Value Power Cable - Monosaudio

With the rearrangement of the music room shifting regularly, some Furutech Ag power cables were either too short or not enough of them. For Silver plated copper, they didn't sound too bad, compared to Oyaide Tunami they were just a little better than stock cables. The Tunami is 10 AWG cable, the Furutech 12 AWG, the loads are power amps, so the 10AWG is fine, but at USD120/ft and 15' run, the Tumai is beyond my budget now.

To suit 230V system, any Nema connector and cable isn't going to work, and Aussie connectors are few and far between of good quality, decided years ago to standardise on Euro connectors being of the right voltage and a wide choice of cables and connectors. Now to find a cable that's 10AWG and won't break the bank. Amazon.de have quite a few Chinese cables on offer for good prices, at least more reputable than e-bay, which want the money first, then ship, extending delivery to several months....

One cable manufacturer from China, Monosaudio at least has a website and unlike many cable manufacturers put their name on the cable, and by looks of the connectors, make OEM for other manufacturers. The offered power cable the 902R is a three core design, with each core screened and an overall screen with foil. I did have a look at other braided copper designs, however the coverage wasn't 100%, still allows a field to sneak in, which is not good.

For EUR107, the 902 1m, considering the size of wire is 'reasonable'. That's with MwSt, some 17%+ tax, which comes off export, that more or less pays for the freight form Germany.

The cable and the connector have a good quality about them, certainly no below spec. IR at 500V and sailed through that with no issues.  Removed the IEC connector to have a closer look, was worried about the collar unscrewing without a tool and exposing conductors, but this wasn't the case.  The colour coding was a little strange, Red for the Line (no issue) stranded white 16 AWGg for neutral (OK for USA), and black for ground, which is not OK, the PE should be green/yellow. The AAA battery is shown to compare the size of the connector and cable only. This cable is 2m.

 A better photo of the structure

Earth connection shown, black sleeving, maybe they wired it wrong? Earths cannot be multiconductor, but can be multi stranded.

The shields are connected at the male end of the cable, which is fine.

There are direction arrows on the cable, but since the connectors determine the source and load, it's kind of superfluus, however in a busy panel where mutliple cables converge, having the direction is very handy to identify cables.

The connector material looks like a varnished copper, could be heat or cold treated to give it that colour, certainly very even, not spotty at all.

In use with bi-amps, I made the box with the dual Furutech outlets. Internal wiring is 10AWG SPC.

The Monosaudio 902R have been in the system for a few weeks now, today received the 5m 902R and immediately the bass took off, the top end rounded off nicely, with no splash. Look, it's not  night and day, but definitely better than the Furutech Ag and pleasant to listen to. Depth much the same as before, I'd say the image stability has firmed, would put this down to the screening.

The factory is quite approachable, the 5m cable was a special at USD325, I think if they invest in an e-commerce software, sales would be a lot easier, but now rely on distributorships, mainly on the connector side. 

I was dubious about the Chinese quality and finish, however the Monosodio cables deliver great sound quality for the value they deliver, certainly would have to spend a great deal more for a small amount of SQ improvement.

Highly recommended!

Most Authority's Having Jurisdiction require safety listings of all AC power cords and cables.

The above cord is a poor and expensive choice.

Just get some shielded Belden cable, and be done with it.

Looking at the close up photo on the Aliexpress site for the 902 cable, the cores are clearly Red, Black and green.

The plug above is wired wrong, the earth and neutral colours are transposed.

Colours with the exception of the Green (should be green/yellow) is OK for EU, AU/NZ that I know of, but unsuitable for USA. 

Not their power cords, but glad to report that the monosaudio rhodium plated banana plugs are very well made, the locking mechanism works great, nice and tight. (I have tried many banana plugs in the past and they would fit loose with my synthesis soprano amp terminals and these locking banana plugs lock in really nicely)

Very reasonably priced as well at about $50USD for 8 plugs

Highly recommended!!!

Well, I have decided to bite the bullet on this

P902E6R from the Monosaudio AliExpress official store. $90 for a 6’ power cord, don’t think it can go much wrong.

Will report back how it goes.

Cheers

On 4/13/2024 at 4:46 AM, dericchan1 said:

Not their power cords, but glad to report that the monosaudio rhodium plated banana plugs are very well made, the locking mechanism works great, nice and tight. (I have tried many banana plugs in the past and they would fit loose with my synthesis soprano amp terminals and these locking banana plugs lock in really nicely)

 

Very reasonably priced as well at about $50USD for 8 plugs

Highly recommended!!!

Thanks for that info! I tried the Yaudio types which look very similar, also are locking, they work well in keeping the connection tight. But the screw that holds the insulation of the cable (towards the end of the connector) can't be tightened very much at all, it starts to strip. I'll check these out from Monosaudio.

12 hours ago, dericchan1 said:

Well, I have decided to bite the bullet on this

 

P902E6R from the Monosaudio AliExpress official store. $90 for a 6’ power cord, don’t think it can go much wrong.

 

Will report back how it goes.

