Others may say, "no, it does not make a difference" and would not bother about it, while others may just be curious and give it a try.
Since this forum is a venue for sharing ideas and experiences, this one I would like to share.
BTW, there is also a duplicate posting of this topic in another forum site. Since I also have colleagues in PDVD, I hope there is no problem with that.
I would like to share my own advanture in DIY power cords.
Materials used are:
= 6 pcs guage 14 braider copper cable at 2 meters each. I used two color sets for easy identification of cables during braiding. It can be in any color you want. In this example I used three white cables and three green cables. The thickness of the three cables when combined at the end for each pole is similar to that of a guage 10 stranded cable.
= 1 pc guage 12 braider copper cable. This I used for the center/ground cable. It's the red center cable that you see in the picture.
After braiding:
Then, wrap it in teflon tape:
Then, aluminum foil:
Then, another layer of teflon tape:
And finally, shrinkable tube or heat shrink as it is also called:
Then, add the Wattgate plugs at both ends:
Here is another version that I did. For this one, I managed to acquire something that they call "spagheti tube" from Raon which I used for the outer jacket instead of heat shrink. The length of this power cable is only one meter.
For the ground wire in the center I used two guage 12 stranded coper cable twisted together, and then wraped it in teflon tape before doing the guage 14 wire braid around it.
For the IEC connector, I used Transparent brand which I soldered using WBT silver leads. I prefer the Wattgate brand which is much easier to use, because it uses screw locks, no need to solder. Plus Wattgate is cheaper.
Of course, I test the poles at each end of the cable to ensure continuity and that there is no grounding whatsoever. Quality Testing muna syempre before using it!
Detailed Cost of DIY Power cable:
For a 2-meter power cord: (These are estimates of what I can remember. But I'm sure the actual cost of materials are not very far off)
6 meters white guage 14 strander copper cable = 150.00
6 meters green guage 14 strander copper cable = 150.00
2 meter red guage 12 strander copper cable = 50.00
2 meter heat shrink = 170.00
2 Wattgate plugs = 1,900.00
Aluminum foil = 58.00 (1 roll)
Telfol Tape = 60.00 (6 rolls)
Total = 2,538.00 (Pesos)
Is the combined cost and effort worth it. YES!
I'm making another power cable which I can lend to anyone who is willing and interested in testing/auditioning it. This is so that we can get another opinion of it. (Then maybe sell the idea, hehehe)
The shorter power cord is used on my integrated tube amp and the longer one with the heat shrink jacket is used on my CDP.
Immediate impression were:
1. Clearer sound of instruments (more realistic it seems) and well defined space between them, like piano and violin.
2. Vocals had more presence.
3. There was definitely more bass response.
4. I'm able to turn the volume knob a little less than before to hear more of the music.
CDs used for auditioning:
