How may a simple "Power Cable" change, improve an audio system?


How? How can just a power cable change improve the sound of ANYTHING? 
  Damned if I know. I have my own theories. But as of right now they are very simply just that, "Theories".
And I am a skeptic on this, "At least to a point". 
  Yes, I believe that;
A new, shiny power cable, simply designed to spec. "According to the NEC". And with basic shielding, twist and good terminations along with appropriate insulation "should" in my mind sound better than the ratty old power cable that came with "whatever component". But that's not always the case in my experience. Sometimes the new power cable seems to make no difference at all. And beyond that? I simply know that it "can" be an improvement.
  I do understand that many here believe that anything to do with, "High-end Power Cabling" is just, "Snake Oil" for sale. I used to think the same. But things like this that I am about to report to you just keep happening to me....
  Last Saturday at 7:00pm I was at the "Capital Audiofest" in Washington D.C. And that evening there had been arranged a bit of music "Live", for those of us that were still there at 9:00pm (I "think", it had been a long day)..  I happened to walk in early as the band was just doodling around after just setting up for the gig. They sounded really good and I decided to just hang-out until they played. as the band was going through the set-up and about fifteen of us on-lookers were just talking amongst ourselves between practice songs. A fellow whom I do not know stuck his "head" in the room and yelled someone's name. The bands leader stopped and looked around. The "Head", said; "Plug your amp in with this and it will sound better"! The "Head", then disappeared as quickly at it had appeared, never to be seen again!, "By me at least".
 There were a few scoff's that I heard. A few chuckles about a power cable, "Making an amp sound better"!?
  Then the band leader shrugged his shoulders. He laughed a bit too as he remarked and joked, "Well ok then, A power cable that will make my amp sound better huh"!? He then bent and swapped out the old cable for the "New" one.
     The band leader then played what sounded like the beginning of a song for about 5 seconds. He stopped, "With a bewildered look on his face and looked around as if confused" and then began playing again. After another ten seconds or so he stopped playing again. He looked around the room "Again", with a questioning look on his face. In fact I noticed several people with odd looks. A  couple of them looked simply, "Dumbstruck". A few others had smiles. But honestly? The bandmates looked mainly confused! Then everyone seemed to chime in at once. "Sounds great!", "Sounds better", I heard among other comments but all seemed positive. 
And I have to admit, there was a difference. To me? Not a small or slight difference. A absolutely HUGE difference! Both more open and dynamic it had sounded. Larger and more alive, with more detail too! 
And I have to say, as I "was" sitting right there in the second row about twenty feet from his amp. NOTHING had been changed except for the cable, A two second cable change on the rear of the amp. That was all!
    The band seemed to be having difficulty with this. For about five seconds! Then someone tried to basically tell them that "Yes, The power cable can indeed make you sound better". 
Just as the, "Head", had said!
And the band played on!
 Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Even I was very surprised that the small, "Maybe a 10 watt amp with a ten inch driver". Could have such a major improvement with JUST a power cable change. I never did find out what the power cable make or model was but I will. I talked to the band leader dude and offered to send him a IEC inlet of good quality as he promised me he would swap that out on his amp and let me know of any differences there "If any".
            Thanks in advance for all whom respond!
128x128jollygreenaudiophile2
I do not yet know the "mystery" cables info. But I "should" know soon. As I am about to email the "Band Leader". I actually hope to get him to chime in but have no info on him except the name, band name, and his email. We were on the first floor near the larger expo accommodations and "think" that the "Head" was most likely from a nearby system. There were a few fellows there from the "DC Audio Group". A local club that I happened to join just before the show that evening and may ask them if needed this weekend. I did "Intend" to ask after the cable once the show closed but It had been a looooong day for me and I simply forgot. I actually make cables and am familiar with many but, not these. I did notice that the terminations looked vaguely similar to a "Pangea" type. As it was a fairly small, "factory molded", and square'ish, type of termination on the male end. I did notice that as they look much different from what I use. So I shall add info as I get it. 
I didn't mean to mislead anyone to the fact that I in fact began learning of this type of "Cabling",gear and tweaks thereof in the "Way, way, back of 1978". Playing with my fathers homebuilt kit, "tube amp" and a bootlegged pair of Bose 901's (Complete with a hand etched DSP card!). Which "He" thought were the "Cat's Pajama's". I on the other hand always thought his "901's" had to of just been "Flawed" somehow.
And fatally at that. Cables helped a little but I missed the old "Polk SDA's"!
Yping? There are several reasons why I believe Aussie 'Her "Eichmann", Is simply, "Blowing hot air" in that paper...… . The way he talks of the "Movement of electrons"? 
  It sounds as if he is attributing his "Architecture", that they make or use to "Plasma Theory" which I think you'll agree is....um, "Laughable". It's a sales pitch basically. And his explanation of the variance of the voltage? It does not apply "At all". But I really dig the way he wrote it as if it's just another run of the mill "Known Quantity" to "Him"! Funny the way he put those simple circuits on display but NO math nor even a mention of any, to back anything up...… Don't you think? I can't buy that horse...."I looked at it's teeth".
   I am looking for answers. Hee hee, and I am sure I always will be. But "He" doesn't have any of them.
 That fellow "And others like him",  are a BIG part of the problem with area's such as this, which are not well understood. They "IMHO", are why so many disbelieve that these types of "things" actually do work,
And I would like you to understand that before posting the above statement I decided to do a little research. "Just in case this fellow was in fact honest and diligently working towards a goal in developing an actual theory based on real science or at least facts gained through trial and error. to form the postulate." I "Would NOT", ever want to dissuade one from such as that. And, 
"So what?", if Mr. Eichmann doesn't have a PHD. from MIT, or even an "Accredited", High school diploma? And I care even less for titles!
 If I can find even an inkling of fact or even get just a "Warm and Fuzzy" whilst looking I would have deleted the entire post. And besides, I absolutely hate  bad-mouthing people. "Especially when they are not here to defend", But after a few hours on-line and a phone call, "Down under"?
 I did not edit the post at ALL! And I wanted to. But like I said; "This guy", IS a big part of the problem. And part of why I began this thread to begin with. 
Sorry but I HAD to vent a bit too.
I really like the guy’s comment in the Ansuz video, and I paraphrase here, “the current going to the speakers is a function of the speaker cables and the power cord. The audio signal is on both sides of the amplifier.” I could not have said it any better.
Jolly - here are some of the basic technical aspects that produces a power cable that outperforms more basic power cables

