Home Theater Hacks

Hack #80. Home-Grow Your Power Cables

Although building your own power cables won't really save you money, it can increase the efficiency of your system, at far less than professional prices.

One of the less known, but well-respected, terms in home theater is clean power. That's usually the term reserved for high-end power cables that are getting the maximum amount of power to your components, in the most efficient way. Of course, the cables that come with most components don't function at this level, and it's incredibly expensive to buy power cables that do. For the electrically inclined, though, the DIY route provides a great alternative: make your own power cables!

There are a variety of approaches to power cables; several different designs are supplied here, each optimized for different applications. Additionally, a fair bit of electrical knowledge is assumed. If the instructions confuse you, you're probably not to the point where you should be playing with power cables anyway!

What You'll Need

The parts list is identical for both flavors of power cables.

• VH Audio 12 AWG (Shielded) Teflon cable

• Wattgate or Furutech IEC plugs

• Marinco, Wattgate, or Furutech 3-prong AC plugs

• Expandable nylon sleeving

• Teflon-insulated 12 AWG stranded copper wire

• 3:1 heat shrink tubing

You can purchase all of these components online from VH Audio at http:// venhaus1.com/VH_Audio_Test.html. If there are additional components for a specific design, they will be listed in that section of the hack.

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