(page 3)

Assembly (continued)

At the IEC end, once you have removed the inch and a half of the outer jacket from the cord, cut away both the reinforcing rope ends and the drain wire as well. The drain wire is to be used only at the wall plug end. Cut away one half inch of insulation from each wire exposing the copper strands, and twist each so that you end up with clean wire ends.

Open the IEC and take out the metal connectors. One by one, insert the wire into the metal connector, tighten the screw (I chose to use the screws as well) and solder the remainder of the wire to the metal connector. Replace the metal connectors back in to their place and close up the IEC. Make sure you don't accidentally reverse the polarity of the IEC when replacing the metal connectors back into their place. The color coding is very helpful and necessary, but at the end of the day it really doesn't matter which color you use for line and which for neutral as long as you maintain the same polarity from end to end. The standard is to use brown for line, blue for neutral and yellow/green for ground. In the preceding two pictures I've wired them following this standard but also making sure that the line coincides with the line of my wall outlets.

Use a multimeter and test that:

There are no leaks from one metal pin to the other, and
Polarity is correctly maintained.

That's it you're done!

Performance

This cord blows the generic power cord to bits. It is audibly much better than the standard stuff most audio equipment is shipped with. There is an increase in dynamics, better resolution throughout the frequency spectrum and more life in the musical outlay. The background is quieter allowing more detail and spatial information to surface. The entire musical experience is more involving.

Which power cord works better for me? Well, the VenHaus is definitely "sexier" and more esoteric. It's got slightly bigger gauge, better plugs, more shielding and better insulator quality. But it's also stiffer and somewhat harder to work with. The Asylum power cord on the other hand is easier to assemble (apart from the soldering part) and it has its shield working to protect the ground along with the other leads. It's also less expensive, part-by-part. But how does it stack up on sonic grounds? I have to acknowledge a slight preference for the VenHaus design, but only a slight one. The VenHaus had a bit more detail, where as the Asylum cord had a bit more drive (which I also like), so it's not an easy choice. I must admit my comparison was a bit skewed: The lengths are not the same (VenHaus are shorter) and one set was being fed directly from the wall (the Asylum set) while the other off of my DIY AC Outlet Center. What I will have to do is setup a more equal playing field and get back to you soon one the final word.

Conclusion

The Asylum Power Cord is a terrific buy. If soldering is not your cup of tea, then just get hospital grade Marinco plugs (or similar) and use them with Belden 19364. Assembly then is a piece of cake. These cords are such good investments; you can find them off the net for sale with money back guarantee. If you have never tried a power cord, try the Asylum one - you will not regret it!

If you would like to comment on this project or suggest improvements to it, please click here.

Comments (add)


Gene	My name is Gene Evely and my company is Take Five Audio, I sell the parts to make this and other cables and would like to point out one thing that was brought to my attention by a customer of mine. Your parts list is correct where you spec. the Schurter 4300 for this project but your photos show you are actually using a 4781. Some folks (such as this customer of mine) could find this very confusing. You should note that your photos are of the 4781. And by the way, my compliments on your site, it is very tastefully done. Best regards, Gene

Lee	I found that ordering the 4781 plugs straight from Schurter was the cheapest way to go. Only cost me 10.26 plus shipping ($11.09) for 3 of them. I will be building a power cord using the new VenHaus Shielded 12 gauge 2-wire cable. Since all my components are 2-wire, it will make for a nice noise drain.

Stefan	As an electrician, Electrical Engineer and audiophile enthusiast I love this power cord. It's one of those tweaks that not only look great but the difference in sound is amazing, too. However, if you build any power cord, please keep in mind to leave the ground wire (green/yellow) about half an inch longer than the other two wires. The reason is for safety. If somebody pulls on the cable then you want the ground wire to be the very last wire that gets disconnected, otherwise you may end up with 110V on the amplifier's chassis if the wires touch inside the plug. This does not change the performance of the cable but it may safe somebody's life once.

Boris	Great advice Stefan. Thank you!

Mark	Hi, Just two comments on making the Asylum power cord. You mentioned being careful not to cut any of the fine copper fibers when triming the insulation. I've found a very good way to do this (if you have good finger dexterity) is to use a bare one-sided razor blade. Hold the wire and roll the wire along the blade only using just enough pressure to cut through to the wire. Rolled at the right speed, there is no motion between the blade edge and the wire, this prevents the fibers from cutting. Try to wrap the cut around so that the cut matched when you come full circle, then pull the tube of insulation off with your fingers. I guess this isn't the safest way to do stripping as far as finger damage but I've found it works very well because plier style strippers usually are too close or too far off(leave insulation behind). My second tip is to use pure alcohol to clean the wires of oil. Pure rubbing alcohol is harder to find but 90+% rubbing alcohol is probably pure enough (the water dries out pretty quick but of course don't solder RIGHT away)

Leon	Question?is the power cord suitable for mains voltages in Australia, i would like to make some cords up for my system we operate on 240 volts ac. regards Leon.

Boris	I recommend you check with a local, sertified electrician.

The Bob Crump (Asylum) Power Cord