 

Cheers

I replaced the Monosaudio with Furutech NCF cables and found the Furutech an 'out of the way' and transparent cable for AC. Also purchased through Aliexpress. Replaced all previous cables which was a mixture of everything, about a dozen or so cables. Very happy with them. The Monosaudio are planned for the office system. Just check that the Monos are wired correctly, mine were not. Some Furutechs were also wired incorrectly, about 60% failed polarity. I corrected all prior to installing.

Just received this bad boy today!!! Very impressed with the built of this. It’s quite stiff actually and heavy, got to weight a good few lbs !!!

@One and a half

being a complete novice, I am curious to get into buying some bulk power cables and connectors and assemble them.

From your pictures on this thread, it seems relatively straightforward with simply a few screws. Is that it or there are things to watch for? Perhaps you can recommend an instructional video or guide I can take a look?

cheers

On 8/5/2024 at 2:19 AM, dericchan1 said:

@One and a half

being a complete novice, I am curious to get into buying some bulk power cables and connectors and assemble them.

 

From your pictures on this thread, it seems relatively straightforward with simply a few screws. Is that it or there are things to watch for? Perhaps you can recommend an instructional video or guide I can take a look?

 

cheers

So sorry for not replying until now.

Here is a guide for the Oyaide Tunami cable, which is a similar diameter to the Monosaudio cable and also has the screen bonded to a smaller uninsulated cable, my guess 16/18 AWG size.

Some tips:

Male Connector end (Both Schuko and US plug 3 prong)

a) When stripping back the cable to expose the cores, maintain the length on the cores at least 75mm or 3". Reason being, the cables are easier to bend at the base of the main cable where you need it the most. Pre-shaping the 10AWG (6mm) cable is very important, since you don't have the ability to shape the cores at the required 40-50 mm length from the core.

b) Once shaped, so that the cores are inline with the connector, then cut the Line and Neutral cores to about 40mm. Bare off the ends for the Live and Neutral whatever the stripping length is for the mains male connector. This is usually 6-10mm, depends.

c) for the ground conductor, strip off a little more 12-15mm, but keep the end of the strip (closest to the insulation, the same as the Neutral and Live cables. This gives more material to work with.

d) The illustration shows heat shrink over the ground cable, I prefer to sleeve the shield wire separately since it's more maneuverable. The colour of the shield heat shrink should be green/yellow. Twist the shield around the ground conductor with pliers, to be really tight, then cut off the excess to match the same stripping length as the Live and Neutral.

e) place heatshrink over the core of the cable to tidy up where the cores start to be exposed.

f) use a REALLY SHARP knife to cut the insulation the Fiskars craft knife  Item #67007097 is ideal.

Female IEC End (for the equipment)

a) The shield is cut off at this end. Use heatshrink to cover the core of the cable to the cores and keep this insualted.

b) Use the same technique as the plug end keep the cores long, shape them, then cut and insualte.

Testing

Use an IR tester set at 250V to test the insulation, it must be 1M Ohm minimum but is usually full scale (open) or typically 200M.

With a multimeter, check the polarity, so the Live goes to live and neutral to neutral and Ground to ground, no crosses allowed.

1 minute ago, One and a half said:

So sorry for not replying until now.

 

Here is a guide for the Oyaide Tunami cable, which is a similar diameter to the Monosaudio cable and also has the screen bonded to a smaller uninsulated cable, my guess 16/18 AWG size.

 

Some tips:

 

Male Connector end (Both Schuko and US plug 3 prong)

 

a) When stripping back the cable to expose the cores, maintain the length on the cores at least 75mm or 3". Reason being, the cables are easier to bend at the base of the main cable where you need it the most. Pre-shaping the 10AWG (6mm) cable is very important, since you don't have the ability to shape the cores at the required 40-50 mm length from the core.

 

b) Once shaped, so that the cores are inline with the connector, then cut the Line and Neutral cores to about 40mm. Bare off the ends for the Live and Neutral whatever the stripping length is for the mains male connector. This is usually 6-10mm, depends.

 

c) for the ground conductor, strip off a little more 12-15mm, but keep the end of the strip (closest to the insulation, the same as the Neutral and Live cables. This gives more material to work with.

 

d) The illustration shows heat shrink over the ground cable, I prefer to sleeve the shield wire separately since it's more maneuverable. The colour of the shield heat shrink should be green/yellow. Twist the shield around the ground conductor with pliers, to be really tight, then cut off the excess to match the same stripping length as the Live and Neutral.

 

e) place heatshrink over the core of the cable to tidy up where the cores start to be exposed.

 

f) use a REALLY SHARP knife to cut the insulation the Fiskars craft knife  Item #67007097 is ideal.

 

Female IEC End (for the equipment)

 

a) The shield is cut off at this end. Use heatshrink to cover the core of the cable to the cores and keep this insualted.

 

b) Use the same technique as the plug end keep the cores long, shape them, then cut and insualte.

 

Testing

 

Use an IR tester set at 250V to test the insulation, it must be 1M Ohm minimum but is usually full scale (open) or typically 200M.

 

With a multimeter, check the polarity, so the Live goes to live and neutral to neutral and Ground to ground, no crosses allowed.

 

 

Thanks so much for this.

i will give it a thorough read up!!!!

Deric