Yep, totally agree. Just sharing what I’d heard some years back.
Ideal power cord lengths?
A quick Google search suggests there is consensus that the ideal power cord length is 2m. 1m cords sound “harsher” and 3m cords sound “smoother”, with 2m being the sweet spot. The PS Audio dude suggests that the reason is that the reason is that all cords have an impact on the power, and the greater the length, the greater the impact, good or bad.
I know many will say there is no difference between a 1m cord and a 3m cord. But my question is, who here has tried like model power cords of different lengths, and what were the differences?
Second question: How does length factor into the equation when you have a cord feeding a conditioner, then other cords feeding components? If 2m cords are in fact the ideal, would 1m cords be ideal when using conditioners?
I tend to believe those that say that power cord lengths matter. While I’ve not been able to do this test myself, I’ve had these two experiences:
- Testing Audioquest Diamond and Nordost Valhalla 2 USB cables, the cables shorter than 1.5m sounded TERRIBLE by comparison. Especially the .75m Audioquest Diamond vs the 1.5m version. But the 1m Valhalla 2 also sounded awful in comparison to the 2m version. In general this opened my eyes to how much cable length matters, and counterintuitively in the case of digital cables.
- I have a 2019 2m AudioQuest Hurricane Source cable from back when AQ braided their cables, and I also have the newer non-braided Hurricane Source, but 3m in length. The new Hurricane sounds vastly superior to my old 2m Hurricane. In comparison the older cord compresses the soundstage depth. I don’t know if the differences are due to the differences in length, or if it’s due to a design change by Audioquest.
Very interested in learning of others experiences with power cord lengths.
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Wow, never considered cable length to factor in; dumb luck that most of my power cables are 2 meters long. More noticeable than comparing different cables, was getting dedicated power to the equipment. This was an immediate and noticeable change. (1) I have a dedicated 20AMP circuit to a PS Audio PowerPort plug, with Pangea Audio AC9 SE MkII (Cardas copper) cable driving a Denafrips Thallo amplifier. (2) I have the same set up feeding a Panamax M5300-PM conditioner, and Pangea Audio AC14 SE MkII (Cardas copper) cables feeding the low current devices.....only exception is a Cullen Cable C7 cable feeding a BlueSound Node 130 At some point will get around to swapping in various recepticles and power cables |
OK, so how about this: you bought a great amp from a reputable company and they sent you a power cord with it... HOW ABOUT just use THAT one? Would Marantz send an inferior cord with the Ruby? I don't think so. Would Hegel or Arcam or Anthem or anybody else with any kind of engineering and reputation send you an amp with a power cord that detracts from the amps performance? I don't think so. |
@curtdr - They are only inferior if you're concerned about sound quality. But to your point... Stock power cables will certainly power up the component. |
@boxer12 - Color me deeply skeptical. I don't believe those companies, or any mid to high enders, would scrimp on the power cord if such a scrimp degraded sound quality, especially of their top models but really mostly through the line. Certainly somebody along the line, in the engineering team or quality control or otherwise, would have spoken up if after all the care and expertise they took in designing a product such as the Marantz Ruby... or take your pick, Accuphase 480, Luxman, whatever.. then the supplied power cord degraded all that work??? I don't think so. They wouldn't pick a random cord and throw it on. They would use one that works and works well without degrading the capabilities of the machine. If you are bothered by a 5' or 6' cord as too long or too short, well I can see swapping out the cord and making sure you get one at least the equivalent of the supplied cord, to get one of a length you need and leave it at that, if you are concerned with cable management and want to tidy everything up. But as for sound quality upgrade? Nope, I don't believe it. Some may call me naive, and some might call me critically skeptical: take your pick. |
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