Inconsistency in System

To Ozfly....Hi. I'm not up on technical things so please excuse me if I sound like an idiot :-) but yes... I was forced to get rid of my PC that came with the amp...and replaced it with an aftermarket one. The current useage meter on the line conditoner/surge supressor which normally reads 1 amp went down to .5 amps. I swapped the PC's a few times just to be sure it was the aftermarket cord. It was. I don't know if you were making fun of me when you said "Wow! First I heard of anyone being able to measure that." but when I saw the meter drop and then swap cords for a test I just assumed the aftermarket cord was a front end cord not meant for higher current equipment. I was just trying to offer Path7man some things to try. Swapping PC's is easy. I'm only tring to help...besides only one or 2 people had writen to help him. I know how it is when I'm looking for things to try fast. Jeez...maybe I should not open my mouth anymore.

I find that my systems sound changes a lot from recording to recording. I put it down to the quality of the recordings I am listening to.

Xplastic, I am absolutely not making fun of you or trying to be cute. It really is the first time I heard of a cord change making a measurable difference. That's very interesting and will be added to my bag of memories I carry forward on the road to audio nirvana. The resistance in that cord must have been pretty large (current = voltage divided by resistance) and, normally, short lengths of different gauges that are reasonably close to one another don't make that big a difference. Thanks for taking the time to expand on the point.

Hi again...Sorry Ozfly if I seem defensive..it's hard to tell what people mean on the computer vs. in person. I didn't think there would be a difference between my 2 cords. In fact I only noticed the sound of my gear was funny at first, very similar to what Path7man was saying. It was not consistant even in the ways that it sounded bad each time I turned on my system. It was a few days later that I noticed my powercenter current draw lights were -.5 amps. The aftermarket PC was just as thick as the original and worked well on my preamp and CDP. That's why I took the time to throw my 2 cents in here...it was the similarity. To be honest ..it was my last ditch effort before I gave up on my problem and sent my amp for repairs. I did not really think It would work but the readout on the powercenter pushed me towards it thank goodness. BTW the Stealth HAC PC that I got to permanently replace my originaly cord made a noticeable difference on my gear in terms of sound. I think it must be the way it grounded and/or shielded.

Slv is pretty much right on the money. Nearly every, if not every, system will sound better during late night listening for at least the following reasons:

1. The system is probably getting more juice because most everything else in the house is shut down.

2. Less noise in the lines due to other appliances and motorized funtions and dimmers.

3. If your listening room has much sunlight coming it, the glare and/or brightness has a way of affecting your mood toward what you hear. Especially if it's bright behind the speakers.

4. Listening later at night, there are less noises in the house that can be disturbing and one generally is more relaxed anyway.

And every system should benefit sonically from proper line conditioning because all AC power has much noise and all digital will generate digital noise back into the lines and service panel thereby contaminating the other components.

The trick here of course is to stay away from poorly designed or mediocre line conditioners.

-IMO