 cables with IEC's
for cheap... 12/3 should handle all but the most monsterous
of amps and if you need more than that you can go the 10/3
and heavy duty connector route.

Or you can take the other's advice and buy a Magic Cable.

 

[Al B. C]

What's up with the sarcasm?

Frank at Signal is a good guy and makes great high end products at very reasonable prices.

No he's not local, but he is in Ca. and Kevin could probably have his cable in a couple of days.

 

[Chu Gai]

Yes, but it wouldn't be UL Listed though!

 

[Frances_H]

Frances,
"and yes, they do make a difference.."

The key word being "To Me" not "To Everybody".

you're right, actual mileage may vary....

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Cool. I actually didn't know about Signal Cable. Palo Alto is maybe 20 min from me, so that is a place to check out too. Funny one: the manufacturer of the cable at Newark, is MCM!

 

[Chu Gai]

Give em a call Kev. Newark's got a ton of products and I've got to admit, that's a dirt cheap price. Don't steal any military secrets if you go to Palo Alto now!

 

[Arthur S]

I find it hard to believe that the companies that make good amps would scrimp on something as inexpensive as a good power cord, if the power cord made an audible difference. In the scheme of things, a better power cord would be a very small expense in the total cost of the amp. How long do you think it would be before amp owners were immediately replacing their power cord on a $1,200 amp if it made such a difference? Or is this a secret that only a precious few know about?

When I needed to replace a cord that got lost in moving, someone mentioned Volex. www.volexpowercords.com
Click on power cords, then plastic detachable cords, and scroll down to the 1706. 14 guage, 1875 watt rating, belden foil shielding, 6 foot. I think it goes for around $10. The hard part is finding someone who will sell you less than $25 worth.

I liked the look of the Signal cable but I wouldn't buy one without seeing it first hand. Why? The more expensive the cord the thicker and less flexible they become. When they get to be the thickness of a garden hose, the limited flexibility becomes a real problem. If you read some power cord reviews (sure there are reviews of $400 power cords), you will see the lack of flexibility is mentioned as a problem.

Artie

 

[Chu Gai]

Sheeeeeeeeetttttt...at the Newark price that's like stopping in for a cup of coffee at Starbucks!

 

[Daniel Mai]

Kevin,
Are you handy w/tools? The volex cables mentioned by Arthur S can be bought at Newark. Cut off both ends, replace one end with female plug IEC and the other end w/Hospital Grade male plug. You'll have a supeior cord than that of Signal Cable according to the folks at Asylum, based on a Crump designed. Or you don't need to cut off and just use it as is and still give you better performance than stock that came with equipment. I remember buying the Volex for about $6 a piece, $5 for IEC, and $10 for HG plug.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Yeah, I need to think about making one of my own too.

The one I'm looking at from mcmelectronics looks real similar: 14x3, 6.7 ft (2m), foil shielding, SJT type cord. (Kind of hard to find them with the foil shielding.)

I am debating replacing the few 18x3 cords I have, but the real application is I bought an AC switch box that requires a 14x3 cord, but it came with a 14x2 cord!

Amazingly enough, I remembered that my much maligned (by others) but much loved (by me) Pioneer DV-47ai has a 2 prong cord. So I was going to swap the stock Pioneer cord for the 14x2 now in my possession. Low and behold, Pioneer ships them with a 14x2 cord! I was surprised...

Also got me thinking of replacing my cheap-o wall outlet with a hospital grade one too. You know, something to do...

 

[Chu Gai]

It's a thought Kevin. Over in tweaks, BrianOK had some posts a while back that dealt with outlets. As I recall, he had some pretty good sources and ideas that weren't priced too badly. Damned if I can put a finger on the link though. Toss him a PM Kev.

 

[Brian OK]

Chu,

Funny, I have not been very frequent here lately, two months, anyway.... new company ownership, travel, ... the usual drill, you know.

But, I stepped away for a minute to grab my two bare Signal cable 1M power cables before getting back to Kevin's post .. and, upon a refresh to the forum, you posted and mentioned me .... strange web, karma weave, these times.

Reminds one of life being an upright stream (goes both directions, of course), more than a long walk across a flat scape. The Matrix vertical, for a current reference, but more than just ###'s. Going up ?, or going down ? Elevator like. I digress, and mean we are on the same floor tonight.
Hope all is well with you.

Kevin,
I have two bare (no nylon techflex wrap), 1M Signal cable
power cords which I will gladly let go for $2.50 each. I am not kidding, $2.50 each. Keep in mind that they are not terminated with either an AC plug or an IEC. But I have some around here which I will let go at my cost. I have a Marinco AC plug, as well as three Pass& Seymour 5266 AC plugs, and I have a Marinco IEC and and two Leviton AC plugs. If you are interested I will sell them for dirt cheap, ie, my cost (less than $5.00).
Why am I selling the 1M Signal Cable for $2.50, you ask ?
Simple, Signal cable is nothing but Carol 10/3 sourced from Parts Express for $16.60 for 25', or $1.50, 1M, if you just buy that length. Trust me, I removed the techflex from the Signal Cable power cords and wrapped it around the DIY Belden 83802 cords I terminated myself with higher quality terminations.
No dig against Frank, as he was very pleasant when we did business last year. But it is not magic.

ps-- I have two Pass& Seymour 5242 15amp AC outlets (brand new) and two Cooper (made by Arrow Hart) 20amp outlets, as well as two (and these are sweet, and not cheap) Pass&Seymour 5262 all brass outlets. The 5262 sell for close to $20 bucks each right now. I bought mine for $14ea. and will sell for $7. They are well broken in but still stiff as hell when it come to AC plug gripping.

BOK

 

[Chu Gai]

Same Brian...don't get too heavy into the Karma thing just cuz of Matrix Reloaded and all I'd mentioned you mostly because I recall you had posted some links or suggestions on outlets that I thought bore some merit. See, I do say nice things! Olin brass or something like that. BTW, I've been to Olin's research facility up in CT.

 

[Kevin. W]

You may want to try this guy on Ebay. Makes a nice cable at a reasonable price. Try emailing him to see if you can get a better price if you buy multiples.

Links to Ebay auctions are not permitted on HTF.
Thank You,
Steven Simon
HTF Administration
Kevin

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Man, lots of options to think about now!