AudioQuest Thunder High-Current Mains Power Cable

AudioQuest Thunder High-Current Mains Power Cable

 

The AudioQuest Thunder High-Current power cable introduces the Storm series brilliantly. Constructed with a combination of solid-core long-grain copper & perfect-surface copper conductors, the Thunder High-Current is the perfect entry point to AudioQuest's new mains power cables.

The Thunder High-Current supplies your power-hungry equipment, such as power amplifiers or mains conditioners, with cleaner and substantially higher amounts of current. As a result, your system will have an abundance of power driving your speakers to deliver a broader soundstage.

Here at Future Shop, we used the AudioQuest Thunder High-Current Mains Power Cable with a Niagara 5000 Mains Conditioner and the results were astonishing. Not only did the soundstage improve dramatically over our previous setup, but the dynamic range, clarity, detail & performance made us eager to listen to more. When the Niagara 5000 was removed from the setup, with the Thunder power cable connected directly from the wall socket to our power amplifier, the differences stayed apparent.

The AudioQuest Storm series power cables are constructed in a unique way. Each of the earth, live & neutral conductors are individually constructed as separate cables, intertwined together and terminated to a specially designed plug on both, the source and receiver ends. This unique design is highly efficient in reducing RF noise and electromagnetic interference, resulting in minimised distortion, finer detail and a lower background noise-floor.

As you move up through the Storm series, the quality of conductors improves, offering superior conductivity, minimised distortion and greater clarity. The first power cable in the storm series, the Thunder, features a combination of long-grain copper & perfect-surface copper conductors. At the top of the Storm series is the AudioQuest Dragon power cable, and this is constructed with a combination of perfect-surface copper+ & perfect-surface silver conductors for ultimate performance.

Each power cable within the Storm series offers similar improvements. However moving up in the Storm series delivers a greater degree of improvements, such as; enhanced dynamics, reduced noise-floor, punchier bass, larger spacial presentation, greater air movement, less fatiguing sounds & clearer clarity.

When comparing the "High-Current" power cables with the "Source" power cables, the High-Current cables feature larger gauge solid-core conductors, designed for power-hungry Hi-Fi components, such as; power amplifiers, monoblocks, powered subwoofers, integrated amplifiers & power conditioners.

The High-Current Storm series is designed to deliver the maximum current possible, providing ample room for optimising and powering audio/video signals. AudioQuest's engineers have created a wide range of unique high-current power cables, each offering improvements while maintaining an excellent price to performance ratio.

Please Note: AudioQuest Thunder Mains Power Cable terminated with a US Nema Mains plug is a specialist order with a lead time of approximately 10 - 15 working days.

 

Here's what AudioQuest say about the Thunder High Current Mains Power Cable

 

For a couple of decades, AudioQuest's AC power cables have been gaining momentum and respect for bringing lower distortion and higher performance not only to the audiophile high-end, but also to Sonos, Apple TV, cable boxes, radios, CI racks, etc. While AQ's NRG cables weren't physically big and painful enough to cater to certain audiophile prejudices, they delivered the goods - better audio and video for many more people than any other premium AC cable supplier.

Now, AudioQuest is very proud to introduce a family of cables that recalibrate the importance of choosing AC cables carefully. The Storm Series of NRG cables don't embody just incremental evolution, though thats' always a good thing, instead, they demonstrate a category jump.

Words are meaningless once you've heard the difference and simply know the truth - but a few words might whet your appetite and provoke you to give Storm Series + Dragon a listen sooner than later:

 

Features:

• Quiet Background and Minimal Electronics Misbehaviour
• Optimal Insulation Electrical Characteristics
• No Strans Interaction, Minimal Grain Junction Disruption
• High-Purity Conductors
• Uncompressed High-Current Transfer
• Ground Noise-Dissipation Technology
• Dielectric-Bias System (DBS; US Pat #7,126,055)
• Controlled for Correct Directionality

 

Quiet Background and Minimal Electronics Misbehavior

Due to a more sophisticated than ever Noise-Dissipation System (US Patent # 8,988,168), Storm NRG cables do what Garth Powell's magnificent Niagara power products do, they lower the noise that both smothers fine detail, ambience, etc., and noise that causes active circuits to suffer TIM and otherwise misbehave, causing a flat sounding forced-through-a-screen-door effect.

 

Optimal Insulation Electrical Characteristics

Due to AudioQuest's Dielectric-Bias System (US Patent #7,126,055). DBS's effectiveness at reducing non-linear distortions caused by temporary energy storage in a cable's insulation is evident across all types of AudioQuest cables. However, in the Storm Series NRG cables, DBS is applied more strategically than ever before, reducing dielectric-noise takes a back seat to DBS extending the bandwidth and efficiency (Q), of all-important RF noise-dissipation.

