DIY Audiophile Power Cables

[blueoak]

Hey guys,


Wanted to update everyone on my DIY power cable journey. Believe it or not, I moved away from the Furutech cable. I found the copper shield too difficult to use. The engineer who designed this cable has no practical experience using it. The outer jacket is very tough, followed by a very thin copper shield, then with a soft inner jacket. Trying to cut through the hard outer jacket and not cut through the soft, thin layer of copper shield is about impossible. The plastic jacket on the inside wires is also very, very soft. The result is that when you cut the cable, you always nick the copper shield. When cutting the soft inner jacket, you always nick the soft plastic jacket on the inside wires. It just isn't practical at all.





I experimented with the Belden 83803 ($12/foot) which is actually more expensive than the Furutech cable. I found the Belden 83803 to be superior in terms of usability compared to the Furutech. The outside jacket is not too soft or not too hard and it's relatively thin. The shield is fairly thick. When you cut away the outer jacket, it's very simple and doesn't result in a damaged shield.





One major point I wanted to emphasis when creating a shielded power cable is that you must attach the shield with the ground cable on the NEMA-5-15 connector side so it's grounded to earth.





What you're left with is a NEMA-5-15 plug with both the shield and ground connected into the ground post. In the picture above I used the red wire as the ground.





On the C15 connector side, completely cut away the shield. There's no need to attach the shield to the C15 connector side, as the shield is already grounded on the NEMA-5-15 connector side.





What I was left with was an easy to assemble and high-quality power cable. I have full confidence that the construction is high quality and safe. No creases, nicks, or frayed shielding. The Belden 83803 was a pleasure to work with. My only compliant is that it's a bit stiff to work with. On the other hand, once you run the power cable where you want it, you know it will be very secure and not move around.

[Mike]

Hi Blueoak, welcome to AS.


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[vegman73]

Hey guys,


Wanted to update everyone on my DIY power cable journey. Believe it or not, I moved away from the Furutech cable. I found the copper shield too difficult to use. The engineer who designed this cable has no practical experience using it. The outer jacket is very tough, followed by a very thin copper shield, then with a soft inner jacket. Trying to cut through the hard outer jacket and not cut through the soft, thin layer of copper shield is about impossible. The plastic jacket on the inside wires is also very, very soft. The result is that when you cut the cable, you always nick the copper shield. When cutting the soft inner jacket, you always nick the soft plastic jacket on the inside wires. It just isn't practical at all.





I experimented with the Belden 83803 ($12/foot) which is actually more expensive than the Furutech cable. I found the Belden 83803 to be superior in terms of usability compared to the Furutech. The outside jacket is not too soft or not too hard and it's relatively thin. The shield is fairly thick. When you cut away the outer jacket, it's very simple and doesn't result in a damaged shield.





One major point I wanted to emphasis when creating a shielded power cable is that you must attach the shield with the ground cable on the NEMA-5-15 connector side so it's grounded to earth.





What you're left with is a NEMA-5-15 plug with both the shield and ground connected into the ground post. In the picture above I used the red wire as the ground.





On the C15 connector side, completely cut away the shield. There's no need to attach the shield to the C15 connector side, as the shield is already grounded on the NEMA-5-15 connector side.





What I was left with was an easy to assemble and high-quality power cable. I have full confidence that the construction is high quality and safe. No creases, nicks, or frayed shielding. The Belden 83803 was a pleasure to work with. My only compliant is that it's a bit stiff to work with. On the other hand, once you run the power cable where you want it, you know it will be very secure and not move around.

Nice write up. How does it sound?


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[joeinid]

Excellent explanation. Thank you so much.

[Speedskater]

I would rather connect the shield at the component end only. That way it acts as an extension of the chassis.

Be careful of non-conventional color coded conductors, it's easy to get a wire swap.