A new, great review from Part-Time Audiophile's Editor-in-Chief Marc Phillips!
https://pt.audio/2025/02/16/triode-wire-labs-power-cords-review/
Please NOTE - Since this WB Forum doesn't allow >10000 characters, I had to post twice (Part I & Part II for the full review)
Triode Wire Labs Power Cords | REVIEW
By Marc Phillips
February 16, 2025
It’s 2025, and I’m wondering what audiophiles think about power cords right now. It’s been a roller coaster ride over the years, starting with “the power company sends the current miles away to your house, and you think the last two feet can make a difference?” and then moving to “I tried putting a $500 power cord in my $1000 system and it didn’t make a lick of difference” and then to “why the heck are there such things as six-figure power cords?” before we wind up at a crossroads, the place where we finally say “okay, maybe there’s something to this power cord stuff.” I like to think I’ve learned a new thing or two about power cords in the past couple of years, mostly in controlled A/B comparisons, which is why I instantly agreed to reviewing three new Triode Wire Labs power cords–the “Eleven Plus” American Gauge (from $299 each depending on length), the “Nine Plus” American Gauge (from $499 each), and the Digital American II (from $549 each).
When I said I learned a few new things about power cords in the last couple of years, that goes back to my visit to Audio Group Denmark in the summer of 2022. First, if you want to put a single expensive power cord in a modest system for maximum impact, the right place to put it is in the AC wall outlet. Maybe it goes from the wall to a power conditioner, or maybe it goes straight into your amp. But it’s the first one. If you ever visit the good folks of Aalborg, they’ll A/B power cords all day long if you let them. For me, this is where a single power cord can make the biggest difference in a system’s sound.
Second, there are other variables that can affect the performance of a power cord. Did you know the length of the cord matters, and not in the direction that you think? In another A/B comparison, I compared the sound of identical power cords at 2m and 4m lengths. With the longer cord, the system sounded more quiet and open every single time. I’ve heard a couple of explanations for this, but my guess is that many cable manufacturers use some sort of insulation or noise reduction material or little black boxes attached to the actual cable with all sorts of proprietary goodies stashed inside. The longer the length of the power cord, the greater the opportunity to lower the noise floor. The more you think about that, the more you’re willing to dismiss the “miles and miles of current” argument.
This is where Triode Wire Labs comes in. When “Triode Pete” Grzybowski sent me an email announcing his three new Triode Wire Labs power cords, and asked if I could arrange a review with one of the PT.Audio staff, I connected all of the aforementioned dots and stepped up and proclaimed that I, and I alone, will take on this noble challenge. I know that the best way to compare three different power cords and their effect on a hi-fi system’s sound is to swap them at that very first spot, the wall outlet. I also know that hearing big differences is easier when your gear has plenty of resolution, a contentious point within the audiophile community that seems to suggest, “Them’s the breaks, so maybe you should start brown-bagging it to work!” The Triode Wire Labs power cords will have all the support they need for this test–plenty of stellar gear, and grounding devices and power conditioners as far as the eye can see.
That brings up one more variable for the Triode Wire Labs power cord evaluation. Triode Wire Labs has built their reputation on American-made cables and power cords that sound fantastic for a very affordable price. Whenever I’m tasked with reviewing an affordable or “entry-level” product, I sometimes judge its performance by how it compares to some of the more expensive examples I have at the time. In other words, I look for what’s missing. (Just a side note: while Triode Wire Labs features cables that are within the reach of most audiophiles, Triode Pete does make cables that are more ambitious and costly–but not insanely so.) When an entry-level product does well in these comparisons, it’s usually because those losses are minimal. But this is Triode Wire Labs. I’ve heard these cables and power cords perform at least fifteen or twenty times at high-end audio shows, usually with Volti Audio speakers and BorderPatrol electronics. These are not entry-level systems by any means, and I’ve included them in many of my Best of Show reports.
In other words, I’ve always wondered how Triode Pete does so much for so little. Now’s my chance to geek out in my cable laboratory and find out.
