Power cord length

Threads like this remind me once again that snake oil sells well among we music lovers. Buyer beware.

@wrighton  I do find a difference  in the sound between  different  lengths of powercords and the sorter ones I don't care for as much but a good short cord is better than a cheap computer  cord. Remember  it is your system  and what you like not what I would choose  nor any other poster. They best advice  I could give you is try it yourself then you know for yourself and your tastes. There are many poster that as soon as something costs money it is all false could never be anything correct about this or that product  because  it is not free. Keep that in mind when reading  on here. What's best forum seems to have a group with passion  for the hobby and not as many pretenders.  

"The two meter definitely sounds better. While they are clearly the same power cord the 2 meter is a bit quieter. Definitely worth the money."

"I do find a difference in the sound between different lengths of powercords and the sorter ones I don’t care for as much..."

Let’s try to assume for a moment that the above observations ARE correct. Perhaps we give those who claim to actually hear something the benefit of the doubt and there ARE differences in the sonics of 1M and 2M cables. If an "error" exists, perhaps it is in our attempts to assign cause and effect with our limited knowledge base, thus disqualifying those conclusions in the minds of many? Or, to take it a another direction, maybe those explainations are correct but are simply ahead of the curve and could be months (or years) ahead of our current understanding of what makes things sound how they sound? Years ago, one reviewer, who’s name escapes me, was an engineer very comfortable with the fact that he could not explain in engineering terms the differences he was hearing in equipment.  Maybe there are still lessons to be learned?

I like the poster’s plan to get his hifi buddies over for listening tests this weekend. I, for one, am very interested in the results.

As expected, we got the usual comments from those who think premium power cords are the industry equivilant of Ford Pinto exploding gas tanks.

Perhaps a little intellectual humility would prove to be beneficial, and we toss "what we know" out the window, and just listen?

I made all of my power cords to length with Furutech components. The cords to my mono blocks are different lengths and I cannot tell any difference. I was trying to cut down on cord clutter behind my racks. 

I have one of the older style, braided Audioquest Hurricane Constant Current (source) cables that is 2m, and the rest are the new non-braided 3m Hurricanes.

I don’t know if it’s the length, or the fact that the Audioquest’s design changed (no longer braided). But, the new 3m power cords do sound clearer with more dimensionality. The old 2m cable was flatter sounding, but also more immediate. When I did the test, I was actually expecting the opposite. It pains me slightly not knowing if the differences I’m hearing are due to length or the fact that Audioquest adjusted their design.

I only started considering cable length when I, totally by accident when I wasn’t considering cable lengths, discovered that a 2m Nordost Valhalla 2 USB cable sounded far superior to the equivalent 1m USB cord. Another case where I would have been expecting the opposite if I was actually testing for it. That’s how big the difference was: I wasn’t even testing for the lengths or comparing between cables. I have a USB reclocker so need two USB cables and I was trying my system without the reclocker. I noted my system sounded worse than normal even without the reclocker, so I tried replacing the 1m cable with the 2m, and was quite stunned by the difference. I also tested the Audioquest Diamond .75m cable which sounded closed in compared to the 1.5m version.

A few audiophile contacts I have that are technically inclined and have nothing to gain by propagating myths tell me that for USB, 1.5-2m is best because of “reflections”. Something about the signal handshaking and having to “reflect” back I think. I don’t know if this applies to all digital cables or just USB. For what it’s worth, Nordost recommends 1.5m for “digital cables”.

After my experience, I begrudgingly accept the manufacturer recommendations on 2m for power cords (even though I’ve not proven length to be the reason for the difference I heard) and that digital cables should be 2m, and that analog interconnects should be shorter.