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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. ??
128x128jetmek
williewonka
3,082 posts
 
Stewie - the length of the cord would make little difference - within reason

Quality power cables are only a few ohms/km - so difference between 1/2 meter and 6 meters would be negligeable.

What does make a difference is the quality of the connectors

Regards
stewie
187 posts
 
That suggests that manufacturers could offer "power cords" in increments as small as 2 or 3 inches, so long as the connectors would fit, while still getting the full effect of the cord. On the other hand, I guess it's all for nothing if the wire immediately inside of the amp's or preamp's ac socket isn't that great. But I don't know if that' true.
williewonka
3,082 posts
 
The internal wiring is generally a reasonable quality and its solid, which does make a difference

I did try braided Rome and it performed very well - but not quite as good as my Furutech cables.

I did find one power cord where the manufacturer stipulated a minimum of 1.5 meters.

But that could just be a sales ploy:-)
joeyboynj
621 posts
 
I have to agree with most of Foster_9 posts. Aftermarket power cords are a definite upgrade and can be done for free from most manufactures for 30-day in home trials. Try it out and see for yourself. But as Foster_9 indicates results vary from component to component where some, very few in my systems, just don't offer much benefit. But in many cases I've heard huge upgrade in sound quality in many ways. Experiment and always enjoy.
cbozdog
63 posts
 
Sophia Electric Baby amp - the thin cord it came with is the best. I tried replacing it with Shunyata Diamondback, Audio Magic Sorcerer, Audio Magic XStream, Audioquest AC-15, Zu Birth and others and obtained worse result - significantly worse for some of the cords (all the cords made good improvements on their own in other parts of the system). I don't even know if this was the original cord, looks totally generic, might have been hand-picked from a loom by the previous owner of the amp?
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