Inside the Triode Wire Labs Power Cords
First off, let’s take a look at Triode Pete. I’ve seen affordable cables assembled by questionable sources using questionable practices–stock Belden cables with fancy new jackets, stuff bought on the cheap overseas and marketed as truly innovative, and more. Pete, on the other hand, is a licensed professional engineer with degrees from Clarkson University and the New York Institute of Technology. He spent 33 years in the power generation industry, as chronicled in the bio on his website:
“Pete has gained considerable experience and knowledge in electrical theory and construction. Experimenting with DIY power cables, speaker cables as well as interconnects, Pete constructed numerous variations and configurations with different metals as conductors, assorted construction techniques, various stranding sizes, different twist lengths and insulation, as well as grounding and shielding techniques. After all this experimentation, he found a material and construction combination that worked “best” for hi-fidelity audio applications that also could be assembled for affordable audiophile prices.”
Among these three Triode Wire Labs power cords, all supplied in six foot lengths, the most affordable is the “Eleven Plus” American Gauge. This is a power cord that uses IeGO Furukawa copper connectors and has been “cryogenically treated with passive filtering.” I’m already an owner/user/fan of Furutech cables and connectors, as well as NCF noise suppression products, so seeing these connectors on the Triode Wire Labs power cords was a great start. The "Eleven Plus" is indeed the entry-level power cord from Triode Wire Labs, but it now features enhanced geometry that is patterned after the Obsession NCF, Pete’s $1,499 flagship power cord.
The second Triode Wire Labs power cord is the “Nine Plus” American Gauge, which replaces the IeGO Furukawa copper connectors with the same Furutech FI-11 copper connectors that I have on many of my expensive Furutech cables. It also features the new geometry from the Obsession line.
The most expensive of the three Triode Wire Labs power cords is the Standard “Digital American II” Series, which looks far more upscale than the first two cords. The Digital American II has been cryogenically treated with conductive gold Mylar and Conductive Carbon Fiber shielding, and it uses the IeGO pure copper connectors that have been housed in carbon fiber “Lightning” shells. While the Nine Plus and the Eleven Plus look far more substantial and serious than any stock power cord, it is the Digital American II that looks and feels like a very expensive power cord. Plus, I love the sparkles on the cable jacket, which assumes sort of a mid-Century look in the right light.
I was curious about the “digital” moniker for the more expensive Triode Wire Labs power cord, and Pete has designed this “standard” version to focus on hi-rez digital components such streamers, servers and DACs. There is another version of this power cord, the HP Digital American, that is suited for power amps, power conditioners and other types of power regenerators.
https://pt.audio/2025/02/16/triode-wire-labs-power-cords-review/
Please NOTE - Since this WB Forum doesn't allow >10000 characters, I had to post twice (Part I & Part II for the full review)
Triode Wire Labs Power Cords | REVIEW
By Marc Phillips
February 16, 2025
It’s 2025, and I’m wondering what audiophiles think about power cords right now. It’s been a roller coaster ride over the years, starting with “the power company sends the current miles away to your house, and you think the last two feet can make a difference?” and then moving to “I tried putting a $500 power cord in my $1000 system and it didn’t make a lick of difference” and then to “why the heck are there such things as six-figure power cords?” before we wind up at a crossroads, the place where we finally say “okay, maybe there’s something to this power cord stuff.” I like to think I’ve learned a new thing or two about power cords in the past couple of years, mostly in controlled A/B comparisons, which is why I instantly agreed to reviewing three new Triode Wire Labs power cords–the “Eleven Plus” American Gauge (from $299 each depending on length), the “Nine Plus” American Gauge (from $499 each), and the Digital American II (from $549 each).
When I said I learned a few new things about power cords in the last couple of years, that goes back to my visit to Audio Group Denmark in the summer of 2022. First, if you want to put a single expensive power cord in a modest system for maximum impact, the right place to put it is in the AC wall outlet. Maybe it goes from the wall to a power conditioner, or maybe it goes straight into your amp. But it’s the first one. If you ever visit the good folks of Aalborg, they’ll A/B power cords all day long if you let them. For me, this is where a single power cord can make the biggest difference in a system’s sound.
Second, there are other variables that can affect the performance of a power cord. Did you know the length of the cord matters, and not in the direction that you think? In another A/B comparison, I compared the sound of identical power cords at 2m and 4m lengths. With the longer cord, the system sounded more quiet and open every single time. I’ve heard a couple of explanations for this, but my guess is that many cable manufacturers use some sort of insulation or noise reduction material or little black boxes attached to the actual cable with all sorts of proprietary goodies stashed inside. The longer the length of the power cord, the greater the opportunity to lower the noise floor. The more you think about that, the more you’re willing to dismiss the “miles and miles of current” argument.
