Do powercords make a difference in sound?

I sell aftermarket power cables because I absolutely feel they make a difference. However, how much of a difference they make is very system dependent. In my system, which is quite resolving, they actually make less of a difference than in some others because I already have excellent power with a dedicated line, very high quality outlet on this line, and an excellent line conditioner. Also one of my main components, the Bel Canto DAC3.5VB is fed by their VBS1 power supply, so a high quality power cord on this power supply would be a waste, in my opinion. However, when someone hears the difference that something like the VBS1 power supply makes, even in a system that already has very good power, it's hard to dismiss the importance of good power delivery. Aftermarket power cords do work, but how much you may or may not notice is based on many factors.

08-15-11: Almarg
2)The differences reflect interactions between power cord characteristics, the characteristics of the particular incoming AC, and the particular components in the particular system, especially their power supplies.

3)There is no reason to expect much if any consistency of those interactions from system to system, and therefore no reason to expect much if any consistency or predictability of the sonic effects of a particular power cord.

4)While a power cord may have effects on the tonality of any given system, it is incorrect to attribute tonal characteristics to a power cord, because those tonal effects will vary from system to system.

It seems to me that, in the comments above, Al has identified one of the most recurring flaws in the thinking of many audiophiles, namely that…

If using component X results in audible difference Y, then audible difference Y is attributable to component X.

On the face of it, this statement appears to be not only true, but self evident. But under quite common circumstances, it is false. Specifically, it’s false when the audible difference resulting from the use of a component is an EXTRINSIC characteristic of that component.

An extrinsic characteristic is one that a thing has only IN RELATION TO other things. An intrinsic characteristic is one that a thing has INDEPENDENT OF other things. For example, mass is an intrinsic characteristic, weight is an extrinsic characteristic.

Judging from many posts I have seen on A’gon, there is a widespread tendency to believe that a component’s audible characteristic are INTRINSIC, even in cases where there is good reason to believe that they are EXTRINSIC. Al nicely summarized why the audible characteristics of power cords are largely extrinsic, but it seems to me that the same thing can be said of other types of components.

The tendency to regard a thing’s characteristics as intrinsic is a kind of “localization fallacy,” that is, a failure to recognize the characteristic’s dependence on the external things with which it interacts.

For the record, I’m guilty of the fallacy I’m describing, so I’m not casting stones. Just pointing out something that, I believe, results in needless confusion and disagreement here on A’gon. I suspect that the tendency to regard a thing’s characteristics as intrinsic is an inherent human bias. In any case, it seems to be an inherent audiophile bias.

FWIW.

Bryon

Wonderful comment and insight, Bryon. I could not be in more complete agreement.

Another example that provides a good illustration of what you are referring to would be digital cables. Certainly different digital cables can produce different sonic results in a given system. But those differences will be the result of a complex set of interactions between their characteristics, such as impedance accuracy, shield resistance, shield quality, propagation velocity, the particular length that is used, etc., and the characteristics of the components that the cable is connecting, such as impedance accuracy, signal risetimes and falltimes, ground loop susceptibility, jitter rejection capability, etc. Once again resulting in there being little likelihood of a given cable having similar sonic effects across different systems, a point that seems to be commonly under-recognized.

Thanks! Best regards,
-- Al

"Intrinsic" "extrinsic" "localization fallacy"

This PC business always gets heavy, dudes. ;)

Those are wonderful posts guys, but I'm not sure the argument is as impeccable in practice as on the page. I have to wonder if those positions are based more on theory or experience. In my own experience, although maybe some of this extrinsic/intrinsic business does apply (and I would agree that a good bit of it does apply when it comes to speaker cables in particular), I have pretty much found that any power cord's sonic signature migrates between components with the cord to a significant extent. Whether all of those marriages are happy, within a given system context, is of course a different question. (In my own system, I have actually settled on one preferred model of power cord for all applications, but I didn't always operate this way.)

If your take is based on experience, then my own feeling would be that what you're actually responding to is mostly a simple matter of how well (or not) any particular cord's sound complements any particular component's sound (and vice versa) -- rather than believing that, as Al puts it, "it is incorrect to attribute tonal characteristics to a power cord, because those tonal effects will vary from system to system". To me, this represents an extreme conclusion that, while it may be arrived at logically (if imperfectly), simply doesn't correspond to what I've observed.

I think that like anything else, this just boils down to questions of synergy and preference. (A listener's impression of a power cord might change with seating position!) But like yours, that's just my opinion...