October 3, 2025
#523
Gentle reader,
The word "Audiophile" gets thrown around a lot and is the main reason that there are so many extremely expensive audio components speakers and accessories for sale out there. Many are made of pure snake oil.
Others are made by companies which are trying to introduce affordable alternatives to three or four figure "Audiophile Cables". The three components below were purchased from two separate sellers on eBay.
I began a search on eBay and soon found a bargain from the US seller "iceageaudio". He offers custom made power cables of several different types. Plus, he will sell you cable by the foot. His thing? "Cryogenically Treated" cables. He explains the process in clear language on his eBay pages. I have purchased hospital-grade AC outlets which had been treated that way. Is there anything to prove that subjecting plastic and metal things to being deep frozen for three days will make it better? I don't know. But to get 10-3 (10 gauge 3 conductor cable) for $10 a foot seemed like a great bargain to me.
It used to be that to get an IEC DIY plug to make your own detachable cables meant buying directly from sellers in China. Well, these mostly-metal beauties, are made from solid aluminum billet from a US-based seller by the name of HiFi Audiophile | eBay Stores. They have a great number of cables of many kinds at extremely good prices. Those two plugs were only $18.79 with FREE shipping!
Before they arrived, I tried to put this thick cable into a Hubbell 15 amp 3-conductor plug. As you can see, the outer insulation (this cable is rated for 600 volts) is just too thick to fit it.
As the old saying goes, "Like it was made for it!" Because it was. These plugs are thick, heavy and extremely well made. The four holes around the shell at the cable end, have 2mm Allen set screws in them and the plastic portion of the plug has a separate sleeve which adds extra insulation and also centers the plastic parts in the billet aluminum housing. Tightening the screws and "it ain't movin'!"
In case you are unaware, when it comes to the sizes of wiring the smaller the number, the larger the wire is. See below:
As you can see, that hole will definitely accept that thick cable. See below:
Image courtesy of Worlds Best Cables, Inc.
I replaced ALL of my listening room's system cables with WBC cables bought via Amazon. Because I needed a short pair of speaker cables from my Marantz MM7025 power amp to connect my 1990's Dynaco QD-2, the only way to get short ones was to buy two 7 gauge center channel speaker cables which are three feet long. See below:
With all of the fabric covering and shielding, they are crazy thick and heavy. 7 gauge is much thicker than 10 gauge. Note the black strap suspending them. This was needed because the three-way binding/banana terminals on the Marantz power amp are not very strong.
Just look at how thick the 10 gauge insulated wires are! The smaller cable, which has molded on are the same type of plugs as I am using but with tiny 18 gauge wires. Yes, there are three insulated wires within that outer insulation, just as in the thicker cable. BTW, that skinny cable came with my new HP PC which is what I am typing this article into. I custom made a power cable for it to. Was it needed? Probably not. But, I like thinking that what I am doing is making things work better. It used to be called "tinkering".
Since this only shows it in millimeters, below is one with metric and "standard" or "imperial" measurements:
To convert 0.102 inches to they way we, in the US, divide inches by factors of two, well, basically, the bare 10 gauge wire is just a bit thicker than one tenth of an inch.
Here is the completed cable next to the 18 gauge power cable for my PC.
Above, on the left, is the typical, mostly plastic, IEC connector plug one can buy via eBay or Amazon. They are almost exclusively made in China. Nothing really wrong with them, but notice that the cable is crooked going into it. Then look at how centered the one is going into the massive all metal plug. 
This is the business end of the IEC plug which is the one I installed on the 10 gauge power cable. A bit blurry here, but each slot is marked which helps one to put the correct wires: white, black or green, in the right holes inside so that the three wires will be safely separated from each other and can do what you want them to do.
The power cable I was using for my B&K Components ST1400 solid state power amplifier was the cable in the middle. It is shown closer up below. 
I have a PURE|AV power conditioner as part of my modest "home theater" in the living room. I had an older one powering all of the electronics of the "office" stereo stack as well as all of my PC equipment. However, it died. I dissected it, took the internal electronics to the Hazmat/Electronics Recycling building of our local landfill and recycled all of the metal bits. I kept the cable because it is made by BELKIN and is high quality and is shielded. BELKIN sells it by the foot for projects too.
"Why shield a power cable?" you may ask? I'm glad you asked. North America's power grid has an alternating current electricity which cycles at 60Hertz. In other words, every second, it switched from positive to negative sixty times. Most of the rest of the world uses 50Hertz and higher voltage than we do. 
Note the two AC power cables seen above. The PURE|AV one is plugged into my Douk Audio Nobsound DJ587 tube power amp. It too came with a very thin power cable. Also note the new cable which I just made, plugged into my currently-out-of-the-music-circuit B&K Components ST1400 solid state power amplifier which is currently serving as a platform for the tube power amp.
