Are manufacturer AC cables good enough?

It's 2020 and people are still arguing if cables make the difference.  Unbelievable.

Regarding Ayre and Cardas, it makes perfect sense to me.  I used to have Ayre CDP many years ago. It had a clean, sterile sound. In the end I used it with Cardas Cross and then GC, which made it a bit better, warmer and more, well, human. But I never came to liking the Ayre sound. 

I am not trying to imply that all Ayre sound like that, I have no idea how their current line of products sound, probably they have some fantastic amps, but that old CDP somehow deters me from looking back at their products. Probably the worst CDP/DAC I have ever had, apart from, obviously, some cheapo stuff.  

I sold Ayre and bough a used Burmester, which btw came with their Burmester power cable. The CDP is gone, but I still have the cable. The sonic picture of that cord I would describe as "hard-hitting" with a pronounced presence range, and this effect was pretty consistent with every CDP I tried. It is so different from Cardas, it's not even funny.

I should try with my current DAC just for the sake of it, but since I am not too much into cables, it will probably keep gathering dust in a cupboard. 

And it’s still everybody’s favorite whack a mole game. Let’s hope it goes another 40 years. Whack a mole. The sport of kings. 🤗

nsgarch2,520 posts05-08-2020 12:50am"....You need  to "lift" (disconnect) the ground at the EQUIPMENT end of the stock cord."

Very poor advice from a safety standpoint. Can you name one manufacturer (audiophile-grade or otherwise) that does this?

+1 yabe1951

Beautiful explanation of the cognitive dissonance, and overcoming it to gain benefits. 

yabe1951

You had a contradiction, your intellect said wire is wire should sound the same.
Your experience said no the wires sound different, better.
When humans have dissonances they try to resolve them it’s just what we do. You solved yours by deciding to "just to ignore the science, for the most part, and the debates, and simply enjoy the music." If it worked then your dissonance has been resolved.

It's interesting because I did something similar. Instead of ignoring science I used science and discovered I didn't really hear differences in cables or dacs it was my human frailty or a human fault or perhaps a survival mechanism that evolved. Anyway it's just who we are you solved your contradiction one way and I another.