Power Cord - LAPP Ölflex

Probably the cheapest way of upgrading your existing power cords is through use of the now famous Lapp Ölflex Classic cable for industrial usage. Its specially shielded design provides a good foundation for power integrity, and the inner diameter of 3 times 2.5 millimeters should be more than sufficient for most HiFi applications, even if you are running a very powerful amplifier. This is not to say that it will not be an asset to our far less power hungry components as well.

The hand confectioned cable shown above is based on Lapp’s affordable Ölflex CY 110 power cord and was fitted with a pretty looking Viablue sleeve to lessen the glossy effect of the visible shielding. The plugs are of the high quality made-for-audio kind and were manufactured in Japan. Viablue shrink tube was used to hold the sleeves in position and a ferrite IMF shield of the same brand was added for extra protection.

I was a little disappointed with Viablue’s approach to the ferrite clamp, for two reasons: first, it is a slide-on design which is difficult to place over a just-fit cable. Second, it consists of a thin inner ferrite liner as well as an outer aluminum tube. While the outer tube may look impressive, all the work is done by the inner ferrite core which appears to be rather thin. I have not yet compared this cable with one that is fitted with a proper Würth Elektronik 74271151, 15mm ferrite ring, but I would not be surprised if it cannot compete. If I were to choose again, I would probably go with the more expensive Würth.