Evolution PowerKords

Our PowerKords™ have evolved!

Research & Development projects can last years and even decades. Our PowerKord range of mains cables are a perfect example of this: spurred on to make them better, Russ has been investigating ways we can improve on their design based on his discoveries in optimising the earth. It's been intensive - we've been busy measuring and testing many different prototypes but we're delighted to announce that they're finally ready for launch.

We're calling the new cable the Evolution range of PowerKords - they really are an evolution of the design that we've loved for the past three decades and quite simply they are the very best performing PowerKords we've made!

View the range of Evolution PowerKords.

It's all about the earth.

The inspiration for the new design came from the pivotal work Russ has been doing with equipment grounding. The development of our RF Router and Russ's Casework Grounding principle has shown just how important it is to reduce noise on the earth.... as many of you have so enthusiastically told us once you'd grounded your equipment too.

Evolution PowerKord

The natural progression of this work on grounding was to see how we could reduce earth noise in other areas in a Hi-Fi system. Dr Craig Sawyers - who co-developed the SuperKord mains cables - looked at our woven PowerKords and the amount of noise induced into the earth from the woven cable design. What we learned was that while the earth's design and position was effective on the existing range of PowerKords, it could pick up even less noise if it was moved to the outside of the braid.

Further measurements and tests demonstrated that there were very real benefits to be had in precisely optimising both the gauge and position of the earth in relation to the weave; to test this we built a significant number of prototypes and listened to each of them to find the design that measured and sounded the very best!
 
Russ says...

Russ Andrews "I wasn't at all surprised that the improved design of the Evolution PowerKords sounded better. The work done on casework grounding showed just how significant this aspect of the mains upgrades could be. My instinct was that reducing noise picked up by the earth of the PowerKords would deliver better sound... and yes, the results delighted me!

The improvement in every aspect of the music is quite astonishing, plus a new sense of relaxation in the listening experience. There is not a moment's hesitation in ' Yes, this is right, and I don't want to go back to the old construction!'"

Higher grade of Purity.

It's not just the earthing arrangement of the new PowerKords that has improved. Kimber have been working on the purity of the copper wire used in the PowerKords' braid; the new Evolution range features a higher purity copper than the older designs too.

View the range of Evolution PowerKords.

Which cables benefit from the new design?
Evolution PowerKord
All three PowerKords which comprise our core range of mains cables - the existing PowerKord-100, 300 and 500 - will each benefit from the new design and copper purity and become known as the Evolution-100, Evolution-300 and Evolution-500.

The new cables replace the earlier ones immediately and all PowerKords will now feature the new geometry. The figure-8 PowerKords, having no earth, do not need this new geometry.

Where do they sit in the range?

Evolution PowerKords replace the older models of PowerKords, with Evolution-100 replacing the older PowerKord-100, the Evolution-300 replacing PowerKord-300 and so on. Owners of the PowerKord-100 (and the earlier Classic PowerKords) should upgrade to the Evolution-300; and owners of the PowerKord-300 and earlier Reference PowerKords should upgrade to the Evolution-500. Owners of the PowerKord-500 and older Signature PowerKords should upgrade to the SuperKords, though we can modify these cables if preferred: read about upgrading and modifying your cables.

Remember that our Cable Upgrade Scheme means that we will buy back your older PowerKords when moving up to the new model: if your older PowerKord is less than a year old, we will buy it back from you for 100% of the purchase price when moving up to the new model. If your cable is within two years old, you'll get 75%, and even if its over two years old and in good condition- no matter what its age - you'll still get up to 50% of the price you paid.

View the range of Evolution PowerKords.

 

Earth measurements

Dr Craig Sawyers conducted a series of measurements to see how we could reduce the amount of noise induced into the earth of our mains cables. He compared our then existing range of PowerKords with standard kettle leads and twin and earth mains wiring, measuring the voltage induced into the earth wire at 50kHz. We found that the new PowerKord Evolution design typically induces 20 times less noise into the earth than the older PowerKord models. He also found that the woven design of the PowerKords induce less noise into the earth than conventional mains cables designs can - another vote for our woven PowerKords!