Power Cables

I’ve used Acoustic Zen, Nordost, and Morrow power cables on my components. All three improved the sound noticeably on my Cambridge Audio 851n streamer/DAC and my Oppo 83 which I use for SACD. A more subtle improvement on my Bel Canto PRE5 preamp, and no difference to speak of on my Bel Canto 500M monoblocks. In the end I kept the Morrow MAP3s and sold the others. They may have sounded very very slightly better than the Morrows, but the Morrows are so much easier to snake through my cabinet. My theory is that less sophisticated power supplies in components react more to upgraded power chords. 

@mikhailark what is the point of using servers without analog components somewhere in the chain and nearby?  OK, powered speakers with wifi maybe.  For more traditional systems, there will be analog gear in close proximity to the server (and DAC).  Just saying, servers rarely exist in a digital vacuum, and cables and other potentially noisy boxes are in the neighborhood.

ASR must be down for maintenance today. 

@knownothing - correct. However, the topic is about purely digital system such as streamer without DAC, or a LAN cable “filtering” device. You have network cables running on top of your tube amp? Sure, shielding might help. Power cable for a network switch or a pure digital streamer? Well, its your money.

@mikhailark 

I am a technical person, and I agree, I cannot think of how a power cord would affect the digital output stream from a dedicated streamer. But at least we agreed earlier that a power cord can make a difference where analog is involved, so they can make a difference. However for pure digital, without any idea how a power cord could affect it, but know they can have an affect on other components, I think we have to look at empirical evidence.

I started thinking about my Innuos Zenith streamer, and its predecessor an Aurender N10. Both products touted their power supplies. I pulled up the Innuos page for the Innuos Zenith, the very first sentence reads:

"Pushing our popular ZENith even further, the advanced MK3 includes a Triple-Linear PSU with Mundorf CAPS and custom-treated SSD. Ideal for audiophiles who want a smoother, more relaxed sound with a wider soundstage"

So the experts at Innuos say that clean power matters. And if clean power matters, then it seems that a power cord could affect the performance of a streamer, even though it is just twiddling bits. Do we know how or why, nope. But empirically the evidence inherent in the design of the Innuos gear and other streamers, and the educated opinions of experts in this forum, seem to say that it matters.

Logically a power cord cannot make a difference in this case, but the empirical evidence says otherwise.