Power Cable Break In - Such a Change!


I installed a new AudioQuest Dragon Source power cord from my Lumin X1 to my Niagara 7000. The power cord from the wall to the Niagara 7000 is also a Dragon but the High Current version. I bought that cord used.

So, when I first started using the new power cord everything sounded great. However, after a couple of days I started hearing a strident sound. Especially in the upper mid/ treble region. The bass was also constricted. I started blaming the sound change on another piece of equipment that was installed concurrently.

Now, I was under the impression that the Dragon power cord with its DBS system required no break in. But I did inquire about it to AudioQuest who responded that it would still need about 150 hours to break in. It's been close to that now and sure enough yesterday I started hearing the glorious sound that I heard from day one with the power cord only perhaps better.

I must say the difference during break in and now is quite remarkable, I don't remember any other power cord going through this amount of dramatic change.

ozzy

ozzy

Most of the cost is in the economy of scale.  They won't sell a lot of these high-end cables, so to make up for that, they have to charge a lot more.

whitestix,

To me the biggest improvements in my system has been with the AC power. That is the usage of dedicated lines, quality outlets, wire, grounding, power conditioning and the power cables. Get the foundation right and the audio equipment can perform at its best.

On the cost of the power cables, I’m thinking the high cost is also due to all the research that is conducted along with the trial and error. The materials are first rate.

ozzy

@sls141

 

I appreciate the effort but he’s only giving his opinion. First of all, who is he and what are his qualifications as a metallurgist or other scientist that deals with wiring and electrical measurements? Second of all, when he says simply bending a wire changes it's properties and therefore changes how your speakers will sound, he loses all credibility with me.

Several years ago I talked with an actual metallurgist and specifically asked him about cryogenic treatment of wires changing the crystal structure and when he stopped laughing, he said *if* that happens, the crystals will go back to their normal structure when they return to room temperature.

Until there is blind testing that shows differences more frequently than simple chance, it’s all just an opinion, and that goes for anything in the audio world.

     According to SOCRATES: "The only true wisdom is knowing when you know nothing."

     My version: "In order to know you don’t know anything you have to know something."

     Here are examples, in response to a previous post (mrskeptic’s):

https://thermalprocessing.com/freezing-out-the-competition/#

     and:

https://www.thefabricator.com/tubepipejournal/article/shopmanagement/cryogenic-processingadispelling-the-myths-mysteries

     iow: YES, cryo treatment DOES fundamentally change the molecular/crystalline structure of metals (as well as a plethora of other materials).

     The problem with naysayers* isn’t that they’re ignorant (ie: that, "actual metallurgist)".    It’s that they, "know" so much that’s outdated and simply wrong.

                 *Those still basing their opinions on 1800s Electrical Theory

     More to the point of the potential affect of cryo treatments on our cables/components/systems:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/materials-research-society-internet-journal-of-nitride-semiconductor-research/article/improved-low-resistance-contacts-of-niau-and-pdau-to-ptype-gan-using-a-cryogenic-treatment/F9F3004B4AB0272292BB7D0122B63429

 

 

the book on cable theory and design is certainly not closed...the video posted by @sls141 has appealing comic-like graphics, but that is not science, just an individual stating opinions without scientific evidence.  Even at our "advanced" date, the science of how  wires conduct electricity(notice I did not say how electricity travels THROUGH wires) is still controversial...if you wish to read mind-challenging science, read the article shown on Jeff Smith's website from FIDELIUM  CABLES.  Regardless, how many reading this truly understand the science?   one can be practical....what sounds better?  That should be what matters, right?