2. cables
  3. 1141487884

High priced power cable what about the romex

I have a question that I tried to post before but for some reason it was flagged by the moderators.

I have nice looking power cable some signal, some MIT, some home made, and they look like they should do a great job, could even run a small town

My question is if you run romex from the fuse box to your high priced outlet, and then plug in your high priced powercable, how will this improve the path from the fuse box to the outlet? And if it doesnt why not just run the same romex to your HiFi.
How does a better grade power cable improve the path from the main grid.
I have heard this again and again "Your system is as good as its weakest link" So isnt the romex one of those weak
links?

I am sure there is a good responce to this and I am not trying to be negitive in regards to high priced power cords but what am I missing?
punkuk
talon4
185 posts
 
Punkuk, Aside from the theories/benifits of powercords, I'd recommend armoured romex to go from your main panel to your outlets or main panel to sub panel. Armoured cable helps in decreasing RFI and MFI. I upgraded from non armoured to armoured romex and it made a big improvement in sound. Also, for my 70' run of romex (now armoured romex) from my main panel to my subpanel, I went from 8 gauge romex to 6 gauge armoured romex and saw a significant difference in sound---especially dynamics and low level detail. Gauge size and being armoured has helped the system as much as an upgraded component change... and it's cheaper. As far as the powercord issue, as Jeffcott said, look up Lak or Sean's responses. They're both pretty sharp gentlemen. Stan
Ag insider logo xs@2x
drubin
3,274 posts
 
"Your system is as good as its weakest link"
I read this a lot, but I think it's wrong. An audio system is not a chain, it is a system. If it were only as good as its weakest link, then why is it that I can upgrade ANY part of my system and improve its performance?

Sorry for the diversion from the topic, but I feel this phrase needs to be dropped from audiophiles' vocabularies.
metro04
222 posts
 
Drubin,

Excluding the power input, the entire audio system IS a series of components ("chain"). Just try upgrading everthing but your 5 watt/chnl - 10% distortion amplifier, or everything but your tiny Radio Shack speakers, or even 24 AWG speaker wiring into your new Wilson Watts.

Same thing goes for your AC supply wiring. To small of a gage, and see how that 300 watt/chnl high current amplifier performs during heavy bass rifs or explosive LFE. Sure a larger gage of 3 foot power cord is better than 3 foot smaller gage Romex, but barely makes a difference over a 35 to 50 run of inadequately sized Romex from the breaker box.

It is JUST a descriptive phrase.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
drubin
3,274 posts
 
But it doesn't describe an audio system very well at all. You don't benefit by strengthening the links in a chain that are stronger than the weakest one, but that does not hold for an audio system, that is my point. You could choke a system with the extreme examples you give, but you could still improve it substantially with upgrades elsewhere. That has consistently been my experience as an audiophile.
metro04
222 posts
 
Drubin,

I appreciate and think I understand your opinion. Although, in large, power-hungry systems like mine and others, typical Romex wire gage is undersized for my amp's ideal requirements, thus the weakest link in my audio system. Me adding a 3-foot several hundred dollar power cord isn't going to help overcome my lengthy Romex's limitations, thus my remaining upgrade.

Maybe I'm NOT understanding your POV, but that's how I and many others (not everybody) view it. Nobody has to win their opinion, but just glad we're able to voice them :)
More to discover