Supra LoRad Power Cables & Board - Can power cables improve your audio?

All of the blind A/Bing I've done with friends and at audio meetups over the years has only made me more open minded about what can impact sound quality.

This is exactly the review I was looking for. And it's not the first time you've answered questions I was asking myself months after your video came out. As always, very informative and understandable. Thank you very much.

Thanks for a great review :) A comment about using the Supra powerboard: It is correct that the first outlet, (counted from the inlet), has no filtering. But it is usefull to know that the other outlets have different filter effects. Outlet number 2 has 1 filter element, number 3 has 2, thus twice the filter effect, number 4 has 3, and so on... So you should experiment, by moving the plugs to get the sound you prefer. Supra (Jenving) advices to place the Power Amp (or integrated amp) in the un-filtered first outlet... As the general rule, the PA is least sensitive to noise on the AC line, and also need most power. Many have reported that using filter for the PA can "compress" the sound... The main function in the filter is to "stop sudden changes", as those changes "might be noise"... However, the varying need for power in the PA also causes variations in the flow in the AC line, as the PA "drink more" in one split second, than in the next... Obviously we should not "choke" those variations! However, the larger capacitors we have in the PA power supply, the smaller variations will come in the AC line... So with "very large capacitors", we CAN use a filter, to remove noise, thus plugging the PA into outlet number 2... Or even number 3... The "small signal amplifiers", meaning the pre-amp and or the DAC, and especially the RIAA if you use that, are far more sensitive to noise on the AC line... So we might plug the pre-amp/DAC into the last outlet, to get the most efficient filtering. But... Also in that case, the sound might become too "compressed"... If so, then move the plug to the "outlet before the last outlet", and keep moving the plug against the PA plug, untill the sound is perfect (as you like it)... I own the 6-outlet power board... In outlet 1 I placed the PA, in outllet 2 I placed the TV screen, in number 4 I placed the DAC/pre-amp in number 6 I placed the PC, from which I get the sound via USB... The result is, there is 2 filters BETWEEN the TV and the DAC/pre-amp, and again 2 filters BETWEEN the DAC/pre-amp and the PC, so noise from both TV and PC is stopped by two filters, "to protect the DAC/pre-amp" and there is in fact 3 filters between the PA and the DAC/pre-amp... The PC has a pretty constant need for power, when playing music or speech, and also sending the signal to the TV screen... It will not suffer from "strong filtering"... But noise from the Switched Power Supply, might come back into the AC line... It is the PA which has the largest variation in its need for power, as a strong bass tone will use more "as long as it lasts", and so on... Obviously the largest "fast variations" come from the drums... "Sound - no sound - sound - no sound, and so on... The actual filters are "simply" small ring-magnets around the wires... The "science" is all about "not making those magnets too small or too large"... I once tried placing a "larger ring-magnet" around the AC line, and while that magnet was smaller than those placed on PC power cords, it simply ruined the sound, so it became far too "compressed"... Meaning, all peaks in the sound, like the attack in percussion and string instruments, were dampened so much, so they were no longer "peaks". Surely that gave a "softer sound"... But simply too "soft"... The effect of that magnet surprised me a lot!!! And taught me that "the right SMALL dampening magnets" are truly the best... Obviously a "variable filter effect" is ideal... And you get that in the Supra power blocks. While the incoming AC first pass through a PCB with the DC-block circuit, and the High Voltage Protection, those circuits do not dampen normal noise... From the PCB the wires go to the 1. outlet, with no magnet around them, but from the 1. to the 2. the wires have one magnet, and from the 2. to the 3. the wires have one magnet, and so on... Some would argue, parallel wiring from the inlet, is a better solution... However this series arrangement has the great advantage of "varied damping"... I find it weird that Jenvings do not inform properly about that great advantage. My own experience: After I bought an "extremely good" Class D PA, many singers sounded "sharp and screamy"... Some would say the high notes sounded "metallic"... Overall the music sounded "much clearer than with my old amp", but trumpets and high-pitched voices sounded "too sharp"... And S sounds became ZZ sounds... I suspected the new speakers were to blame... But I were wrong... After buying the Supra power board and Supra AC cords, all sounds wonderful, so many would say it no longer sounds "metallic", and high pitched voices no longer sound "screamy"... At the same time the bass sounds more precise, and so does the mid tones. And the placement of the instruments is even clearer than before... I did not think that was possible! So NOW I can hear that the new PA and loudspeakers really sounds MUCH better than my older system, wich was "mid class quality"! However, after being "used to" the "very clear and sharp sounds", the BETTER sound, actually seems "a bit dull"... Still it seems much more "clean and beautiful". Note that with no music, there was absolutely no audible NOISE... Now I understand that the AC noise actually "adds to the music" even when "inaudible alone"... Note, I have a mobile mast on the other side of the street, and I live in a 8 story house-block, so there is a LOT of EM noise "in the air" and pulse-noise on the AC line... The shielded AC cable from the wall socket to the power board, and from the power board to the PA, will lead pulse noise from the mains quite well, but WILL stop EM noise from entering the wires in the cable... People who live other places might have so little noise, so a filter and/or shielding will never improve the sound! But "if you can, then TRY IT"... In my experience the difference CAN be larger than the difference between a mid-range and a high-range amp! While it is possible you can only hear that difference on a high-end amp, with really good loudspeakers? You can see the Supra power board being assembled in the factory in Sweden, in the video: "We assemble the mighty LoRad MD 06 SP", from SUPRA Cables, and see those ring-magnets being placed on the wires.

