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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. ??
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
ostensible_constituency
No. Not necessarily. It means you’re experiencing the placebo effect. Aspergers (or any other ailment/condition) are still possible, but there is no causative or correlative relationship between that and the fact that you are hearing what you want to hear - and - that you wouldn’t hear or be able to point out more than 50% of the time in a true double blind A/B comparison test.

I should clarify my first post, however, to say that "very wrong" is only in cases where the placebo effect has been ruled out.

>>>>It doesn’t make sense that placebo effect can be used as the reason why power cords sound different. Same with the claim that blind tests would prove there are no differences. If either of those claims were true then anyone could automatically win any audio argument by claiming placebo effect or threatening the dreaded blind test. I hereby declare both of those arguments logical fallacies. 
ostensible_constituency's avatar
ostensible_constituency
76 posts
 
That makes zero sense whatsoever. Power cords DO NOT sound different in a controlled blind A/B comparison test. PERIOD. You don’t seem to understand what the placebo effect really is.

BTW, power cables are not the same thing as interconnects or speaker cables. Those are actually in the signal path.

You are fooling yourself if you think a power cord improves the sound of your audio system and in a controlled experiment I would wager everything that I own and my kid’s college savings that you could not distinguish the difference between two power cables of equivalent length, same AWG (even "effective AWG") with ALL other variables in the given system controlled - more than 50% of the time. IOW, it would be no better than random guessing.

Something like this test, but with power cords: http://www.bostonaudiosociety.org/bas_speaker/abx_testing2.htm

It would be much simpler just switching out power cables.

Oh my...what do you know? Here's a power cable comparison test and guess what.....nobody could do it more than 50% of the time, LOL:

https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_11_4/feature-article-blind-test-power-cords-12-2004.html


ostensible_constituency's avatar
ostensible_constituency
76 posts
 
What is an "audio argument"? How does one "win" such an argument?

The fact is that even companies like Shunyata struggle to demonstrate discernible measurable differences between their expensive power cables and others using sensitive test equipment. Even then, that’s on the AC side of the power supply. So for an amp, as an example, which has a built-in power supply consisting of a transformer, rectifier and filter (which also serves as an energy reserve), nothing you can do to a power cord on the AC side of the equation other than damaging it will affect the DC rail voltage in a meaningful or audible way or the availability of reserve current available to the amplifier circuitry. Even Shunyata and the so-called ’scientific’ cable manufacturers cannot show that their cables measure significantly (or at all in most cases) "better" than a standard UL listed 14 AWG shielded power cable.

That’s why people like you and the companies that sell these cables always fall back on the "but it sounds different" audio argument. As though audio is somehow excluded from the realm of the scientific method or subject to physical phenomena that are not understood or able to be isolated.

I’m going to make this short and sweet. NOBODY can hear the difference between two power cables that are capable of carrying the current required to meet the specifications of an amplifier in an otherwise totally controlled experimental audio setup more than 50% of the time.

At the end of the day, it is indeed the placebo effect and if you have purchased a fancy power cable and THINK it sounds better, that's your business. But there is no objective science or proof nor can what you hear be repeated in a reproducible manner for other people, without also tainting that situation via the placebo effect. 
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cleeds
6,035 posts
 
ostensible_constituency
... Power cords DO NOT sound different in a controlled blind A/B comparison test. PERIOD.
ALL CAPS is shouting and not necessary.
Please tell us about the controlled tests you've performed that leads to this conclusion. Who conducted the test, and who participated? How did you switch between the power cords? What cords did you evaluate?

Or, do you state this based purely on intuition?
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Do I detect shouting and repeating in speech? You know what that’s a sure sign of?

🍑 🍔 🍔.

Making me hungry.
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