We have made a number of ‘clean power’ products in our nine-year history to date, but one thing we haven’t made is a specialist IEC power cable for home audio components – until now!
The Nova is a specialised power cable with a high-end construction that belies its affordable price point. It delivers a serious upgrade over standard mains leads that imbues sound with greater clarity, space and definition.
The cable.
The Nova incorporates five conductors, each made from heavy-gauge, continuous-cast OFHC (Oxygen-Free High Thermal Conductivity) copper, arranged in a geometrically balanced configuration – highly unusual at such a price point.
Two pairs of live and neutral conductors are arranged either side of the earth conductor, which is positioned at the centre of the cable. A further pair of air-dielectric delineators – essentially polymer matrix tubes filled with air – are arranged either side of the earth conductor, keeping the two pairs of live and neutral conductors apart whilst improving the cable’s overall dielectric performance and constructive solidity.
The cable is finished with a tough yet flexible polymer outer sheath and iFi’s bespoke audiophile-grade connectors, complete with 24ct gold plated oxygen-free copper conductors.
Ground Zero
As already mentioned, the Nova incorporates five conductors, each made from heavy-gauge, continuous-cast OFHC (Oxygen-Free High Thermal Conductivity) copper, arranged in a geometrically balanced configuration.
Two pairs of live and neutral conductors are arranged either side of the earth conductor, which is positioned at the centre of the cable. The ground conductor is arranged in a shotgun configuration and not twisted around like other mains cables. The live and neutral conductors are arranged in a truly balanced configuration, hence their magnetic fields cancel each other out perfectly.
As a result, there is no residual magnetic field being applied to the centre ground conductor, and no unwanted induced voltage on the Ground conductor – we call this design Ground Zero.
The result? Pure, silent power.
The result of this sophisticated mix of materials and construction is that the Nova power cable offers constant impedance and superior rejection of EMI/RFI, maintaining the purity of mains electricity feeding each component in an audio or AV system.
While the effect of this cable on sound quality is significant when used on its own, it combines brilliantly with our PowerStation mains-conditioning bar – the PowerStation filters out common mode and differential mode noise from the mains supply, while the Nova maintains optimum purity right through to the connected component.
