Bob`s pimp it yourself mains cable

Thought I would try to upgrade a mains cable for digital with some spare materials.

off with that fitted plug



Foil wrap the cable right down and along the inner earth core wire.

add a bit of shrink wrap to reduce the risk of it becoming live (my hairs curly enough )

bit of insulation and pop on the ferrite.


time for the braid (which I doubled up for added insulation)


bit of shrink wrap so no foil gets near the mains pins.

trim back some insulation to expose the foil for ferrite number two and terminate the wires.

Quick check to make sure theres no boo boo of a potentially lethal variety.


all good... time to take it to the linear PSU for a taste test.

note. a metal braid and teflon sleeve would be a nice thorough application... but I dont have either.

should shield nicely anyhow.

note you dont terminate at the IEC plug ends ground.... that would be a bad idea

sit back and enjoy your cheap`o`pimped standard mains cable.
(I wouldnt apply it to analogue mains cables but with digital its fair game )

insulate those ferrites...


one semi floating shield with suppressor

fin!

nice to know.

I think it would be nice to try on solid core mains wire. multi strand has a greater magnetic field than a single core. I`ll give it go when I source a decent IEC plug and maybe grab my metal braid and teflon. so I can do a proper job of it next time.

just tried it on a couple of systems and I think it gave a little more to the sound in a positive way

edit: other than the price of ferrites the other materials will go a long way for the spend.

All the quality power cords (i.e. anything better than the cheap junk supplied with cheap PSUs) are already shielded. An easy way to check is to get one of those noncontact voltage detectors and wave it near the cord while it's plugged in. If it's properly shielded, the detector should not go off.

Also, there's no difference between a quality "analog" power cord and a quality "digital" power cord. The difference between stranded and solid is nothing as far as stray magnetic fields are concerned.

NiHaoMike said:

All the quality power cords (i.e. anything better than the cheap junk supplied with cheap PSUs) are already shielded. An easy way to check is to get one of those noncontact voltage detectors and wave it near the cord while it's plugged in. If it's properly shielded, the detector should not go off.

Also, there's no difference between a quality "analog" power cord and a quality "digital" power cord. The difference between stranded and solid is nothing as far as stray magnetic fields are concerned.

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I cant say I have seen any shielded power chords with any hi-fi stock cable. except one that came with the DNM power amp.

mutli strand and solid core does effect the delicate analogue cables in proximity.

and the difference between digital and analogue power chord is you wouldnt want to use ferrites on something like a power amplifier.

even regarding digital. ferrites can sometimes have a negative effect by rejecting high frequencies made to run to earth and in effect send them back into the devices circuit.

you dont see many solid core designs because they fail the ISO bend tests.
I use the same solid cores as the one provided by DNM and lowering the magnetic field over several devices all helps preserve the analogue signal.

so I guess we have very different opinions

Edit: think I will get a none contact voltage detector as a experiments toy

heres my reasoning for solid cores. be it in this context about interconnects,speaker cable and not mains.

Please excuse my ignorance... but, since nearly all are shielded anyway, at least here in the US, what is the point of what you did? IS that above and beyond? And for waht reason?

EarthDog said:

Please excuse my ignorance... but, since nearly all are shielded anyway, at least here in the US, what is the point of what you did? IS that above and beyond? And for waht reason?

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Its a huge topic for debate so I have dug out a reasonable intro here.
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/merlino.html

lowering magnetic fields. reducing antenna effect. filtering high frequency noise. eddy currents.

the benefit is accumulative and mainly relates to the interaction between the mains and signal cables.

on another topic its why torodial transformers are used in hi-fi components. they have a low magnetic field on the vertical axis and quite often one range of manufacturer will purposely place the transformer in the amp, cd, pre-amp etc in the same place within each component case. because it stacks the field and gives a more uniform reaction.

back on topic the more complexed your system is regarding hardware the more of a criss cross of varying magnetic fields are generated by plugging it all together. so all this aims to optimise the overall effect. basically giving whats going off at the back of a hi-fi rack lower unwanted interaction that can effect performance.

so i`m diy experimenting with accumulative effect.

