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Why Power Cables Affect Sound

I just bought a new CD player and was underwhelmed with it compared to my cheaper, lower quality CD player. That’s when it hit me that my cheaper CD player is using an upgraded power cable. When I put an upgraded power cable on my new CD player, the sound was instantly transformed: the treble was tamed, the music was more dynamic and lifelike, and overall more musical. 

This got me thinking as to how in the world a power cable can affect sound. I want to hear all of your ideas. Here’s one of my ideas:

I have heard from many sources that a good power cable is made of multiple gauge conductors from large gauge to small gauge. The electrons in a power cable are like a train with each electron acting as a train car. When a treble note is played, for example, the small gauge wires can react quickly because that “train” has much less mass than a large gauge conductor. If you only had one large gauge conductor, you would need to accelerate a very large train for a small, quick treble note, and this leads to poor dynamics. A similar analogy might be water in a pipe. A small pipe can react much quicker to higher frequencies than a large pipe due to the decreased mass/momentum of the water in the pipe. 

That’s one of my ideas. Now I want to hear your thoughts and have a general discussion of why power cables matter. 

If you don’t think power cables matter at all, please refrain from derailing the conversation with antagonism. There a time and place for that but not in this thread please. 
mkgus
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,111 posts
 
I can't believe you're bringing up placebo. That dog won't hunt. Anyone who falls for placebo won't, in the long run. Patients will eventually take a turn for the worse, and/or die. 

Anyone who's tricked into hearing something will shortly right their hearing after the "test" is over. It's not permanent. That's why it's a cheap parlor trick. That, and it goes both ways: those who refuse to believe they won't hear something won't. They'll just fall back on their math, manual, and cite others, sometimes because they simply can't hear all that well, or they have an agenda.

All the best,
Nonoise
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@nonoise

We are talking electrical differences by using a “better” power cord, if such a thing worked, the output of the device would be different. I won’t even argue audible differences, if anyone can show measured differences between power cords, I’d like to see it.

Here’s some measurements of USB cables, note that after the DAC their performances can be treated as identical, but it clearly shows that you can have lower or higher jitter before the DAC. Although, the differences are with length and not generic vs audiophile-grade.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,111 posts
 
@mzkmxcv,

I think mrdecibel is right, you're simply trolling, or proselytizing (which is as bad), trying your best to convert those who know better. We can hear the difference and don't need saving.

That, and it's funny how you end a lot of your proclamations with "I'd like to see it" and not, I'd like to hear it. What's up with that?

All the best,
Nonoise
Post removed 
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@nonoise
@elizabeth

I’m not aiming to tell anyone who bought a $550 AudioQuest Diamond Toslink cable to return it and get an AmazonBasics one. As I’ve continually stated, I don’t care if you can hear a difference, if you feel a $200 power cord makes an audible improvement, then it was worth it. However, I can say with most certainty that the sound coming from your speakers is 100% identical, and thus advertising such “improvements” and making the layperson believe power cables actually do alter the signal is just how myths get started, same way people think 24/192 sounds better than 16/44.1 (assuming same master).

I’ve asked repeatedly now for an explanation on how a “better” power cord can improve imaging or extend treble response, as @mrdecible claimed, and yet all I get are the same statements that I must be trolling.

You hear what you hear, just like how some people see “the dress” as white/gold when it in fact is blue/black (I saw it as white/gold the first day, then the next morning I saw it as black/blue, totally shocked, and then relived a few days later when it was confirmed blue/black). If you think you aren’t susceptible to placebo, then that’s denial, even people who whole heartedly believe in data/measurements are.
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