Power Cords - Just Say Yes


I'm the biggest cable skeptic on the planet. I've never been able to tell the difference between one speaker cable over the other. I've never a/b tested because I just can't handle that sort of thing when all I want to do is listen to music. The power cord however is a whole different beast. I know. I just replaced a 18/3 that was powering my Rogue Cronus Magnum for two years with an Audioquest NRG4. I know some people aren't fans of AQ but that's what my local guy sells and I support him 100%. He sold me a broken in demo which is exactly what I wanted. I didn't do an a/b test and I didn't have to. I pulled the old one out and tossed it in the copper recycling pile and replaced it with the AQ. I fired up my amp this morning and let her warm up. I pulled out Sylvain Luc & Bireli Agrene's 'Duet' and hit the play button on the remote. Right off the bat I had to blink my eyes to make sure I was actually in my house. Everything tightened up with a dead silent background. I feel like a fool for waiting so long to come around on this one. I'm still skeptical of whether or not I will notice a difference when I replace the power cord to my CDP, but if you tell me I'll notice I might believe you. Either way, that's my next investment.
donjr
I'd like to add the following.

Cost can be a factor when considering power cords, but for just a little cash, anyone can upgrade a stock power cord by replacing the cheap molded rubber ends with decent entry level Furutechs.About 90 bucks.

Is that going to put you in the poor house?

I don't think so.

Here's why.

Most of the folks who balk at spending money on upgrades such as power cords or fuses,have never tried them, but somehow know they can't make an improvement.

I tend to side more with the folks who try the stuff they talk about, not with the speculators.

Getting back to spending big bucks on this hobby.
How many of the "cheapsters" think nothing of spending big bucks on their music libraries?

Oh, yeah, it's because they are music lovers and not gear heads.

Personally,it just doesn't jive with me when someone boasts about how large their music collections are and say they've spent their money on what's most important, the music.

Well, for me it's not about how much music I have but how much I enjoy my music, and cheap gear only lets you enjoy a portion of what you have invested your money in.

If I only had 100 recordings but a system that gives me 90 % return on my investement I would be more happy than having 10000 recordings and a system that was only capable of 10% sonic reproduction.

If sound really isn't important, or the gear shouldn't be a factor in musical enjoyment, then none of us needs anything more than a pocket transistor radio.
Anyone realize any significant improvement with homebrew DIY cable? for example like using some beldan wire and fairly inexpensive connectors or am I opening up another can of worms here.
Donjr,

no need to become skeptic. Cables/cords DO make a difference!
Happy Listening.
My first "upgraded" power cords were homebrew.

I had a pair of Quad 63.

The power cords that came stock with the speakers were very thin wire,thinner than lampcord.

I used some solid core romex house wiring and soldered it to a cheap IEC, for the other end I used a cheap 3 prong recptacle.

In those days I had no dedicated lines and no power conditioning, but it was easy to hear the improvement the DIY power cords made.

So much so, that the chap who purchased my Quads asked if he could buy the DIY power cords after hearing the speakers .

DIY is a great way to solve the power cord debate.
Experimenting with better quality connectors and wire is the only way to understand that such things do make a difference,doing nothing will never answer the question for you.I like the Furutech connectors and have upgraded a few of my power cords with them.
I've also made a very decent power cord with their top tier power cord wire and connectors.But this was getting into name brand power cord pricing especially if you are looking at used power cords.

It should be obvious that if you hear improvemnts going the DIY route,you should then seek out some of the pricier stuff and compare.

You may or may not be pleasantly surprised.
Power cords can make more or less of a difference depending on the component power supply build quality and how much current it draws.