Virtual Dynamics Power 3 – 2000% Profit Margin

Filed under: Home Audio > Wire & Cable > Power Cables



A poster on the Head-Fi forums found something rather interesting after his cat helped remove the decorative Techflex covering on his $300 Virtual Dynamics Power 3 "audiophile grade" power cord - roughly $15 worth of components, and one hell of a markup. High-end power cords are already one of the most controversial audio tweaks out there, and exposing the Power 3 for what it is - a couple of bucks worth of 14 AWG PVC insulated bulk wire (VD's "LiniPur" conductors) and some ferrite powder, (VD's "5 dielectric layers" ) shoved into some heavy braided-wall PVC tubing to make it appear thick and meaty, and put together with dirt cheap connectors and DIY build quality, certainly doesn't help proponents of high-end cords (like myself) win any arguments.


The sheer hypocritical irony of Virtual Dynamics taking other high-end companies to task for overcharging is quite amusing (unless you've paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for a VD product). From the Power 3 product page: "A growing trend in the audio industry is to price products outrageously high and then see what happens. Prestige established through price. Consider the following; if I take a bottle of wine and charge $10,000 for it, will that make the wine taste any better? For many the answer will be yes." Essentially, VD is doing exactly that with the Power 3, building the power cord equivalent of "Two Buck Chuck" Merlot, and charging twenty-year-old vintage Château Pichon-Longueville-Comtesse-de-Lalande prices. I shudder to think about what the $13,416 Genesis 1.1 power cord actually costs VD to build.




As I said in my previous article on high-end cables, a cable is a simple device that is responsible for the transfer of electrons from component to component. Using high quality conductors, insulators, and shielding can produce measurable, repeatable test results and can ultimately affect sound quality provided that the playback system has the necessary detail and resolution to reveal differences in cable designs. In order to differentiate themselves from the dozens of cable companies out there and justify stratospheric markups, brands like Virtual Dynamics have their marketing departments invent "features" like 4 levels of "speed of light" insulation and 4 levels of "dynamic filtering." Any high-end audio company that uses phrases like "stage 2 MkIV" this, and "level 3" that should raise a giant red flag.




The Head-Fi forums poster received a "free" Power 3 in a promotional deal, so taking the cord apart and losing the warranty wasn't a big deal. For the rest of us, checking under the hood to see if the parts used inside are high quality isn't a practical solution. What are the alternatives? One route is to build your own power cords. A few feet of Belden 83803, some ferrite cores and some Marinco connectors from Parts Express would make for an excellent cord for around $50. If you'd rather buy premade cords, try renting some from the Cable Company. Any cable is really only "worth" the improvement it makes in your system. If you don't feel a cable or power cord sounds as good as its price tag suggests it should, send it back.