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Power Cords Snake Oil ??

Having been a long time audiophile living with countless high end compnents I have to wonder about the theory and practicality of high end power cords.

I have yet to hear the difference a power cord makes. Ive owned, synergistic, Shunyata, BMI and cardas. I in no way can detect any sonic signature or change. Give me a pair of interconnects and I imeadiately notice a difference somewhere in the sonic spectrum. Not the PC though. I have accomplished 4 blind tests with my friends. 3 out of the 4 they did not know their cord was replaced. All 4 were using a stock factory supplied cord. Each of the 4 tests were done on different components. Amp, CDP, Preamp & dac.

My electrical backround tells me that provided you supply the component with its required voltage bet 110vac or 220/240vac its happy. Now, change the incoming frequency from 60hz to say 53hz and watch how quickly your soundstage collapses.! This is often the case during the summer months when home air conditioners are in use and the utility company power output is taxed to the max. A really good power conditioner should however take care of the frequency fluctuations. But 110vac is still 110vac regardless of the conductor it passes through as long as its remains 110vac when it reaches the intended circuit. Does your 8k amp or preamp know the difference of the path the voltage took to reach it ? Many an audiophile will use a dedicated 20amp circut for their equipment.That is a good idea as voltage & frequency fluctuations will occur in the home circuit to to other loads on the main breaker panel but again, A power cord simply is the means of transporting the voltage from the wall to the component. IF there is a clean 110vac @ 60hz at the wall socket, no matter what the medium is to go from the socket to the component, it will still be 110vac @60hz.

Could somebody expand on this a bit more. I just dont understand it. ??
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
atmasphere
IOW the power cord doesn't 'rectify hundreds of feet of imperfection' because it doesn't have to. It is important for a power cord to be competent though. FWIW, that has little to do with price. The effects of a power cord are often measurable. I've seen them rob an amplifier of about 30% of its output power due to voltage drop across the cord!

What was the cord made of, paper mache? Why would one cord have a 30% drop but another 2%?
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Oh, great, let’s go back to the Stone Age and use aluminum wire for everything. What is this, the Flintstones? Aluminum for transformers, internal wiring, tone arm wire, inductors, interconnects, cartridge wiring. Aluminum for electronics chasses. What’s next, oxygen free high purity aluminum? Six nines long crystal aluminum? Oh, my! 😬 Quick, somebody alert NASA, tell them to ditch those horrible gold fuses in satellites and spacecraft and switch to six nines aluminum ASAP. 🚀
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ostensible_constituency's avatar
ostensible_constituency
76 posts
 
Power cables capable of conducting sufficient electrical energy (current and voltage) to your equipment make absolutely zero difference to the sound when all other variables are kept the same. The $1000 power cable will not fix any issues inherent in your electrical feed nor will it be capable of conducting more electricity than your amplifier (or other component) needs or was designed to work with. The "audiophile" power cable is a straight fraud and ANY claims to the contrary are based on the placebo effect or someone is trying to fool you or someone else. 

Put another way, it is physically impossible for a power cable that is adequately constructed and tested to to work to make any sonic differences in your high fidelity system. And if you think - or actually do - hear an "improvement" then something is very wrong with your setup or with your brain/ears. 
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