Are you still using a basic, throw-away cable to power your hi-fi? Paul Rigby investigates an alternative and reviews the Chord C-Power power cable

Audiophile power cables are not really about improving the sound quality of your hi-fi per se. That is, they don’t actively enter into your hi-fi and improve the sound by dint of new components and the like. What good quality power cables do is to remove the sonic rubbish from your hi-fi chain to stop it interfering with the sound that your hi-fi is generating. A cable designed to power your TV or your toaster has a limited job to do and, hence, it doesn’t matter if there’s sonic noise in and around the power itself. Hence, it’s cheap and easy to put together. Audiophile power cables need to be more discerning and careful. Which is why they are more expensive.

Audiophile power cables? It’s a bit like trying to hear a friend talking in a busy and loud pub. A better quality power cable doesn’t improve his speaking voice but it does eject everyone else from the room so that you can properly hear every inflection and nuance from the mouth of your friend. Hence, when cable manufacturers say that their cable “improves sound quality”. They do, in a way, but not absolutely. They tend to do it more in an indirect manner.

Frankly, its sonically crazy to retain basic, throw-away cables in and around a hi-fi system, no matter what the type and budget. The Chord, for the price, effectively reduced enough noise to offer wholesale sonic improvements. As such it is more than worth the purchase price