Modest IEC comparison?

[brucew268]

Back in 2009 a thread got onto the discussion of mains connections (plugs), where Si said that his experience with loads of consumers showed that Oyaide terminated mains leads consistently produced better sound than Wattgate and Furutech. Hi dosh stuff!

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2244&page=6

For those of us with more modest purses, has anyone compared (through listening) the following IECs under £40: Martin Kaiser to Wattgate 320 to Furutech Fi-11/Fi-15?

[MCRU]

hi
if you want the BEST value for money IEC connector then it is IeGo. Here they are (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/9_iego)

the pure copper one (yes pure copper not bronze or brass) is under £30.

if you have never heard of IeGo they are ex furutech engineers.

[brucew268]

Interesting. I see another thread now where you praise these. What are the max cable and wire diameters it accepts?


hi
if you want the BEST value for money IEC connector then it is IeGo. Here they are (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/9_iego)

the pure copper one (yes pure copper not bronze or brass) is under £30.

if you have never heard of IeGo they are ex furutech engineers.

[realysm42]

If silver and copper are so good at conduction, why do they bother with gold and Rhodium?

Is it just for people with more money than sense?

David, your pure silver power lead, would it benefit from having an "upgrade" to the gold or Rhodium 3 pin plug?

[Reid Malenfant]

If silver and copper are so good at conduction, why do they bother with gold and Rhodium?
I think it's more likely to be down to resistance to corrosion :) Gold simply doesn't oxidize so no matter what happens assuming both plug & socket are gold plated then the connection will always be as good as it was when first made - simples :D

Not sure about Rhodium as it appears to be even more expensive :eek:

Copper & Silver both oxidize over a period of time, while this will certainly affect the conductivity of all copper connections, David has stated that oxidized Silver doesn't :scratch: I have yet to test this, but I can't see how a layer of oxide is ever going to be as conductive as clean metal, Silver being the best conductor & all...

[Tarzan]

hi
if you want the BEST value for money IEC connector then it is IeGo. Here they are (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/9_iego)

the pure copper one (yes pure copper not bronze or brass) is under £30.

if you have never heard of IeGo they are ex furutech engineers.

Just out of interest David, how much improvement would you get if you fitted one over a stock Wattgate 320 (l am generalising l know).:)

[Reffc]

I've examined and compared literally dozens of IECs and mains plugs. Some were horrendously poor quality whilst others were very hyped up and overpriced. I had a discussion with another manufacturer recently, and he had conducted load tests on most of the one's I tested. His conclusions were similar to mine, but his safety tests revealed some true shockers. Over-current was supplied to emulate an overload. OK, so the tests were to "destruction" but some of the plugs (connectors within) failed after just 5 minutes and caught fire. Not surprising when much more than their rated current was sent through them, but the one to withstand the longest were the Furutech mains plugs. The one thing I'd place above all others with any mains products is safety. That has to be first and foremost. For my money, Furutech offer some of the best engineered, highest quality and safest mains connectors on the market today and prices are pretty reasonable compared with the competition.

I invested pretty heavily in constructing and evaluating leads for sonic characteristics hoping that I might strike upon a good economy combination that really made a difference. None did. The only combination that consistently had a positive impact on sound was the one that ended up in my Reference Powerchord. Whilst disappointed that I couldn't provide something more affordable, I decided to go with it anyway as I wouldn't stock anything that didn't perform well in tests. Unsurprisingly, the connectors are Furutech....as is the cable. There seems to be a fashion for screened cables in mains leads, but as screening raises capacitance which can and does have an effect on impedance and power supplies, I'd only recommend screening for devices which are high EMI emitters such as DACs and CDPs. For all other applications, a low capacitance low impedance lead seems to work best IMHO.

Of course, these things can be very kit dependant, and others may have different views, but I thought I'd share my tuppenceworth anyway.

[Reid Malenfant]

When Furutech make a Neutrik type 32Amp Powercon let me know :)

[brucew268]

Interesting stuff, Paul. Thank you for giving us the benefit of your experiences with mains connectors. More data assaulting my budget!

[clap]

I was amazed by an Oyaide rhodium plated iec. It made such a difference to the sound stage and treble. Thought it was too bright at first but it calmed down after a few days. I now think that it helped a lot with the detail. I tried it with my pre amp first but soon swopped it to the power amp. It improved the sound of both but was less bright on the power.

I bought a gold plated Iego to go to my pre-amp. This balanced things up. It didn't seem to have such a big effect as the Oyaide. Howver, this could've been because the Oyaide was already in the chain.

I have now upgraded my pre-amp. The new pre amp has an outboard power supply. I am not sure what effect the better iec is having.

