Are manufacturer AC cables good enough?

Power cord must be:

1.UL rated
2.Originally supplied, or meeting same specs as original
3.Long enough to reach your units easily ie. no tension
4.Connected to a good quality surge protector (unless your stereo is a cheaper crap than the power cord itself ;) )

Not sure if you're being serious or sarcastic. Tone of voice and humor can be difficult to convey on the computer screen. But I'll address each of your points.

1. Most aftermarket cables aren't UL listed because the certification process is costly. UL standards helps ensure mass produced cables meet minimum safety requirements for fire safety and electrical shock protection. It is a risk management tool for very large corporations. Low volume, boutique cables cannot justify the expense of a UL listing. That doesn't mean their build quality or safety is sub-par. 

2. Which specs? Same LCR? Same quality and type of conductor material, number and gauge of conductors, layup design geometry, filling interstices, tape barrier, mechanical and electrical shielding, outer jacket? What about connectors?

3. This is a huge variable from system to system. Which is one reason why aftermarket cables are prolific. 

4. I know many people who run amps directly to the wall receptacle w/o any surge protection devices. Some more experienced friends' systems use whole home surge protection device installed at the main electrical service panel or a sub panel. They're not cheap. Many of my hifi friends use that in addition to dedicated 20 amp circuits for each device, quality receptacles, balanced power transformers or AC regeneration devices like PS Audio Power Plant. Most would agree that MOV based surge protectors do the sound quality no favors.

Most would have no clue how MOVs work or appear in the circuit because they would know that effectively when there is no surge, the MOV is would be doing nothing that could impact sound. Now if you mean inductors which are often in surge protectors, then yes you could argue an impact. Whole home surge protectors are usually just a bunch of MOVs in a box perhaps with GDTs depending on where you are.


Most of those construction details you listed are relatively meaningless (except shielding) except on a marketing sheet and express themselves as LCR. That giant filter, I mean power transformer in the equipment is going to be dominant by far for power delivery. The next variable would be ground continuity between equipment and finally shielding.


Absent any real knowledge or information reasonably intelligent people will make up all kinds of "ideas" to support their preferred view. It's not just cables, have a gander at the MDF, Plywood (which extends to aluminum and solid wood) discussion, or discussions about sound stage made without even a basic understanding of how we perceive position or acceptance of basic geometry.

The hypothesis is (whatever the particular wire, tweak, etc); that a change (good or bad) can be heard.     If one desires to apply, "science", to an agenda, regarding their listening enjoyment; experimentation is an absolute requirement.     iow: One must actually TRY, whatever’s being discussed, with their own ears, in their own system.      The electrical/electronic variables, as well as biases and/or aural acuity, are too myriad to calculate.      As one notable Physicist, theorist and Nobel Laureate (popular, for his lectures on QED) is usually quoted, " It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are.    If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong."       THAT’S, "logic".

Experimentation in science requires more rigour that almost all audiophiles ever subject themselves to. Every change can't and isn't "night and day", though so often that is exactly what is reported due to confirmation bias and nothing else. Absent knowing the change, audiophiles can rarely with any accuracy identify a cable change which blows that whole "night and day" claims out of the water. Meanwhile they are still "trusting their ears" while having no clue about their room response, nor dealing with the acoustic issues far worse than any cable.

 As one notable, Physicist, theorist and Nobel Laureate is usually quoted, " It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong."      THAT’S, "logic".

Who is this notable Nobel Laureate? I doubt very seriously if his criteria for experiment is put a cable in a system sighted and proclaim the sonic superiority of the cable. Physicists, theorists and Nobel laureates use stringent criteria for experiment.