Blizzard: PSC+ power cable with 72 V DBS, C13 or C19
AudioQuest Blizzard is a mains cable intended for quality sources and amplifiers. The conductors are entirely Perfect-Surface Copper+, the brand's purest copper, laid out in the True-Concentric geometry; alongside them come ZERO-Tech, RF/ND-Tech and the 72 V DBS dielectric-bias system.
Each solution tackles a specific problem: distortion generated in the metal, compression of current transients, radio-frequency noise entering from the mains and from the earth conductor.
Conductors and geometry
Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) has an exceptionally smooth surface and high purity, which lowers the distortion due to the borders between grains and to breaks in the metal's surface. Copper quality and geometry, together, bring a large drop in Transient Intermodulation (TIM) Distortion, the kind that makes listening tiring.
The True-Concentric geometry goes beyond the semi-solid scheme: every layer of strands is wound in a spiral running opposite to the layer underneath. The strands therefore touch at points and not along lines, with higher contact pressure, and interaction distortion falls appreciably.
Current and noise reduction
ZERO-Tech pairs a low DC resistance with the absence of characteristic impedance, to supply uncompressed high-current transients when called for. RF/ND-Tech works on the earth conductor, which besides guarding against short circuits acts as an antenna for RF noise: a common-mode phase-cancelling network and proprietary dielectrics, with differential linear filtering, dissipate it over a very wide band. It is a patented technology.
The insulation of a cable is also a dielectric and can behave like a shunt filter. The 72 V DBS biases it: dielectric noise drops, the filter becomes linear and the dissipation of induced RF noise improves over a wide band. Conductor direction is controlled by ear, batch after batch.
Terminations and lengths
Blizzard can be chosen with a C13 connector, the three-pole IEC socket common on players, DACs, streamers and amplifiers, or with a C19, the high-current connector found on power amplifiers and mains conditioners. The mains side has a Schuko plug. Lengths: 1 m, 2 m and 3 m.
Key features
- Conductors: 100% Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+)
- Geometry: True-Concentric with counter-wound layers
- ZERO-Tech: uncompressed high-current transients
- RF/ND-Tech: RF noise dissipation on the earth conductor
- DBS: 72 V dielectric bias
- Device-side connector: C13 or C19, Schuko plug
- Lengths: 1 m, 2 m, 3 m
