Quite a dissertation. Trying to figure out that really applies to power cords that cost more than a power amp. Is it the science that makes them so expensive...or the marketing. 😆
Hearing is believing?........power cables.......
For anyone who is skeptical about the difference a high quality power cord can make in your high quality audio system........try it.......hearing is believing. About 10 years ago when I bought my first "entry level" hifi system (B&K amp/preamp, Canton speakers) my audio advisor dropped off a Tara Labs Prism power cord. He said just try it for a week and if you don't think it makes a difference just return it. I, like most unfamiliar with high quality cables, was skeptical.......how could a cable 1 meter long from the wall to my equipment make a difference? I put it on the power amp and yes I could definitely tell there was a more defined bass and overall clearer soundscape. I'm a musicians, so I figured maybe the "non audiophile" can't hear the difference. So my brother-in-law who is a bricklayer came over and we did a blind listening test. I randomly switched the Tara, sometimes trying to fool him......told him I switched but didn't........he could tell every time I used the Tara! So I was convinced that it was "wishful thinking on my part or particularly sensitive ears. If you don't think a great power cable can make a difference........take the challenge. Try one for a week and see (hear) for yourself!
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Does anybody know - and is able to explain - why power cords can make a noticeable difference? I'm searching for answers but don't find any. Shunyata's list of "misconceptions" is interesting to read, but it does not really explain what physically happens inside the equipment explaining the influence a power cord can have. https://www.gcaudio.com/tips-tricks/why-power-cables-make-a-difference/ So far I experienced the most dramatic improvement when upgrading the power cord of my CD player. Analog-like liquidity, higher resolution, lower sound floor, more dynamic presentation, better dynamic differentiation and denser tone color saturation could be easily heard when swapping power cords. I even recorded a CD for a friend to demonstrate the effect of power cords. I recorded the same (analog) record twice on CD - one time with original power cords for phono stage and CD recorder and after that with different power cords on both units. The mixed CD contains each track twice - so you can "swap" between both versions of the same track. The differences are clearly audible and my friend was able to hear the difference in his system as well. After this experiment I also upgraded umbilical cords of my preamp's and phono stage's power supplies and was shocked because the impact of this upgrade was even more dramatic than the simple power cord upgrade. The overall impact was so dramatic, that I am now replacing every inch of reachable power conductor inside my gear. I do know that the claimed shielding and/or filtering of some power cords does not explain this effect in my case, because my power cables/conductors have zero shielding or filtering that could explain any of the above improvements. Is anybody out there smart enough to understand the physics behind these effects? |
@decibell Explain. Why yes it is quite simple. Power can be noisy and badly designed components and appliances can make the power in your home noisier (even to the point of affecting other components) Switched Mode Power Supplies are a major culprit as they draw high current loads and work at high frequencies. Think of a conventional power supply like a dam across a river - it stores the river energy and allows the river below the dam to be controlled and remain independent of the flow above the damn. A well designed power supply would be like a large dam across the river. The flow downstream is perfectly controlled and smooth. A badly designed power supply is like a very small dam or none at all and changes in the river flow up stream are transmitted down stream. An audio device with a well designed (usually massive) power supply sees only consistent smooth filtered power to the audio signal components and is immune to what is going on in your household electrical power. A power cord does NOTHING for a well designed power supply. You only need an adequate rated power cord and you are hearing the music as good as it gets. An audio device with a poorly designed power supply will see all forms of household power fluctuation right at the audio signal components and will therefore sound distorted and noisy at various times depending how clean the power happens to be. A different power cord may indeedhelp a badly designed audio device as most of the Fluctuations in home power are reaching the audio signal components. So very simple. Badly designed power supplies allow household power noise to reach those components directly producing your audio (line level signal etc) and very well designed audio equipment with large power supplies (good transformers, large caps and proper separation of power from line level) relative to the audio signal components will NOT. |
I'm also of the opinion that, when upgrading cords, most of us go with a fatter cable than what came with the unit, so the increased conductor size increases both the current available (assuming there's not a bottleneck somewhere else, such as a conditioner or distribution box with smaller conductors) and the grounding and neutral path available for noise to exit the component. This is in addition to any smoothing or filtering aspects a particular PC may possess. |
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