I can point you towards companies that specialise and have the knowledge base to explain in technical terms... but its not my strong point. myself I look for a good working principal to repeat.

the foil will shield in the field from the multi strand cores, act as the medium that collects as an antenna, the ferrites reduce the antenna effect and soak up the energy and dissipate it as heat.

now this cable I just moded has the copper braid which will further block frequencies the foil fails to absorb.







theres another cable how to which when I find I will post that says much the same technique as the TNT write up.




heres a uk plug I cut off the fat man valve amp power cable for modding.
just twin insulated wires with no foil wrap

so in context if there is a benefit then time and materials is a much lower premium than a manufacturer who specialises in upgrade cables.

so I say experiment and reach your own conclusions.



maybe in some scenarios

but I believe

edit: I found the other how to on said principals

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Power/diyMains/

oh yes and for what reason Edog because I want the flexibility of a PC with the audio quality of the best of the dedicated source components. so antenna, RFI, EMI etc. clean power and appropriate filters all lend to reaching that goal. gone or going are the days of Vinyl, CD`s, DVD`s SACD`s. storage premium and market availability dictate physical media is becoming a thing of the past. so the quest for high quality digital is on

oh regarding US cables I must confess I have never seen one. very little is imported from the USA in terms of hi-fi because of import tax and vat here makes them priced out of the regional market and the market favours equivalents from europe of the far east
so excuse my lack of experience on that little factoid

Thanks for the explanation, though, to me, it seems like overkill... BUT that is what OCF is all about in some respects.

Can you give results before and after?

Thanks again!

EarthDog said:

Thanks for the explanation, though, to me, it seems like overkill... BUT that is what OCF is all about in some respects.

Can you give results before and after?

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

I`m pleased we agree were a collective here that does strive to push the boundaries of technology

I will have a think and consult a few experts on how to collate some data.
to be honest some have the opinions that measurements tell very little about what you hear as an end result.

I will strive to blow some cash on lab equipment and means to test and compare. myself I spend every day having a good listen and try to remain subjective about results. sometimes it can take two months before I decide something is of benefit or detriment.

and ultimately nobody who reads on can ever get to experience what I hear so in that context its hard to debate.

not a huge amount of people get to hear reference quality systems. most people would find it hard to believe that the best of vinyl can reject surface noise from signal and a style can operate up to 30KHz with the best of them.
so it can even be difficult to identify a vinyl record from a digital recording.
I do theorise that its the latency in how gain lowers in relation to incoming signal in vinyl pre amps. it gives a false energetic punch to the lead of events in the music and maybe that over excitement is what appeals. I have achieved digital that on complexed passages of music can show more resolve than the more likeable sound of vinyl.

white papers on design and persons heading in particular fields are the best sources I can find and pull up for reference.

I will have a think on how to get data. expect I will need oscilloscopes and an ADC converter where the original data and captured data can be applied to cancel out the like values and just reveal the variations.

give me a month or three and I will see what tools I can obtain... but for now im spent up on new toys

cheers Edog... one fine noob moderator

BobbyBubblehead said:

and the difference between digital and analogue power chord is you wouldnt want to use ferrites on something like a power amplifier.

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Guess what the EMI filter core (on the amp's PSU board) is made of... Not to mention that some PFC coils and transformers have ferrite cores...

The talk of cable capacitance "shorting" the amplifier is just as absurd if you're talking about modern designs. (It could possibly be an issue with a tube amp, not too familiar with those.) Look at TI's reference design for a 300W amplifier and you'll see that it has 0.68uF of capacitance on each side to ground. It would have to be a very long cable indeed to get even a tenth of that.

NiHaoMike said:

Guess what the EMI filter core (on the amp's PSU board) is made of... Not to mention that some PFC coils and transformers have ferrite cores...

The talk of cable capacitance "shorting" the amplifier is just as absurd if you're talking about modern designs. (It could possibly be an issue with a tube amp, not too familiar with those.) Look at TI's reference design for a 300W amplifier and you'll see that it has 0.68uF of capacitance on each side to ground. It would have to be a very long cable indeed to get even a tenth of that.

