2023 Editors’ Choice: Best Power Cords Under $1,000

Offering competitive performance with elite power cords costing many times their price, the Wireworld Stratus 7 have a defiantly flat profile, and are lightweight and available in color choices. Another major factor in the Stratus’ favor—they are pliable enough to negotiate corners. NG, 208

Shunyata’s entry-level is a quantum leap over the standard, no-name cord. Flexible and UL-approved, Venom 14 adds transient pop and image stability, opens the soundstage, and peels away the soft veiling that lowers transparency and resolution.

Sheer excellence in the entry-level power-cord bracket, the Audience forte f3 is a definitive winner. It will lift the performance of any system, as it lowers the noise floor, improves transient attacks, and permits a wider expression of dynamic range and low-level detail. The hot tip is opting for the Audience’s forte V8 Power Strip; then this cord will be included. NG, 311

The $320 High-Performance Power Cord (HPPC) is a vast improvement over stock AC cords and might be the most cost-effective upgrade possible in an entry-level system. Recently updated. NG, 196

Years ago, Kimber Kable’s original PK10 Palladian was a jaw-dropper, with revelatory soundstaging, dimensionality, and openness. The PK-10AG picks up where the Palladian left off, but in a more malleable, far less costly package. It has a rich dense midrange with an emphasis on soundstage depth. Bass extension and sustain earn high marks. It provides a rich, heavy, even slightly overripe (depending on your system) beat but is nicely detailed and uncompressed. NG, 208

Advancements in its popular Venom line led to the creation of the NR Series (NR signifying noise reduction). Still modestly priced, NR power cords contain many of Shunyata’s advanced technologies and custom-manufactured parts, including electrostatic shields to reduce radiated noise. The Venoms are Shunyata’s lowest price power cables with built-in CCI filters that measurably reduce power-line noise generated by components. In the areas of instrumental timbre, sensitivity to micro-dynamics, and overall tonal refinement, the NR power cords were a clear improvement over Venom HC cords. The results were especially transformational when the cords were paired with Shunyata’s own power conditioner, the Hydra Delta D6, as a complete system. NG, 305

The Audience powerChords offer bass clarity, weight, and pitch resolution that place them at or near the top of the affordable-power-cord pack. Except for a slight treble congestion and somewhat laid-back overall presentation, there is little deviation from tonal neutrality. NG, 208

Compared with stock power cords, going full VooDoo is a little like squeegeeing the windows and grabbing a dustbuster. The common perception of images sounding pinched or constricted is largely reduced. The interplay between musicians, orchestral sections, and the ambient space between them grows just a little more open and layered, even more so with Air Spectra. The VooDoo cords imparted a slight forwardness that tended to close the distance between the stage and the listener. They also have a cooler overall tonal character, leaning toward a more clinical interpretation of the music. Transients were quick and dynamics very good. Bass response overall was well extended, controlled, and timbrally exacting. NG, 284