audioplan Ampere S Power Cord

audioplan Power Cord Ampère S

Power cables are becoming increasingly important for the sound of the music system. Simply because mains interference is increasing due to digitalization and frequency converters, e.g. for solar systems. It's a good thing that my house is surrounded on three sides by solar systems with outputs in the range of 100kW. These are good conditions to get to the bottom of the disturbances and to develop suitable countermeasures.

After Maxwell U and Faraday U have made such clear and surprising progress in the quality of music reproduction possible, it was obvious to take another close look at power cables. The idea of achieving a greater filter effect without any disadvantages in the dynamics and thus reproducing the music more vividly, more colorfully, more naturally was appealing. To hear more of the recording situation and to be closer to the artists thanks to fewer artifacts. To hear the finest shadings of timbres, accentuations, temporal stretches that make an interpretation comprehensible and coherent in the first place, and thus arouse emotions.

The exciting questions here: Would the "tools" developed by Maxwell and Faraday also be applicable to the new Ampère power cord? And how much progress would be made?
The basic requirements for a power cable are clear: transporting current pulses* as loss-free as possible in order to preserve the dynamics of the reproduction. The lowest possible stray field is to be aimed for, so as not to interfere with components or signal cables, and the highest possible interference rejection, to prevent the music signal from being affected by high-frequency artifacts from the mains. Unfortunately, these requirements contradict each other in that optimizing one requirement with conventional solution approaches comes at the expense of the other. For example, shielding the cable can reduce the stray field, but inevitably results in loss of dynamic range due to eddy current losses. Ferrites in the cable can increase the filtering effect, but unfortunately, in my experience, reduce the dynamics of the reproduction and the naturalness of the timbres.

An unsolvable task? No, because we have to find other solutions. For example, we reduce the stray field not with a shielding braid, but by cleverly interleaving partial conductors. This also reduces magnetic leakage, which a static shield cannot reduce. Furthermore, with the appropriate choice of insulating and damping materials, the filtering effect can be increased and the dynamics of the reproduction are not curtailed. With the techniques I have developed over decades, such as CRC or CDC, the optimization of conductors, cross-sections, dielectrics and structures, there is already a wealth of experience available.

The new Ampère power cord goes beyond its predecessor PowerCord in that the mixture of elements and the partly mechanical, partly handcrafted production allows an even further optimization. And that is clearly audible. There is the natural midrange, colorful, smooth and without any graininess. Or the very clean, clear treble and the definition in the bass. For me personally, the most important thing is the clearly more agile reproduction, the more natural swinging in and out of tones, the fine dynamic differentiation, which lets you dive deeper into the musical events.

As a conclusion I like to let Jörg Dames from fairaudio have his say: Audioplan solutions are appreciated by us, as shown not least by some of our tests, but the Ampère S pass as a particularly emphatic test listening recommendation, especially at this price. Audioplan seems to have climbed something like another evolutionary step with its new power cords.

* Note: Virtually all hi-fi equipment does not absorb current evenly, such as sinusoidally, but in short pulses. This, by the way, is again a source of interference, since the pulse-shaped currents generate a high-frequency spectrum.

Technical data of the audioplan Ampère S:

• Mains voltage: 230 V ~
• Load capacity: 20 A
• Structure: Geschachtelte Teilleiter, 2,5 mm², mit AP Reinkupfer Steckern
• Conductor material: hochreines Kupfer
• Damping: CRC und CDC Technik
• Length: 1,5 m, other lengths are special orders