Great video! Here a short story from my side: I‘ve always been pretty sceptical about power supply affecting sound quality. I‘m studying sound engineering and my teacher said that powercables do not affect audio, and that’s just a trick to get money from so called audiphiles. My dad however is a hifi guy and has given me a supra power board and 2.5 cables as a birthday presenr as he finds, they sould make a big difference in my setup. (Neumann Kh310 and a Rme Fireface uc) When i got the board and cables i was expecting to hear very minor changes, if I hear any at all. I set up my speakers do do a blind test by having the speakers as close to each other as possible and running one with the original power cable and the other one with a supra board and the cable. The difference between the original cable and the supra was so big i tought i messed something up, when setting up, but i didn’t. Even when switching cables from one to the other speaker the result was the same, supra sounded way more elegant, defined and had a far more detailed stage / stereo field. I‘m shocked, I expected to hear no difference at all, and now i‘m wondering why my teacher don’t know such a important thing…

I really would love to see some measurements which would account for any subtle sound changes...

I've been both blessed and cursed with the ability to hear these nuances and differences that changes like this bring to your setup. Just one small part of my kit - I have two small modified speaker amplifiers that are powered by one Drok 48V 10A SMPS. This PS gets fed by a custom Audiophile AC cable I made... The amplifiers are fed from this PS by 2 custom Canare 4S6 Star Quad DC cables with Oyaide barrel plugs. This was all done to replace the 2, 24V 5A laptop style bricks that the amps came with. This is the current power cable setup, but by no means the last. I can as well get silver plating and dual shielding on these DC cables as well. Pricey though. I also use the same Canare cable to feed my current DAC, the Schiit Hel2 E... But this one was built USB A to C. This cable is also DC only, Once I implemented it, all the inherent reported problems of this DAC, such as it not being recognized on the laptop or being underpowered all disappeared. By eliminating the data handshake on the USB power cable it just works and has solved the biggest issue the Hel faced since the problem surfaced around Oct 2021, with a Windows update that gave the OS the ability to downgrade the power of and turn off USB ports that were not in use. This wreaked havoc on the USB controller chip in the Hel and caused it to need a ritual to be constantly performed each time you turned your system on. This ritual has now ended. Cables matter FTW! I intended on making a 4th version of my SMPS Enclosure, with the new one utilizing a DC to DC isolated and filtered buck converter. This will allow me to use the third output of the PS to instead of powering a USB fan for the components on a noisy suplly, It will provide clean 5V 3A DC ppwer to the Hel2 E and thus improve the system even more. Allowing me to power the current mini rig with a single clean SMPS. When I get the SMSL DO100 though... I won't need to make V4 of my SMPS. I'll need to make a new power cable for it... And possibly my own AC filter. The sound improvements over time... With each change was very apparent. I can attest to your findings with my own. Cables absolutely matter. Great video!

a biomedical engineer here… i been working in very critical medical equipments for many years and i have never seen a fancy stock power cable that came with the a machine. medical electronic equipments that monitor, measure, record and diagnose body functions such as brainwaves and drug releasing pumps to name a couple.

