Cable Asylum: REVIEW: DIY by Alan Maher Perfect Cable Designed DIY Power Cord Cable by mrdon

Model:	Perfect Cable Designed DIY Power Cord
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$unknown
Description:	12 AWG DIY Power Strip
Manufacturer URL:	DIY by Alan Maher
Model Picture:	View

Review by mrdon ( A ) on March 10, 2005 at 18:11:36
IP Address: 70.110.160.68

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for the Perfect Cable Designed DIY Power Cord

The recipe is straight from Alan Maher's personal e-mail to me.
"I have designed several power strips over the years. I guess the easiest and cheapest design is the dual twisted power cord. The cord design is very easy. You will need 1 hot, 1 neutral, and 2 ground wires of equal length. Twist 1 hot and 1 ground together using a power drill. Standard THHN wire from Home Depot makes a nice cord for this project. Next twist 1 neutral and 1 ground together. Tie the 2 grounds together at both ends of the power cord. Run the 2 twisted cables parallel to each other. I highly recommend a good fiberglass cloth sleeving to be used as the outer insulation. Use the same geometry to wire each outlet. Do not daisy chain the outlets together. You can use wire nuts to make all connections or a good 20 amp copper bridge with copper O-ring terminals. Use 12ga THHN wiring for the entire project. Hubbell outlets (all brass) makes a nice combination with the wire design. Use a Leviton 5266 ac plug. Allow the power cord 4 days to set up the magnetic field around the conductors (burn in). Do not add capacitors or inductors in the design. The power cord geometry is extremely effective at reducing RFI and EMI and providing a good degree of isolation between the ac outlets"
A braided version of this (the one I did) can be found here http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=38679
Alan's description of the differene b/t Home Depot THHN 12 AWG and Teflon coated mil. spec 12 AWG (which I used on mine) can be found here http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=cables&n=51486&highlight=diy+pc+Alan+Maher&r=&session=
The Review:
First, let me tell you about my system...well over the last six months I have upgraded to almost all new components except for my trusty Cal Labs Icon CD player! Here is what composes my current audio system:
1. Vintage HH Scott LK-72B Integrated Tube Amp.
2. Cal Labs Icon Cd Player
3. Denon 2900 Universal Player
4. Speakers - Kirksaeter Silverline 60's
5. Speaker wire - Chris VenHaus' DIY Cat5 Speaker Cables.
6. Interconnects - c.1989 Monster Cable and Jon Risch Belden 89259.
Before the DIY power strip I had this beautiful system plugged into an old beige surge protector - yes, the kind with the red lit switch! With it powering every single piece of equipment, everything sounded pretty good - I would say to my ears very warm but on the mushy side. I then made my first version of the DIY power strip and all the mush and warmth went away. It was composed of Home Depot THNN 12 AWG, a Hubbell 8215c plug, and two Hubbell 8300R's all connected in a metal box. After 72 hours break-in time, I connected it, plugged everything in it and turned everything on. I couldn't believe my ears but the music actually sounded very different. The warmth was completely lost but the bass and highs were really extended. The bass just blew me a away and the highs were crystal clear but the tube warmth was lost!
I brought this concern to Alan Maher and he told me "It appears you have too much brass parts in the mix. Brightness is always caused by resonate materials interaction with one another. Steel and brass are known for enhancing energy from 500Hz on up." He suggested replacing the Hubbell 8215c plug with a Leviton 5266c plug and replacing the metal box with a plastic one!
Well, I thought to myself since I am going to have to do all that why not make another DIY power strip! However, this time I used 12 AWG teflon coated silver plated stranded copper wire and decided to wrap the plastic FSE gang box in cherry! I got some amazing deals on on wire and receptacles on eBay. I then went to a local Electrical supply shop for the Leviton plug and FSE gang box. I also ordered a cherry wallplate and some cherry craft wood. After it was assembled and the Silicone II was dry, I let it break in for 72 hours afterwhich I plugged it in my system. Well, the bass and highs were still extended but the warmth reappeared! Everything had come back into balance. Hallelujah!
Who would think a power strip could enhance the joy of listening to good music, but it does. I am not a physicist so I cannot explain why. However my ears really do hear a difference in comparison to that cheapo beige surge protector that I use to use.

Product Weakness: None really
Product Strengths: Fun to build, sound extension, great value

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	HH Scott LK-72B
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Denon 2900, Cal Labs Icon
Speakers:	Kirksaeter Silverline 60's
Cables/Interconnects:	Cat5 speakers cable, Monster cable, Belden 89259
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock, Jazz, Power Pop
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	None really
Product Strengths:	Fun to build, sound extension, great value