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  3. 1071276890

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. ??
128x128jetmek
flex
292 posts
 
I think... still think.. one of the most important non-Corona-related points on this thread is as follows:

Most systems respond to power cords, often far too much so -

The original poster of this thread, long forgotten, stated that power cords did not produce audible differences in his system.

Audioengr stated that from his experience, correct design or modification of power supplies greatly reduces power cord colorations.

If mods of this sort can be demonstrated and quantized, it should lead to next generation equipment with less performance variability. The best way to defeat the need for expensive cables is to define conditions where they become unnecessary.

Any alternative thoughts on this?
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Flex, did you go dancing, too?
john_beavers
47 posts
 
"Audioengr stated that from his experience, correct design or modification of power supplies greatly reduces power cord colorations"

I think that most people who examine the SimAudio P-5 power supply would consider it a state of the art piece, housed within it's own chassis, connected to the line stage itself by a balanced cable. And yet, as well designed as this pre-amp is, when I replaced the stock power cord with a Sahuaro Ampthrilla, the change in sonics, soundstage depth and width, and overall tonal details, all increased when the Sahuaro power cord was put on, and decreased when the stock cord went back on. Don't know about other brands, but from repeated use with various components, Sahuaro ain't no snake oil :) Of course it could all be in my head, but you know what, it still gives me the same results everytime so...if it takes buying some snake oil to make the magic happen, yabba dabba do :)
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
JB, be sure to keep track of the distinction between a marketing angle that impresses as 'snake oil', and the entirely separate issue of whether the product itself might be described as such.

In my own system, when I got my Levinson 380S preamp - which is not entirely friendly to aftermarket PC's due to its requirement for a right-angle IEC plug, connected on the unit's underside - I asked some dealers who handled the line whether in their experience the piece responded to upgraded PC's. Several sources opined that the internal power supply was so good that no improvement would be heard, and not to worry about a PC change. I wondered if this was a position taken as much out of convenience as of conviction or experimentation, so I persisted until I got another dealer to admit that, yes, it could make a small but worthwhile improvement, but since telling a customer so just created a dissatisfaction that wasn't easily addressed, the other story prevailed. (In fact, the story I heard from all the others was so consistent that I began to suspect that maybe ML reps had hipped them to it as a method of deflecting a predictable objection.) So I decided to prop up my 380S on top of some temporary improvised supports which would allow a straight-plugged cord room to exit without excessive bending and listen for myself. Sure enough, just as I've found with all my other gear, a better cord did indeed make a difference, though in this case the improvement was definitely toward the lesser end of the scale. I think better-designed power supplies can help avoid excessively bad effects from using stock PC's, but I'm not sure it's possible in electronic gear to design-out upgrade-PC benefits completely.
corona
132 posts
 
Zaikesman:
The central issues are:
1. Is resonance the fundamental essence or energy of the universe?
2. Does the alteration of resonance create a change in energy?
After many years of testing we came to the conclusion the answer is “yes” to both questions.
Thereafter we discovered that “String Theory” encompassed the same ideas.

Audio Application:
All electromagnetic phenomenons are based on resonance; change resonance and energy is transformed.
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