Manufacturers power cables VS 3rd party power cables

}Fear_Inoculum{

}Fear_Inoculum{

Senior Audioholic
Just wondered if it's "worth" it to buy 3rd party power cables VS the ones that the manufacturer includes with your AV equipment.

In a specific sense/scenario, I recently bought a Paradigm Defiance X12 subwoofer, and the guy at the AV store I bought it from was trying to upsell me on this power cord:


I plan on getting a 2nd subwoofer soon, and I'm wondering if it's worth the extra cost/will it be a big difference in performance/quality. Big enough to justify the extra cost.

Yay? Nay?
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
NO! No, no no!

Power cables and cables in general are the biggest scam going in audio right now. None of it is backed by science. None. Good lord, get ready for a flood of replies...
 
L

Leemix

Audioholic General
For a sub, not unless you want it for the looks. The cable linked was pretty thin and the wrong connector also.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
For a sub, not unless you want it for the looks. The cable linked was pretty thin and the wrong connector also.
What do you mean "for a sub"? It's more like "for anything that requires a cable".
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
3'-4" cord with 14ga for the low, low price of $259.95? I f&cking think not!

Let's consider the issue- most residential wiring is done using 12ga Romex. Let that sink in.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
What do you mean "for a sub"? It's more like "for anything that requires a cable".
The photo showing the end that connects to the equipment isn't IEC. Let's see someone use this for a BD player and try to keep in on the shelf.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Ah, good old Fraudioquest. So you think the people who put the sub together deliberately sold it with a cable that won't meet it's specs?

It's just a bloody power cord. You can get prettier ones for less (or even make your own).

ps hopefully you have not already purchased silly cables like that for speakers or anything else....
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Standard house wiring is 14 gauge solid copper wire and the cable that comes with sub is already engineered to meet the max requirements. There is absolutely nothing to be gained with replacements except for a different look.
 
Will Brink

Will Brink

Audioholic
Just wondered if it's "worth" it to buy 3rd party power cables VS the ones that the manufacturer includes with your AV equipment.

In a specific sense/scenario, I recently bought a Paradigm Defiance X12 subwoofer, and the guy at the AV store I bought it from was trying to upsell me on this power cord:


I plan on getting a 2nd subwoofer soon, and I'm wondering if it's worth the extra cost/will it be a big difference in performance/quality. Big enough to justify the extra cost.

Yay? Nay?
That's a hard no ghost rider.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
It is almost always better to get a aftermarket power cable.

I use them almost exclusively in my builds.

This is because I don't need 6' of power cable and it is hard to hide the four extra feet that I don't need. So, I use 1', 2', and 3' power cables from Monoprice at about $1 or so per cable.

Anything more expensive is just throwing money in the garbage. Don't do it.... as you've been told.

Not sure what subwoofer you got, or how much power you've set aside in your home specifically to run the subwoofer, or any of your AV gear for that matter, but a power cable isn't a magical device and never will be. Just use the cable that came with it, which was designed to work with it from the start, or pick up something shorter, of the same gauge, which will work equally as good.
 
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
"In 1987 [A very expensive boutique brand] introduced FPC (Functionally Perfect Copper) in the higher models. FPC was manufactured by a process called Ohno Continuous Casting (OCC).Through this process, the metal is very slowly cast as an almost perfect single crystal small diameter rod. This near-perfect rod is then carefully drawn to maximize grain length. However, OCC is a process, not a material. The metal (usually aluminum or copper), the purity, and the size of the cast rod all make a tremendous difference. FPC copper was drawn from a smaller rod, causing less damage to the near perfect cast state, a single grain was over 700 feet long. The audible benefits were very obvious."

(OCB) Ohno Continuous Bull$h1t
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Just wondered if it's "worth" it to buy 3rd party power cables VS the ones that the manufacturer includes with your AV equipment.

In a specific sense/scenario, I recently bought a Paradigm Defiance X12 subwoofer, and the guy at the AV store I bought it from was trying to upsell me on this power cord:


I plan on getting a 2nd subwoofer soon, and I'm wondering if it's worth the extra cost/will it be a big difference in performance/quality. Big enough to justify the extra cost.

Yay? Nay?
I would say yes. Do it. Under one condition.
You get to hit the salesman with it, one time for each inch of cable length. Every time you make contact with it, the sound will be exquisite.

Sorry, but no. You should not buy this cable. I’d like to hear what he says are the benefits.
 
jinjuku

jinjuku

Moderator
I found out my kid listens better when beat with high end cabling vs generic zip cord.
 

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