Audioquest NRG-Z3 AC Power Cable (UK Plug - IEC C-13)

Following on from the success of the Storm Series NRG power cables (Thunder, Tornado, Hurricane & Dragon), AudioQuest have utilised trickle down techniques to create a new series of affordable, entry level NRG power cables. Featuring the excellent Noise-Dissipation technology employed in the Storm Series, this new range of NRG-Y and NRG-Z cables outperform their old NRG-X and NRG-1/1.5/2 counterparts by a landslide. The NRG-Z2 replaces the NRG-1.5 however it outperforms previous higher models.

NRG-Z2 cables use direction-controlled Perfect-Surface Copper + (PSC+) strands in a Semi-Solid Concentric conductor arrangement in which strands are packed more tightly and never change position within the bundle. This construction significantly reduces strand interaction distortion. The extremely pure and smooth-surface PSC+ conductors minimize distortion caused by grain boundaries which exist in any metal conductor. In addition, NRG-Z2’s direction-controlled Silver-Plated shield conductors efficiently drain RF noise from the line and neutral shields to ground via the third “ground” pin. The net result is powerful, dynamic and immersive!

A non-technical analogy for this might be that if you drop a coin in a tube with shampoo in it, no matter how wide (low resistance) that tube, the shampoo (the Characteristic Impedance) is going to get in the way (compromise current transients). Eliminating Characteristic Impedance (Zero means No in this application) is like having only air in the tube, as close to a vacuum as possible. Whether the amp is running at less than a watt or is fully maxed out, the unrestricted transients are visceral — something the whole body understands, no words required.

NRG-Z2 and NRG-Z3 cables take a step further and use Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC in Z3, PSC+ in Z2), in a 7-strand SemiSolid Concentric conductor arrangement. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface processed conductors minimize distortion caused by grain boundaries and surface discontinuities which exist in any metal conductor.

All drawn metal has a non-symmetrical, and therefore directional, grain structure. AudioQuest controls the resulting RF impedance variation so that noise drains away from where it will cause distortion. The Silver-Plated shield drains efficiently remove RF noise from the line and neutral shields via the wall plug’s “ground” pin – which is why even the 2-Pole “2” models have an unexpected ground pin.

As with the Storm Series AC cables, Z3 includes AudioQuest’s Ground Noise-Dissipation Technology. AC Ground wires over protection from current-wiring faults, but they also act as antennas, picking up radio frequency (RF) noise, which bypasses component power supplies and is typically coupled directly into a system’s most sensitive audio or video circuits.

AudioQuest's Ground-Noise Dissipation System employs a commonmode phase-canceling array that yields unprecedented levels of noise dissipation and reduction across the widest bandwidth (range) of radio frequencies – dramatically lowering distortion in the attached electronics.