Why does better power = better sound?

My engine( Mercedes) requires high octane, so says the manufacturer.
I will not switch to regular just to save a few bucks at the pump,it could be more costly in the long run with engine repairs.

Rower you can disagree with me ,but I will also not compromise the sound of my system with low octane cables or power cordsjust to save a couple of bucks.

In both cases performance suffers.

I've spent countless hours making DIY cables and power cords and in the end,I've always preferred the ones I bought(Shunyata in my case, but there are others as good or better)to what I've made or the ones that came in the box.

You may love the way the Belden works with your system, but it and Mogami and Canare just didn't work for me.

So far Furutech wire has shown merits in a DIY power cord.

And for me on my system, it's very easy to hear the differeces between power cords, even when used on the SME TT.
Each power cord that I used placed it's own sonic signature on the lps that I played.
Some cables gave more bass weight but less midrange purity,while another power cord did the opposite.

If there is one thing that I've found out, it's that you should never trust the power supply of any piece of audio gear.They've all been compromised to a price point.

Try a HiFI Supreme fuse(unfortunately you most likely dismiis them)on any of you components and notice what it does.
No matter how good or bad your power supply is, the sound can be compromised if you skimp on addressing the power going into that supply.

It's been said many times, garbage in, garbage out.
But you have to be able to recognize garbage, not just accept it as the status quo.

Saddly that's what most folks do.

They place their gear on an altar and worship it as if it came from the audio gods, thinking that nothing can improve upon it's perfection.
Some would argue that if a component sounds better with an expensive power cord, dedicated line, fuse etc, then it was flawed or not well designed.

I would say that those folks who refuse to address power issues have never heard how good their systems really can sound.

Getting back to cars and gasoline,I can't remember reading any of the racing pros back in my youth,using low octane gasoline.

In truth,I always felt they mixed up the equivalent of jet fuel.

But I don't have experience in that field, so it's just speculation.

But I do have experience and it's ongoing(new Furutech GTX D G receptacle on the way).

And what that experience has taught me is that nothing will change when you change nothing.
Something always changes when you change something.

Everything has an effect on your sound.It never sounds the same after you've played around with stands, wires, room conditioning, power conditioning.

The mission is to find what is an improvement.You need to move forward and not backwards.

You shouldn't sacrifice one area of your sound (clarity) for the sake of more bass.

The change has to be positive across the board.

But of course this is all moot to those who feel their system is as good as it gets and can't be improved.

Personally, I've never known of the existance of such a system.

I certainly know I've never heard one.

Add a Furutech GTX D gold receptacle to the list of power products that provide better sound.

After reading about it's use in an upscale power conditioner review I thought I would give one a try.

It replaced a very good Shunyata RZ1, and bettered it in better resolution, smoothness and speed.There was also a reduction in graininess that I never knew was there.

Again, few people realize how much crud there is in the electrical path.
We just accept it as they way it is.

When some of it is eliminated,you realize how much it has been degrading the sound.

Now I am left wondering how much better my sound would be with the power conditioner that was reviewed.

I have a Mercedes too, and it is a high torque engine at low RPMS. To maximize low RPM torque you need high compression...but high octane fuel is then needed to offset the detonation. Do it right, and it's a benefit. Do it wrong and it's a waste of money. Premium in my Focus makes it work worse, in my Mercedes...better. Doing something can change things, but not always to the better just because it is "higher" octane (that means nothing till you use the science)or a higher price (it cost money to make fuel worse on a BTU factor).

DC energy has not grain, phase or sound.

View things as a component void of "price" making it good or bad. Garbage in can be expensive things, too.

NASA has an expensive ball point pen designed to work at any angle in weightless space (it made it to the consumer market afterwards). The Russian's? They used pencils.

We can have a, "throw money at it and it isn't my fault if it sounds bad" mentality with all this. Oh I listen, but DC is DC you guys. A power cord cannot change what's coming out of the wall to any degree a good power supply should not be able to address on it's own. Move the supply? Yes. The cord? No, haven't heard that. Been trying for 30 years to hear it.

We can also have a, "you can't hear quality till you do all this" mentality. Ummm...no. I don't buy anything till it clearly is better. So if that means I use 1694A with gold gas tight compression RCA's, so be it. That's my reference point and why not, it's affoprdabel, logical, and sounds good compared to all the high buck cords I've used, still.

Yes, I can hear speaker leads since this part of the system is so low an impedance and real vector load magnitude that seemingly small inductive and capacitive changes alter the load factor efficiency significantly. The science backs this up.

Not so much interconnects and power cords where things are much less sensitive once you get the basic cords right.

In the end, it isn't a "compromise" at all. It's better, or it isn't devoid of price. making it work right at the lowest posible price is the challenge in this hobby. You have to think, and shun peer pressure to match crowd.

