The Truth About Power Cords and there "Real" Price to Performance


This is a journey through real life experiences from you to everyone that cares to educate themselves. I must admit that I was not a believer in power cords and how they affect sound in your system. I from the camp that believed that the speaker provided 75% of the sound signature then your source then components but never the power cord. Until that magic day I along with another highly acclaimed AudioGoner who I will keep anatomist ran through a few cables in quite a few different systems and was "WOWED" at what I heard. That being said cable I know that I am not the only believer and that is why there are so many power cord/cable companies out there that range from $50 to 20-30 thousand dollars and above. So I like most of you have to scratch my head and ask where do I begin what brand and product and what should i really pay for it?

The purpose of this discussion to get some honest feed back on Price to Performance from you the end user to us here in the community.

Please fire away!


 


128x128blumartini
I should also be able to make one that degrades your sonic as well , right ? Yes , I can , through my trial and error process, I know some things that will inherently degrade the sonic, collapse the soundstage roll off highs, kill dynamics, etc.. This may be easier for people to hear since it sits in the glass half empty arena and it seems some minds stay there..

Perfect. +1 mikepowellaudio
mikepowellaudio,

Making a power cable that is able to degrade sound does not prove that an audiophile-grade power cable will improve sound compared to a generic one of equal gauge. The only thing you proved is that you know how to make a bad power cable.
blumartini
What I can say is that Jay Luong's 27 Best Audiophile Power Cables has been one of the best if not the best attempt to put things somewhat into perspective in regards to the manufactures, models, and prices as well as what to expect at there particular value proposition.

Well, if you think tests done with an utter lack of rigor or controls for his own imagination are "the best..."

..then I've got some magic health crystals to sell you .  They are evaluated the same way.

blumartini, have you ever tried to blind test between audiophile cables and a "normal" competently designed cables? (E.g. correct gauge for equipment etc).  I have.  It was very enlightening.  When I knew which cable was in use I was sure the sound OBVIOUSLY changed.   But when I didn't know which was being used, funny how those OBVIOUS ANYONE COULD HEAR IT changes vanished.  Human perception and cognitive biases are pretty wild.   The stance "If I heard it then it's true and my ears can't be wrong!" is a popular one among audiophiles.   But it's up to you if you want to treat audio in essentially a form of religion or not.

If so, have fun discussing how many thousands of dollars to spend on AC cables.


prof, I suspect your results were because you didn’t implement the proper rigor and controls. Hel-loo!