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Its not in relation to shorting. Its about the ferrite on the power cord stopping the correct grounding application and sending unwanted ground artifacts back into the amplifier. Also not recommended because of the suppressor altering the power peak and waveform. In essence when more power is drawn to handle a dynamic passage in a musical signal then the amplifier recieves less than ideal conditions to meet demand.

I will dig out the info so you can better relate to my point.
(I recall an article on the use of ferrites in this scenario and a cable company that also touches on the subject in relation to there decision to employ ferrites in certain instances)

But first im going to have some food and carry on watching life of pi

Edit: digital in contrast is low powered devices and much more sensitive to power condition and high frequency noise.
(much like my quest to get to 3.8GHz processing speed passive cooled so the 192,000KHz sample rate can be processed without nyquist foldback into the generated waveform for playback)
Its a wealth of complexed issues where, when and in what application context ferrite beads and rings plus there frequency absorbtion range are desired.
The split variety I obtained are somewhat floored by design but lend to gaining ground as to there application.
Decent ferrites of quality material are quite hard to source. Germany is the only place I know of currently that make them right.

Edit2: quite often in power amplifier design they implement the grounding incorrectly this is where issues arise with ground loops in digital incorporated systems. When signal and chassis ground have not been accomplished correctly then balanced digital cables become impossible to get results with. Makes a handy tool to have an amplifier with a floored ground concept because you can audibly work to reduce the issue. I had two years messing with a crippled system so I could identify where progress was being made or not.

Its all complexed and vast in subjective terms. Theres no black and white... Straight yes or no. When no two systems ever operate in the same conditions. I think of my hifi as everything from the local sub station through the equipment and back to ground. Thats a wealth of factors to encompass.

Food time....

BobbyBubblehead said:

But first im going to have some food and carry on watching life of pi

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Sounds very circular.

BobbyBubblehead said:

Also not recommended because of the suppressor altering the power peak and waveform. In essence when more power is drawn to handle a dynamic passage in a musical signal then the amplifier recieves less than ideal conditions to meet demand.

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If the amplifier's PSU is any good, the bulk storage cap(s) will handle it just fine. What do you think happens if the amplifier asks for power right as the mains is near the zero crossing?

Next we'll have extreme overclockers who think they could get a few more MHz out of their CPU just by using that "special" power cord...

NiHaoMike said:

Next we'll have extreme overclockers who think they could get a few more MHz out of their CPU just by using that "special" power cord...

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Well if they make that leap of faith from an audio related post regarding better conditions for digital processor's and working environment for analogue signals then they probably need to stay out of bios

As for amps its down to the individual design. They all have peak sustaines so when those caps have gave up there reserve it will be effected.

Best I can do is dig out the info I read and you can deliberate on how big an issue it could be.

ATMINSIDE said:

Sounds very circular.

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Indeed I may have to watch it again as my focus went on chicken dinner and complexed questions. Lol

BobbyBubblehead said:

Indeed I may have to watch it again as my focus went on chicken dinner and complexed questions. Lol

Click to expand...

My focus went to circumference and area.

BobbyBubblehead said:

Well if they make that leap of faith from an audio related post regarding better conditions for digital processor's and working environment for analogue signals then they probably need to stay out of bios

As for amps its down to the individual design. They all have peak sustaines so when those caps have gave up there reserve it will be effected.

Click to expand...

But at the end of the day, the signals inside a CPU are analog! That's why bumping the voltage helps with overclocking.

Realistically, the resistance of a properly sized power cord is far too low to have any effect on the operation of a PSU. That's even more true with 240V input where the current is lower for a given power.

What is possible is for a (badly designed) amplifier to cause interference to some other device connected to it. I actually had that issue with an old Philips digital amplifier. Turns out the gate drive circuit was incorrectly designed and there was a lot of shoot through transients! Swap the dead time resistors with the values recommended in the datasheet (a Philips part, ironically enough) and the idle power usage dropped in half, the IPMs no longer get excessively hot at idle, and the EMI was much reduced. (I did try an optical cable but that merely fixed one symptom instead of actually fixing the problem.)