I have a gold plated Furutech too which needs to be fitted to my phono stage. I will be a back to back test on that with the cheap iec currently fitted.

These IEC connectors imo do quite a bit to improve sound. Possibly, only if you have a transparent enough system to benefit. The Oyaide was a bigger upgrade than changing rca cables in my system. The soundstage improved 100% or more in terms of definition.

On a budget use IEGO, or buy second hand from a trusted forum member. Lots of fakes about.

[MCRU]

Just out of interest David, how much improvement would you get if you fitted one over a stock Wattgate 320 (l am generalising l know).:)

Both are cryo treated, both use the same design of body and cable clamping system, the wattgates AFAIK use brass contact pins, IeGo use copper, which is the better conductor, copper of course. The IeGo copper is acid bathed to remove umpurities, in my system the IeGo sounds better but I use the silver plated ones, I have sold 100's of pure copper though and not had one single complaint or anyone saying they made the sound worse. I recall a few customers replacing wattgates with them so I can only suggest a trial, I think you would be happy with them.

Best IEC connectors regardless of price IMO (based on performance only, everything else is taken for granted as I only sell branded products that have the relevant quality conformance).

Furutech FI-50 (http://www.furutech.com/news/FI-50(R)-(News)%20.pdf)
IeGo Pure Silver (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/iec-connectors/157-iego-pure-silver-iec-connector.html)
Oyaide M1 (http://www.oyaide.com/ENGLISH/AUDIO/products_category/power_plugs_iec_connectors/pg475.html)
Oyaide C037 (http://www.oyaide.com/ENGLISH/AUDIO/products_category/power_plugs_iec_connectors/pg470.html)

[Tarzan]

l take it that list is in order David,l am gonna upgrade my Shiva soon;)

[Reffc]

Both are cryo treated, both use the same design of body and cable clamping system, the wattgates AFAIK use brass contact pins, IeGo use copper, which is the better conductor, copper of course. The IeGo copper is acid bathed to remove umpurities, in my system the IeGo sounds better but I use the silver plated ones, I have sold 100's of pure copper though and not had one single complaint or anyone saying they made the sound worse. I recall a few customers replacing wattgates with them so I can only suggest a trial, I think you would be happy with them.

Best IEC connectors regardless of price IMO (based on performance only, everything else is taken for granted as I only sell branded products that have the relevant quality conformance).

Furutech FI-50 (http://www.furutech.com/news/FI-50(R)-(News)%20.pdf)
IeGo Pure Silver (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/iec-connectors/157-iego-pure-silver-iec-connector.html)
Oyaide M1 (http://www.oyaide.com/ENGLISH/AUDIO/products_category/power_plugs_iec_connectors/pg475.html)
Oyaide C037 (http://www.oyaide.com/ENGLISH/AUDIO/products_category/power_plugs_iec_connectors/pg470.html)

I'd agree with that David. From a performance only consideration, nothing I've found comes close to the FI-50.

[YNWaN]

These IEC connectors imo do quite a bit to improve sound.

Do you really thinks so?

[chris@panteg]

My understanding is IEC are in truth a pretty awful connection for your mains inlet ?
Far better if it was hard wired , have I got that right ?

Perhaps this is why you can hear improvements with different or better IEC's , yes?

[Reid Malenfant]

My understanding is IEC are in truth a pretty awful connection for your mains inlet ?
Far better if it was hard wired , have I got that right ?

Perhaps this is why you can hear improvements with different or better IEC's , yes?
The best connector is no connector - correct :) Hard wiring is better simply because there are less connections. It just makes things a bit more complicated if you want to upgrade the cable :eyebrows:

[brucew268]

Hmm. Are IECs the weak link, or are plugs in general the weak links?

In a DIY world, on which end would I rather keep a plug? I could hardwire the cable at the equipment end, or I could hardwire the cable at the distribution block, making a distribution block that would look something like http://www.custom-hifi-cables.co.uk/home/mainscables/powerblack-distribution-block.

And if I used screw down terminals at the ‘hard-wired’ end, that would be a little easier to change cables if I wanted to try something else (once disconnected from the wall, of course!).

I wonder if one end would have significantly better sonic gains than the other.

[Reid Malenfant]

I don't think it'd make the slightest bit of difference which end had the connections removed. The thing to do is to eliminate as many as possible & then possibly change to a different type of IEC :) If you change the plug & socket from type C13 & C14 to C19 & C20 you'll have a much better current rating & lower impedance.

The C19 & C20 type are generally used on biggish power amps.

Wiki IEC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320) Scroll down..