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Reviewer: Marja & Henk
Financial Interests: click here
Sources: PS Audio PWT; Dr. Feickert Blackbird/DFA 1o5/Zu DL-103; Phasure PC and NOS1 DAC
Streaming sources: XXHighEnd; iTunes; Devialet AIR; La Rosita Beta [in for review]
Preamp/integrated/power: Tri TRV EQ3SE phonostage; Audio Note Meishu with WE 300B (or AVVT, JJ, KR Audio 300B output tubes); Yarland FV 34 CIIISA; Qables iQube V1; Devialet D-Premier; Hypex Ncore 1200 based monoblocks; Trafomatic Kaivalya; Trafomatic Reference One; Trafomatic Reference Phono One
Speakers: Avantgarde Acoustic Duo Omega; Arcadian Audio Pnoe; Vaessen Aquarius; Blumenhofer Genuin FS2 [in for review]; Pancin Art Technology VZ1 [in for review]
Cables: complete loom of ASI LiveLine cables; full loom of Crystal Cable cables; Nanotec Golden Strada #79 nano 3; Nanotec Golden Strada #79; Nanotec Golden Strada #201; Nanotec Golden Strada #207; Nanotec Power Strada #306 [in for review]
Power line conditioning: Omtec Power Controllers; PS Audio Powerplant Premier; PS Audio Humbuster III
Equipment racks: ASI amplifier and TT shelf
Sundry accessories: Furutech DeMag; ClearAudio Double Matrix; Nanotec Nespa #1; Exact Audio Copy software; iPod; wood, brass, ceramic and aluminum cones and pyramids; Shakti Stones; Manley Skipjack; Blue Horizon footers [in for review]
Music purveyors: qobuz.com, bandcamp.com, amazon.co.uk
Room treatment: Acoustic System International resonators, sugar cubes, diffusers
Room size: ca. 14.50 x 7.50m with a ceiling height of 3.50m, brick walls, wooden flooring upstairs, ca 7 x 5m with a ceiling height of 3.50m, brick walls and concrete floor downstairs.
Price of review item: ¥ 8.800 ($91/€69) for 1 meter unterminated power cable

By now we all know it. A component’s power cord is not the end of the lengthy road your utility power traveled from your power station to your digs. From the component’s perspective it's where it all begins. It's the first few feet of power pathway it sees. With a relative high number of components sitting close to each other in the hifi rack, there are a number of such starting points packed tightly together. One would think that shielding of power cords is vital to avoid RF and EMI interference for the nearby components. Whilst such shielding is mandatory for transmission lines that carry low-level audio signals like interconnects, power cords follow other rules.

With power cables shielding creates higher capacitance which leads to a less dynamic character of the music. To keep capacitance low despite a shield, the shield should be well spaced away from the conductors. This necessitates a thick inflexible construction. In an AC-powered system, impedance is very low to reduce susceptibility to RF/EMI. For power cords. Again, interconnects are different. To shield a power cord properly a manufacturer must spend serious money which in the end is funded by the consumer whilst the outcome is questionable in its effectiveness. In fact the sonic effects of a shielded power cable are mostly various forms of tuning.