October 8, 2025
#526
Gentle reader,
A few days ago, I showed you how to make an Audiophile AC 10 gauge Power Cable with High End plugs on each end. See it here: The Robb Collections: I Made My Own Audiophile Power Cable For $79 And You Can Too!
In that article, I used a pair of billet aluminum plugs I purchased from a USA dealer via eBay. He was sold out, so I looked on Amazon and found the same units with the difference that the electrical portions are rhodium plated while the previous ones are gold plated.
Each plug was sealed in clear plastic and each was within an individual white paper box within the main box.
Unlike the previous plugs which were made specifically for larger cables and had a semi-rigid black plastic sleeve, these have soft rubber white sleeves which can and should be tightened down to the cable's outer insulation. More on that later.
As you can see, each terminal is marked: Neutral, Ground and Load. Look at how close the terminals are inside! Perhaps only one millimeter gap. Quality indeed!
As above, the wall outlet plug is also clearly marked.
Here is the outlet plug end of the cable I made in the previous article, on the left. As previously stated, it has gold plating while the new ones are rhodium plated.
I am showing you the 14 gauge 120 volt AC Belkin shielded power cable what I salvaged from a dead PURE|AV power conditioner. I used one of those inexpensive Chinese made plastic IEC plugs on the amplifier end. Since I am so pleased with these very affordable and FAR better quality plugs, I decided to outfit that cable with them as well. It powers my Douk Audio DJ587 4 WPC tube power amplifier.
Belkin sells shielded power cables by the foot, with which I have replaced the thin power cords on various stereo equipment over the years. An example can be seen below:
Why would we want our power cable to be shielded? Well, as you will see in the setup I have later on, the speaker cables are in close proximity to the power amplifier cables. Since AC (alternating current) power changes polarity fifty or sixty times a SECOND it can induce a 50Hertz or 60Hertz HUM in signal cables which are nearby to the power cable. We do not want that to happen!
Cheap plastic IEC plug on the left. Quality IEC plug on the right. You don't see much difference? Oh, it is there.
While Belkin is a US Company, it's products are built around the world. Therefore, this cable has: Ground being green with a yellow stripe, Neutral is light blue and Load is brown insulation. I decided to sleeve all six of the individual wires with: White for Neutral, Black for Load and solid Green for Ground. More on that later.
This is how I found out what color wire went to which terminal on the wall plug end. I used my volt/ohm meter on each terminal and the bare wires on each at the other end.
While electrical power, including the small voltage in audio (music) signals, travels at the speed of light, invariably there will be a slight bit of resistance in even the finest wire, so it slows down a little bit.
My next step was to cut off the original, offset angled plug.
It is made of some kind of very thin metal. Thinner than aluminum foil.
I carefully used a utility knife to slice the outer rubber insulation. The shielding layer can now be seen.
Both ends of the cable can be seen here. The left end was within the cheap plastic IEC plug. The right end in the newly exposed end. I decided that I needed to remove about 1/2 inch (12mm) more of the outer insulation. Note the thin silver wire above. It is in contact with the shielding and needs to be grounded with the new plugs.
AS previously stated, although it is not necessary, I have covered each of the wires with the three colors used in the United States. My eldest grandson will eventually inherit all of my music and audio equipment. And in case he, or anyone else, decides to see what is inside those fancy plugs, I do not want confusion.
Brown in now covered with black. It is the LOAD wire.
I have slid the billet aluminum housing over the part I just assembled. 
While what is shown this is the wall plug end, I wanted to show you the groove which aligns the inner plastic sleeve's ridge to the inner part so that the long screws will line up with their holes.
And now, the amplifier end IEC plug is fully assembled. That end was already stripped, so, the end which I cut off the wall plug, I did not photograph the first steps, but you saw them above.
There are various kinds of wire strippers available. The kind seen above is my favorite type. I do not know what they are called. Note the small silver wire which touches the foil shielding.
Since this cable has 14 gauge wiring, I chose the #12 hole. It will strip off the 13 gauge insulation and not cut off any of the tiny copper wires inside.
Now you can see the strippers from another angle. I have about 1/2 inch (12mm) of wire to be stripped.
And here is the stripped wire. You can see the yellow stripe on the ground wire. It is solid green and a little darker on US wiring. Note, again, the thin silver wire.
I have wrapped the silver wire around the ground wire so that the shielding will be grounded.
This image shows the sleeves which will cover the European wire colors with US ones. 
I elected to not put a green sleeve on this end of the ground wire.
Now, I did not think to show you a photograph of the inside of these plugs. But, here is how they work: Each of the three screws are attached to a piece of metal within the black plastic housing. One can put the wire on either side of the screw. Hold the cable so that the wire cannot slip or fall out while you tighten the three screws individually.
I showed you this image before. It is important to align this groove with the corresponding raised ridge in the insulator in the outer housing or the screws will not line up with their holes.
The white soft plastic sleeves need to be moved towards the outer cable insulation.
And, here, they have been done so by carefully tightening the four 2mm Allen set screws.
Remember when I showed you how close together the contacts are inside the new IEC plug? See below. Well, if you look at the tube amp above, you can see where the new plug is within the IEC receptacle. It took considerable pressure for me to get it to seat in the socket. 
As previously, I routed to two AC power cables with orange (for contrast and a little color) together and towards my new-to-me, PURE|AV power conditioner which I bought for these two amplifiers. It also provides clean power to the stereo system.
See the matching power plugs in each amplifier?
The outlets are so close on this unit, that the two plugs cannot be side-by-side.
The cable what just long enough to make a nice loop.
The fifty-year-old Dynaco A25XL speaker is back in place and hooked up.
And, at last, everything is back together. The Douk Audio DJ587 tube power amplifier, which is the first tube component (other than a single tube cheap headphone amplifier) I have purchased. There are other variants of it and a few different preamplifiers as well. I wrote about them here: The Robb Collections: Douk Audio Class A & AB Pure Tube Audio Matching Power Amps & Preamps I am absolutely delighted with it! Because my vintage speakers are so efficient, four watts per channel is plenty of power to drive them to very loud playback.
WARNING: Although I have shown you step-by-step instructions on how to do what I have just done; IF you have never done any kind of work with wiring and electrical components, I strongly suggest that you seek LOCAL help or guidance before attempting ANY kind of project such as this. I have been working on electrical things since 1973 including 35 years working on Subway cars which run on 750 Volts DC power. I know what I am doing and always take the proper safety precautions. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read this rather long article. I wish you success, should you decide to attempt to do similar work. I write two other blogs, but neither has been updated in a while: Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. And: People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why Please take a look at them.
Scott Robb
October 8, 2025
#526