The connector...
- I prefer silver plated copper over every other type of plating because the silver is the best conductor and silver plate can be applied directly to the copper. Other plating materials do not conduct as well as silver and they nearly always requires a different "substrate" plating material for the finished plating metal to achieve a solid plating finish

- Good IEC connectors grip better and provide a better mechanical connection. Good quality mains connectors have very flat pins, which fit exceptionally well in a high quality outlet

The "quality wire"...
- OFC, Continuous cast copper, silver plated copper will always outperform the lower grade copper in "standard" type power cables WRT dynamics.
- thicker gauge conductors are "generally" better than thinner gauge - because they have less resistance and higher current handling capacity

Cable geometry...
- Advanced cable geometries Like braiding, ribbon and Helix geometries help reduce/eliminate the noise "generated" within a standard geometry power cable and as a result allow the peek power demands made by the amp to be accommodated more readily and with less distortion - resulting in faster dynamics and better clarity
- having a larger gauge neutral conductor actually improves cable performance and sometimes result in more clarity and larger image - but this depends on the design of the amp - some amp designs do not respond well to quality power cables, but most Audiophile quality amps will achieve significant improvements

The type of insulation used on each conductor makes a considerable difference to cable performance - e.g. Teflon is better than PVC - a cable has capacitance and more capacitance a cables generates more noise, but this also depends on cable geometry.

Those are just a few aspects of cable design. - they apply to ALL cables not just power cables

I have heard improvements in systems ranging from a $350 Mini System, up to a $50k Ayre system all due to quality power cables

If you are not hearing any difference it could be due to the many other factors that should be dealt with long before pursuing a better power cable, simply because you will not hear any benefits if the rest of your system and room treatments are not the best they can be.

CABLE GEOMETRY: It may seem like a BIG BOTTLE of snake oil to some, but over the last 5 years, a handful of DIYers have co-developed some different "approachs" WRT cable geometry and achieved significant benefits in sound quality

As to WHY? - think about the impacts to the circuit
- when a large transient signal is encountered the power supply in the amp must have the "capacity" to fulfill that transient otherwise there is a slight voltage drop and the performance of the amp is degraded (i.e. distorted), so clarity is impacted
- A better quality power cable will reduce the amount of degradation because it is faster to respond to demands from the amps power supply
- Since there are two amps in a stereo system, we assume that both amps suffer the same degradation, but they do not - this results in image and spatial degradations.

Now think about noise in the power cable
- yes the 50/60Hz power supply is rectified to a DC current, but noise from the cable is still present
- That noise gets into the DC supply
- any noise in the DC supply will degrade amplifier performance (distortion)

These are just a few aspects of the impact of using power cables not really designed for audio use.

Historically, audiophiles have spend large sums of money on amps with huge power supplies that can better deal with transient demands, but today, power cables can augment the performance of budget audio systems to very high levels of audio quality

If you have a question - then ask away.

But if you feel this is all SNAKE OIL, then I will simply leave you to your opinion

But I hope you found this post helpful/insightful

Regards - Steve