I have seen shielded power cords advertized for use with cd players, dvd players and the like. Do these have an advantage over a good quality aftermarket power cable? Thanks for your words of wisdom John

Generally, heavily-shielded power cords meant for digital sources (such as CD/DVD players) also have a floating ground on the appliance end. It's meant to prevent ground loops which cause your equipment to buzz or hum (at 60 Hz, same frequency as the electricity coming out of your wall sockets).

If you've heard that hum, then you know that it can be very distracting.

D.

Most good aftermarket power cords will have a lot more and better shielding than any off-the-shelf power cord (although some cable makers reject all shielding because they feel it can desgrade the sound, but as you know no 2 cable makers agree on anything, many more will say the more shielding the better).

It still comes down to the kind of sound you're looking for.

Generally, for manufacturers that do build a powercord that is aimed for use with sources they will give a more focused sound than the powercords aimed for use with power sources. But some do prefer the cord for powersource as it generally gives you a more open although comparatively defocused sound. I'm making sweeping generalizations here though. I say choose the best powercord regardless of whether it is "digital" or not.

John,

I'm curious to know which cords you are referring to. Do you have a link that describes them? Are they the kind that I mentioned above, with ungrounded appliance-end plugs?

If so, then they certainly do make a big difference on digital sources, as I described. However, I didn't explain the danger inherent in running an ungrounded power cord: It's within the realm of possibility for you to fry your rig (or even electrocute yourself) if you unplug the interconnects from between the amp and the source before yanking out the source's power cord.

I still think it's worthwhile to run power cords with floating grounds, though, if you are trying to cure humming caused by ground loops.

D.

Demolition, The two cords I am looking at are both made by signal cable, which seems to put out a really quality product for a cheap price. I am looking at their magic cord verses their digital power HC which is a higher current version of their standard shielded cord. Link is www.signalcable.com John

Ah yes, Signal Cable is well-regarded here and elsewhere. Can't go wrong dealing with them.

As for the digital versus standard cords, just follow their recommendations; the digital series is suited for digital sources (such as CD players and DACs) and the standard series is suited for everything else (amps, tuners, etc.).

D.

I decided to go with the digital high current pc from signal cable. After I get it and get it burned in I will post some impressions. Thanks, John By the way I now have so many large power cords behind my main system that my four year old thinks that there is a family of snakes living in back of my bagend sub. Maybe that will keep her from trying to play back there.