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