 

No Strand Interaction, Minimal Grain Junction Disruption

Due to solid conductors, there is no contact between strands and none of the distortion that entails. Due to superior metals, less grain junctions within the conductors minimize distortion, and the superior conductor surface drains RF Noise better than other metals.

AudioQuest Storm Series NRG cables truly are optimized Low-Z | Noise-Dissipation Systems, just like the extraordinary Niagara Series Low-Z | Noise-Dissipation System power products.

 

High-Purity Conductors

A carefully finessed combination of solid high-purity Long-Grain Copper (LGC) and high-purity Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC) conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of ear fatiguing transient intermodulation distortion. LGC allows a smoother and clearer sound than standard OFHC (Oxygen-Free-High-Conductivity) copper.

The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface Copper further eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other premium coppers.

 

Uncompressed High-Current Transfer

With current capacity of 20 amps RMS @ 125VAC 50/60Hz (16 amps RMS @ 220-240VA 50/60Hz), Thunder/High-Current can withstand current transient peaks many times its continuous (average) RMS rating. This makes Thunder/High-Current ideally suited for a wide assortment of AC power conditioners, power regenerators, AC isolation transformers, and AC battery back-up devices, as well as any power amplifier, powered subwoofer, powered loudspeaker, powered receiver, or integrated amplifier.

 

Ground Noise-Dissipation Technology 

AC Ground wires provide protection from current-wiring faults, but they also act as antennas. Thus, they are subject to induced radio frequency (RF) noise. This RF noise bypasses component power supplies and is typically coupled directly into a system's most sensitive audio-video circuits. AudioQuest's patented Ground-Noise Dissipation greatly reduces this distortion, yielding unprecedented levels of noise dissipation across the widest bandwidth (range) of radio frequencies possible. Our unique circuit-topology utilizes a common-mode phase-cancelling array, in concert with proprietary dielectric materials which provide additional differential linear filtering.

 

Dielectric-Bias System (DBS; US Pat #7,126,055)

By creating a constant dielectric field for the cable’s primary capacitance field or dielectric, DBS assures extended bandwidth and more evenly filtered noise dissipation, eliminating the distortions and ringing that plague other cables even after years of use and so called “run-in time.” In addition, DBS assures that the RF Noise-Dissipation System works as linearly as possible.

 

Controlled for Correct Directionality

All drawn metal strands or conductors have a non-symmetrical, and therefore directional, grain structure. AudioQuest controls the resulting RF impedance variation so that noise is drained away from where it will cause distortion.

 

Optional Fuse Upgrade

As an optional extra, Future Shop can upgrade the fuse in the UK plug to one from the excellent, and extremely poular, range of Synergistic Research fuses. Some of the improvements you may hear include; a quieter noise-floor, greater dynamics, a more relaxed sound and detailed musicality.

 

Contact Enhancer Option

To ensure the best possible connection between your system, Future Shop recommends the DeoxIT Gold G-Series contact enhancer.

DeoxIT Gold is carefully applied to the plug contacts of your cable and is a unique conditioning solution designed to improve conductivity and provide long-lasting protection on gold, base metals and other precious metal contacts and connections. DeoxIT Gold penetrates plated surfaces, molecularly bonding to the base metals to seal and protect both surfaces.

The benefits of applying DeoxIT gold are:

• Improved Conductivity
• Maintained optimum signal quality
• Reduced wear & abrasion
• Prevents fretting/dendrite corrosion
• Forms a protective anti-tarnishing coating
• Stabilises connections between similar and dissimilar metals
• Reduces arcing, RFI and intermittent connections

Please select this option from the above ‘Contact Enhancer’ drop-down menu and our engineers will apply the contact solution to your cable connectors prior to shipping.

 

Specification:

• Solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC)/ Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC) Conductors
• Hanging-Gold Purple-Copper plugs
• NDS plus Black DBA pack
• Uncompressed High-Current Transfer
• Ground Noise Dissipation Technology (US Patent # 9,373,439)
• Zero Characteristic Impedance (50Hz – 1MHz)
• 72VDC Dielectric Bias System (US Patent #7,126,055)
• Directionally Controlled Conductors
• Available terminations: UK 3 Pin Mains Plug, EU Schuko Mains Plug, US Nema Plug

 

About AudioQuest

AudioQuest has been the largest cable supplier to the high-end specialist market for many years. AudioQuest is sold in several hundred outlets in the US and in over sixty countries. Bill Lowe (Founder) is especially pleased that this success has been possible despite his insistence that the foundation of the company, and the foundation of AudioQuest marketing, must be the performance of the product. In the audio world, many professionals have learned that it is not always convenient to listen to the products they sell … they might learn something they don’t want to know! Bill has always understood the challenge of basing the existence of AudioQuest on the performance of the product. However, to Bill, this is the only reasonable way to do business and the only acceptable way to combine his passion for music (and all things high performance), with his need to make a living.