This is where Triode Wire Labs comes in. When “Triode Pete” Grzybowski sent me an email announcing his three new Triode Wire Labs power cords, and asked if I could arrange a review with one of the PT.Audio staff, I connected all of the aforementioned dots and stepped up and proclaimed that I, and I alone, will take on this noble challenge. I know that the best way to compare three different power cords and their effect on a hi-fi system’s sound is to swap them at that very first spot, the wall outlet. I also know that hearing big differences is easier when your gear has plenty of resolution, a contentious point within the audiophile community that seems to suggest, “Them’s the breaks, so maybe you should start brown-bagging it to work!” The Triode Wire Labs power cords will have all the support they need for this test–plenty of stellar gear, and grounding devices and power conditioners as far as the eye can see.
That brings up one more variable for the Triode Wire Labs power cord evaluation. Triode Wire Labs has built their reputation on American-made cables and power cords that sound fantastic for a very affordable price. Whenever I’m tasked with reviewing an affordable or “entry-level” product, I sometimes judge its performance by how it compares to some of the more expensive examples I have at the time. In other words, I look for what’s missing. (Just a side note: while Triode Wire Labs features cables that are within the reach of most audiophiles, Triode Pete does make cables that are more ambitious and costly–but not insanely so.) When an entry-level product does well in these comparisons, it’s usually because those losses are minimal. But this is Triode Wire Labs. I’ve heard these cables and power cords perform at least fifteen or twenty times at high-end audio shows, usually with Volti Audio speakers and BorderPatrol electronics. These are not entry-level systems by any means, and I’ve included them in many of my Best of Show reports.
In other words, I’ve always wondered how Triode Pete does so much for so little. Now’s my chance to geek out in my cable laboratory and find out.
Inside the Triode Wire Labs Power Cords
First off, let’s take a look at Triode Pete. I’ve seen affordable cables assembled by questionable sources using questionable practices–stock Belden cables with fancy new jackets, stuff bought on the cheap overseas and marketed as truly innovative, and more. Pete, on the other hand, is a licensed professional engineer with degrees from Clarkson University and the New York Institute of Technology. He spent 33 years in the power generation industry, as chronicled in the bio on his website:
“Pete has gained considerable experience and knowledge in electrical theory and construction. Experimenting with DIY power cables, speaker cables as well as interconnects, Pete constructed numerous variations and configurations with different metals as conductors, assorted construction techniques, various stranding sizes, different twist lengths and insulation, as well as grounding and shielding techniques. After all this experimentation, he found a material and construction combination that worked “best” for hi-fidelity audio applications that also could be assembled for affordable audiophile prices.”
Among these three Triode Wire Labs power cords, all supplied in six foot lengths, the most affordable is the “Eleven Plus” American Gauge. This is a power cord that uses IeGO Furukawa copper connectors and has been “cryogenically treated with passive filtering.” I’m already an owner/user/fan of Furutech cables and connectors, as well as NCF noise suppression products, so seeing these connectors on the Triode Wire Labs power cords was a great start. The "Eleven Plus" is indeed the entry-level power cord from Triode Wire Labs, but it now features enhanced geometry that is patterned after the Obsession NCF, Pete’s $1,499 flagship power cord.
The second Triode Wire Labs power cord is the “Nine Plus” American Gauge, which replaces the IeGO Furukawa copper connectors with the same Furutech FI-11 copper connectors that I have on many of my expensive Furutech cables. It also features the new geometry from the Obsession line.
The most expensive of the three Triode Wire Labs power cords is the Standard “Digital American II” Series, which looks far more upscale than the first two cords. The Digital American II has been cryogenically treated with conductive gold Mylar and Conductive Carbon Fiber shielding, and it uses the IeGO pure copper connectors that have been housed in carbon fiber “Lightning” shells. While the Nine Plus and the Eleven Plus look far more substantial and serious than any stock power cord, it is the Digital American II that looks and feels like a very expensive power cord. Plus, I love the sparkles on the cable jacket, which assumes sort of a mid-Century look in the right light.
I was curious about the “digital” moniker for the more expensive Triode Wire Labs power cord, and Pete has designed this “standard” version to focus on hi-rez digital components such streamers, servers and DACs. There is another version of this power cord, the HP Digital American, that is suited for power amps, power conditioners and other types of power regenerators.