There's no peer pressure, and it's not an exclusive club.
Anyone can join in.

It need not be expensive,there's a lot you can do yourself ,when in doubt hire a professional.

Vibrations can ruin your sound but can be easily overcome, buy the stuff or make it.

The room can be a real problem,DIY or buy, your choice.

Upgrading power products and working from the panel to your electronics is just as important and very often either overlooked or not given the respect it deserves,see above post.

If some folks can't hear the differences in wires or power cords etc, then I would speculate that there could be something wrong somewhere in the their listening room and that is impairing one's ability to discerne differences.

Then again, you do have to train your ears and passive listening isn't the order of the day.

Also, most improvements to one's sound are incremental.
It's always been my experience that the more you address the above scenarios,the better the system sounds over time, not night and day.

Addressing only one of audios pitfalls and you may not notice a change(new power cord sounds no better).
But address all or several and then you can notice differences more easily.

One other thing I would like to address is audio expectations.

Are you looking for a day and night difference in your sound by using that one new tweak(power cord)in an untreated, vibration prone,straight into the wall system?

My take is that there's a 50/50 chance that you won't find much of a difference, and that's saying nothing about one's hearing abilities.

Day and night differences or great expectations of total system transformations is a real problem in my book.Over exagerated claims of such transformations by the mere insertion of a upgraded fuse or receptacle can do as much harm as good, dependant of course into what kind of system they are used in.

Here's the picture-Reviewer AZ has a fully tweaked system, room tuning and great care has been given to improving the quality of power to his gear.
He inserts an upgraded fuse and hears an imediate improvement,he claims night and day difference.
How much of an improvement would he have heard if he ran stock ,no vibration control(cheap or no audio rack)no room treatment(room resonances and bounce obscure variations in tone and texture)and no power conditioning(huge amounts of leakage from all electrical devices in his home and on the grid or dirty power)?

I am thinking none or not enough to warrant the purchase of the tweak.Hense, it's all hype and snake oil.

One's expectations of gigantic improvement to the sound are dashed.
The reviewer must have been bribed or it's just more hype.

So in this instance I would have to say that yes the new power cord didn't make an improvement.

Only because too many issues weren't addressed and until they are, noticing differences in power cords ie will always be a bone of contention.

I can easily distinguish the differences in my system.
Not because I have golden ears and a goose that lays the golden eggs, but because I've addressed the issues that are an impediment to discerning subtle differences.

And believe me they are mostly subtle, not night and day differences.
If you are looking for new audio thrills, buy new speakers.

If you want to hear how good your system is and how it's sound can be improved, address the issues that need to be addresed.

I know I can offend some folks with opinions like this,but they come from close to 40 years of playing around with this hobby.

It has only been in the last 10 years that I addresed the issues, and have since reaped the rewards.

Not night and day, but subtle, incremental improvements that when combined have made more than a subtle improvement to my sound and my enjoyment of the music.

The first 30 years in this hobby I spent them as my mentor Matt once said as an "audio junkie looking for a new fix".

Jonesing for the big audio thrill is expensive.

All it requires is cash, and very little effort.
Spend the bucks, buy the big new speakers and two weeks later look for another pair after the honeymoon glow wears off.

Spend a little cash but make more of an effort to fix up the vibrations, room booms and electrical crud,and you begin to hear where the big lies are in this hobby.

I agree it's not price alone that determines the quality of our sound.
It's what we do to the systems we have that determines the quality of sound.

Do nothing and everything will sound the same.

I can agree to that,and I speak from personal experience.

I'll share a few anecdotes based on my experience in my system, for what they are worth:
first, I use very efficient horn speakers and it took some doing to get the line quiet. Not 60 hz hum exactly, but you could hear a sort of hash that was reduced through various power conditioners and grounding arrangements. I've been able to get this sorted without the need for power conditioning, but I'm sensitive to this. Does it raise the 'noise floor' or make music sound less clear and distinct coming through the system? I think so.
second, I've been experimenting with various rectifiers in the power supply of my phono stage. In exploring issues like voltage drop or 'tube sag,' (something I know guitarists talk about when they want to get a certain 'crunch' or distortion out of an amp), it seems like the tube that sounds better has less 'sag' ; this contributes to distortion. Conversely, the more robust rectifier sounds more effortless, although there may be trade offs elsewhere in the sound spectrum.
I just changed to a battery line stage. For some reason, there was a low level sizzle, which didn't make much sense. It went away after a large crew, with two bucket trucks, went to work on a transformer one up from mine on the line.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the big Equi=Tech wall panel works in my next room, for precisely the reason that AC power seems to determine a lot about how my system sounds.