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
So your claim about not being able to distinguish between power cables power cables in a blind test is based on someone else’s 14-year-old test?
No. And in case you’re having trouble reading for comprehension or keeping up with the thread, that’s simply an example of someone conducting the type of test that I had suggested to the previous poster if he/she was really interested in proving that one power cord could "sound better" than another.  Besides, do you have any test, of any age, that contradicts that one? Let's see it. 

No, you didn’t mention that, which is the logical fallacy of a call to authority. Please tell us: Have you ever conducted an actual blind test to substantiate your belief? Have you ever participated in such a test?

That’s because I wasn’t talking to you and nobody else asked, but when one happens to have more expertise in a given field than another person does (unless of course he wishes to clarify about his own credentials in EE or a related field), that’s not "appeal to authority" and you clearly also don’t understand the definition of that logical fallacy.

Appeal to authority would be along the lines of: "_________ says there is an audible improvement between cheap and expensive power cables and ______ manufactures expensive power cables, therefore he is correct." Which is not what I did. I said that I’ve designed power supplies and that in so doing, and in working with numerous EEs and EE students over the years, nobody has ever demonstrated that one power cable of the proper rating/listing will "perform" differently when measuring the DC side of a power supply than any other power cable.

Have I participated in blind A/B comparison studies? No, I’ve done some switching back and forth with already-burned-in (another bogus concept, but I did it to show that I was serious) power mains cables and I’ve read what actual engineers and engineering textbooks have to say about it.

At the end of the day, and bottom line - if there are no electrically measurable differences on the DC-side of the power supply from changing power mains cables, then there are no objectively discernible audible differences coming out of the speakers, all other things being controlled/equal. Can YOU or ANYONE ELSE hear a difference? Possibly, but that’s the placebo effect.

Rather than continue down this path where people are incorrectly accusing me of using logical fallacies that they clearly don’t understand, why doesn’t someone point me to some test results that are at least somewhat scientific that DO show a measurable or audible difference between a standard, well shielded, UL listed heavy duty power cable and an expensive "audiophile" power cable? I’ve already produced a test and explained why, from an engineering perspective, there is no difference so long as the current gets to the power supply and nothing is impeding it. But so far I’ve seen nothing to prove or even strongly suggest that there is a scientific basis for any of the claims from people or manufacturers that insist a $500 power mains cable sounds better than a $15 Tripplite from Home Depot or Frye’s.
Repeating the same dogma over and over, even in the same paragraph, and obsessively blaming placebo for why other people hear power cords, is a sure sign of....you guessed it!

🍑🍔🍔
The placebo effect argument works both ways. If you're of the mind that power cables won't make a difference, you'll not hear a difference. That, and you'll point to lots of other people who fell the same way and "documented" it. 

All the best,
Nonoise
Repeating the same dogma over and over, even in the same paragraph, is a sure sign of....you guessed it!

In your case it’s a clear sign of projection, which is a psychological coping mechanism, not a valid form of argument. The only thing that qualifies as "dogma" around here is the notion/statement that "my power cable sounds better than yours because I say so!" which gets repeated over and over and over.....not to mention "I don't believe in science!"  LOL
Uh, you just repeated yourself again. Yup, 🍑🍔🍔

Besides, I never said I didn’t have it. That’s probably how I can spot it in others. 😛