High-current power cable with solid PSC and PSC+ conductors
Tornado Variable Current is the AudioQuest mains cable for equipment whose current draw changes constantly with the signal: power amplifiers and every component that contains one, such as AV receivers, active loudspeakers and powered subwoofers. It also suits power conditioners and regenerators.
It is rated at 16 A RMS at 220-240 V, and it can sustain transient peaks many times higher than the continuous figure.
PSC and PSC+ copper conductors
Tornado uses solid-core conductors in two grades of copper: Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC), of high purity, alongside Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+), which is purer still. Solid wire avoids interaction between strands, an important origin of transient intermodulation distortion and of the listening fatigue it brings. The very smooth surface of PSC takes hardness out of the sound and adds clarity; PSC+ additionally reduces the distortion due to grain boundaries, present in every metal conductor.
Uncompressed current and noise reduction
With ZERO-Tech, current flows without compression even during transients, which is why the cable suits isolation transformers, battery back-up units, integrated amplifiers and power amplifiers. RF/ND-Tech tackles the problem of the ground wire, which behaves like an antenna and channels radio-frequency noise straight into the most delicate circuits: it dissipates that noise over a very wide band through a phase-cancelling array working in common mode and proprietary dielectrics that provide differential linear filtering.
The insulation is kept biased by the 72 V DBS (Dielectric-Bias System): dielectric noise drops and its filter effect becomes linear, so induced RF noise is dissipated more effectively. Conductor direction is controlled according to the grain of the metal, to drain noise away from the places where it would produce distortion; the correct direction is marked by arrows on the connectors.
Terminations and lengths
The plug for the wall socket is a European Schuko. At the equipment end the cable can have the IEC C13 connector, for standard mains inlets, the notched C15, for units that need a connector suited to higher temperatures, or the C19, for the high-current inlets of large power amplifiers and conditioners. Lengths are 1 m, 2 m and 3 m.
Key features
- Use: power amplifiers, units with built-in amplification, power conditioners and regenerators
- Conductors: solid-core Perfect-Surface Copper plus Perfect-Surface Copper+
- Rating: 16 A RMS at 220-240 V, 50/60 Hz
- Technologies: ZERO-Tech, RF/ND-Tech, 72 V DBS, controlled directionality
- Equipment-end connector: IEC C13, C15 or C19, in 1 m, 2 m or 3 m