Power-related products represent about 15% of the total cost of my system (low-6-figure range). I was a skeptic until a few years ago. The dealer I bought my speakers from loaned me some Shunyata products and I was surprised that the difference was so obvious (tried on my power amp). As you said repeatedly, I’d discourage people from making a big investment in cords until the rest of the system is dialed in and at a level which represents the ceiling of the owners budget. However, once the system is sorted, it’s worth experimenting. I’ve compared many different levels and generations of Shunyata’s products and other reasonably affordable products from other companies. You don’t need to spend down a fortune to get good products. Belden BAV power cords are great for the money.

I used the Supra LoRad Power Cables 2.5MM, 1.5M On the D90 AKM499 & SP400. I can say I didn't notice a single difference over stock cables Which is a good thing shows I have clean input, but i kept using them & still do to this day. Then I also tried the Supra LoRad Power Cables 2.5MM, 1.5M Silver coated one on the D90 & I did notice the sub-bass dull out & the highs I don't know how to put it in terms people will understand, the highs cleaned up, it was more noticeable Possibly due to how the bass dulled out. So I tried it with the SP400 & didn't notice a single difference which shocked me so retested the D90 with stock & the supra copper cables & sure enough same deal just a change dull sub-bass & highs standing out with the silver coated one.

Thanks for a great review Lachlan. Very few of us here are audio engineers so anyone taking the time to present logically tested 1st-hand experience is useful data to help my research. Everyone's home audio environment is different along with their audio equipment so there will be differences of opinion but it is a given that improvements can be made with certain audio cables (general)... possibly at the tail end of the audio purchase journey. Power filter/conditioners on the other hand are probably needed at the start of that same journey to maximise investment potential. Someone wrote a really long comment and in it mentioned that they have a TV connected in one of the outlets in their board (amongst audio equipment) - I wanted to say that in my experience a TV probably needs its own dedicated power conditioning equipment since it appears to be a source of noise itself (in the context of pure audio signal pursuit). A sensible approach may be to buy protective power equipment first... then if your system is settled, try out ones that refine the sound. Again, thank you !

Hell yeah, power cables!!! Good on you for experimenting. I think we need more of that in the headphone hobby in general. I also did some experimenting and had various results. You really can't know till you try and plug it in. Anyway, I personally use Allnic power cables for my system. I think they're great and make a pretty significant improvement. Allnic dealers might let you trial them risk free. I suggest looking into it.

I don’t know if power cables can improve the sound of an audio system. I am just happy with the huge difference they did to mine. ;-)

Interesting and informative 👍. I'd love to experiment with some power conditioning just to know the results.

Great vid, kudos. I so appreciate you have the unflappable courage to cover the seemingly hot topics. Ready through the comments I'm impressed they are mainly positive. I'd like to know the word count on this one. LOL

Thank you!!! I am struggling with Power Cables for sources right now. Also thank you for having the guts to set boundaries on commenters that say nasty things or do black and white demanding comments. They are not helpful to the discussion. I find that power cables do make a difference and can have their won sound signature. For comparatively little money and for fin, try a few different cables off of Ali-express! OMG, its a sound signature potpourri! I appreciate cable recommendations, especially if someone can discuss the sound signature they experienced. I am finding that the cables I've tried in the $150-200 USD range have had sonic limitations but I'm going to keep trying. The Supras are in the $95 range, so I am concerned. Dear God, I want a good Shunyata Alpha power cable but the price! Yeow!

Great video! Now I want to replace my stock cables, but my gear is pretty great as it is, so it will be a long time before I upgrade power cables. Are you planning to upgrade your set up?

I use Supra SPC 2.5 powercords. The Supras sounds alot better than the basic stock cords. More air/better dynamics/cleaner sound

Hello :) , I bought the Supra LoRAD power cable and supra usb 2.0 USB to my xduoo TA10 DAC/AMP and the difference in the sound quality was big. My question is: The xduoo TA10 has integrated linear power supply inside, so there is no need for me to buy the supra mains block right? Or? Also besides the MD-08DC mains block there are also some older cheaper options from supra, would they purify the sound just the same as that more expensive options, would they make the same job with some less additional features? And what cable did you use with that mains block plugged into a wall?

the only thing in this hobby i am dead against is fuse "upgrades", just wanted to get that out of the way. power cables i can easily believe make a difference. great review, very well explained. will try one on an amp 1st and see how i go.

Great video. Would love to see your take on the impact that speaker cables have on sound.