Also note the presence of RCA cables bringing the music signals from the preamplifier to the power amp as well as the WBC speaker cable cables leaving the tube amp.
Here's the thing: The sound of 50 or 60Hertz AC current cycling is in the audible range. In other words, if audible, is sounds like bass notes of music. That sound can be picked up by cheap (thin RCA cables, for example) which run parallel to AC cords or cables and you can hear it in the music as a hum. Some call that sound a "ground loop".
Thus, the power cable of that now-dead PURE|AV audio power conditioner would be in close proximity to audio cables and thus, BELKIN shielded it to prevent that from happening so that their customers would be happy.
"N" left side above, means Neutral, "L" on the right means Load and the center one has the ground or "earth" symbol and takes the green wire. The copper conductors are barely visible and are quite close together, insuring a tight and safe connection. In fact, it took some hand pressure to get solid metal plug into the socket on the B&K power amp's power receptacle. Seen below, one the bottom left corner.
This chart shows United States home wiring color codes. Three conductor cable, such as I used to make this cable has: Black, White and Green. Black is "hot" or "Load". White is "Neutral" or return and Green is "Ground". Some other countries use: Blue, Brown and Black. Perhaps your country does too.
This is the face, or "business end" of the mostly-plastic and cheap IEC power plug. It too is labeled. Note, that the conductors within (which grip the three rectangular pins of components and computer power supplies) these one are further apart and thus might have a less than ideal connection.
This image shows my right Dynaco A25XL speaker moved out of the way in order to run the two power cables which I tied together with orange Velcro strips.
This is a closer view of the power cables path to plug into my new PURE|AV AC power conditioner. Note how I routed the speaker cable to the left Cerwin-Vega! LS-12 speaker so that it runs parallel, but separated from the power cable of the PURE|AV unit. The coiled speaker cable (it is best to keep speaker cables the same length) is to the right black speaker.
This is the beige BELKIN power strip which I have been using for years with the listening room system. It predates ordinary people being able to buy and use CAT cables (Ethernet) in their homes. The small telephone plug sockets are marked: Input (wall), Output Phone/Fax/Modem, which clearly dates it.
All of my stereo's components which have separate (removable) power cables, I use PANGEA AC14 cables. Above is the ONE AC9 unit I used for a while. It is so thick, that it is difficult to bend it to get it to where one needs it to go. Note the black shrink tubing on the right (output) IEC plug. The factory IEC (molded on like the wall plug on the left) plug had failed and I replaced it with one of the cheap Chinese ones. The tubing helps it look more factory. I notified potential eBay buyers of my having replaced the defective plug. It sold for a whole lot less than I paid for it.
This is a rear view of the system after replacing the B&K power amp with my new Marantz MM7025 power amplifier. Note the thick 7 gauge speaker cables and the blue PANGEA power cables. Every replaceable cable in WBC branded, except the AC power cables. 
And, here is the prettier end of all of the components. The matching two units, lower left, are ADCOM ACE-515 power conditioners. I need two since I have so many components. Their presence allowed me to not worry about "dirty" AC power muddying the music's sound. Thus, using the beige power strip shown further down in the article.
And finally, here is the listening room. It was a very long journey to get here. The Robb Collections: The Transformation from Den to Audio Man Cave. In many crazy steps!
Below, is a handy guide to determine which wire does what.
Originally it was the "master" bedroom and had a passthrough to the bathroom which held a vanity and sink. All that is gone, in there now is a tall metal wire shelf. We call that area an "alcove". You can just make out the B&K power amp in front of the LP record shelf. That amp drove the fifty-year-old Dynaco A25XL speakers. Now, it is the Douk Audio four watts-per-channel tube power amp which drives them. Both pairs of speakers have 91dB sensitivity which makes using such a tiny power amp drive them loudly. I never dreamt that I would have more than one power amplifier and be able to use all three of them at once if I wanted to!
NOTE: For your Safety: Do NOT attempt to work on or create your own cables without a thorough understanding of the dangers involved in doing so. Do something incorrectly and your work might start a FIRE and that would be the end of your stereo and possibly much more. I have been working on electrical things since 1973, including thirty-five years working on Subway cars which run on 750 Volts DC power. I know what I am doing and do so safely. You have been WARNED.
Thank you So much for taking the time to read this rather long article. Music is so very important to me and being able to share Nancy and my collections with you by my writing this blog is and continues to be a labor of love. Feel free to comment below or via Facebook. I write two other blogs: Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. and: People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why
Scott Robb
October 3, 2025
# 523
