Difference between non and factory terminated


If someone gave you a good factory terminated power cable, and someone else gave you the same cable, but they terminated it at both ends themselves (let's suppose they done a reasonable job), could you hear the difference? How much, if any, difference does factory termination make?
octuple
If a cable is cutting in and out - now that's a problem no one can live with. I haven't had the experience of a high end cable doing that, and I might be wrong, but I would imagine that those who've had that experience are in the minority. As far as testing goes, if the ears can't hear the difference, then the numbers shouldn't make any difference. The variables of this are quite low - wires and solder. I'm tending to lean towards the fact that there are negligible differences, if any. Any comments?
Some of the guys just like the idea that is supposed to sound better, or otherwise be superior, whether they can hear anything or not. Of course they tend to imagine that they do, and will fight you over it. The audio industry loves them.

Of course the double blind test to them is like holding up a cross to Dracula. They retreat and hide at the mere mention of it :-)

There are ways to make significant advancement toward 'true to the original' in playback, but it first has to be the goal. Then one addresses the weakest link in any system: the speakers, setup. Followed by a distortion free amp.

The top end gear, cables, and tweaks, if still interested at that point can be experimented with, but they are the least significant.
I know this has nothing to do with sound, but in case you hadn't noticed: non-factory termination can severely damage a cable's resale value, especially with cables of more esoteric construction.
Mwilson:
Not as much as the truth about their validity though. I put about $3k worth of cables, which were few in number by the way, on the preowned market and replaced everthing with RadioShack Megacable for a couple hundred dollars fully expecting an audio train wreck.

All that happened though was that the system if anything just sounded a little more real.

While listening to this lack of phenomenon all I could do as shake my head at the power of suggestion. Thinking the mfgrs must 'tee hee hee' behind our backs as they drive their Porche to pick up their Mercedes, singing, 'isn't Capitalism great'.
Didactically - You're not the first one to say that, and you won't be the last. I got a Black Mamba v2 last year (Used may I add. May I?), and while detailed and rich, I think it's the one piece that's lagging in terms of dollar vs. sound ratio, so I get your point. My friend bought a famous power cord a while back that was hand terminated with better connectors than the original, and tested it against a Cardas Twinlink. It was better - much better. It was also more expensive than the Twinlink, even though cheaper than the original of that brand name. I imagined how the original factory terminated cable would have done against the Twinlink. I'll bet it wouldn't have been any better than the hand terminated one. Still we have fussy people out there with their eyes on the cables, more than their ears on the music.