All of my AQ powercords are under 2m.
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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@curtdr Yeah, you’re obviously right and the rest of us who’ve found PCs to make meaningful improvements are just kidding ourselves along with the manufacturers of equipment who never, ever use stock PCs either. You keep rocking those black plastic throwaway cords and reinsert head back into that much more comfy hole in the sand rather than daring to explore ours. It really is so much easier for you that way — I’ll give you that. Enjoy. |
Ad hominem much? By your stridency, I do believe I’ve struck a cord... er, chord. 😉 Yes, fine, you and some others have experienced "significant improvements" in the sound of your system by buying expensive cords... great. Enjoy. Experience = subjective, by definition Significant = subjective, usually, unless tightly defined even Improvements = subjective if we do adhere to the concept of let your ears decide... ... and if the OP wants to follow you into that replacement cord tangle, that’s fine w me... we all have our hobby or hobbies, right? This subject reminds me of finances, in more than one regard. Esoteric financial products are not superior to intelligently implemented simple products. Many people buy way more insurance than they need... including "whole life" products... because they either don’t know the research or just because it makes them feel better. High priced hedge fund or other active professional managers, or amateur active traders, do not beat the indexed market in the long run, especially once the premium fees are extracted. Any that do, do it by statistical luck, not skill. But, people who buy into all that esoterica in the face of overwhelming long-term academic research to the contrary often feel better anyway and frequently think themselves smarter than us "uneducated" schlubs with our heads in the sand of our low-fee index funds... And that’s fine too. It’s good to have a hobby, and I’m glad you found one that gets your juices going... more power to you and your system... my hope for you, in all sincerity, is that you someday find your own comfy satisfactory hole, or if you do not, then you will be comfortable with eternal wandering. It’s all good, whatever path you choose. Few people follow the rabbit holes I follow through Kant and Wittgenstein, so hey... and I don’t blame ’em at all. And it’s up to the OP or any other audience member to weigh it all out, consider his own priorities, and choose his or her own path, as well. |
I mentioned already but for me the stress of figuring out how to solve my system issues related to some sonic aspect that troubles me is FINALLY over. I find now it is more relaxing, and in fact highly enjoyable, to consider how I might improve my system. But the beauty of where I am now is that I’m in no hurry to do anything, because I think my system sounds fantastic. In fact, I already have a mix of 2m and 3m cords already! So no rabbit holes necessary. I asked this question purely out of genuine curiosity to see if anyone had experienced comparing like power cords of varied lengths, and what effects there might be…. @ghdprentice did the comparison and he found he preferred the longer cord, while also confirming what others have said about the sonic differences that power cord lengths make, when used in highly resolving systems like @ghdprentice has (beautiful system btw….). I suppose I didn’t start the thread for advice on my system, but rather simply to share experiences and maybe learn something about our hobby from other. Next up for another highly controversial subject: isolation and/or vibration control! |
@curtdr Im in finance, and a lot of my clients were very happy to be partly in managed futures (it’s called diversification) while the market was collapsing in 2008 and those funds were making money hand over fist. Sure they may underperform the market from time to time — every asset class does dude — welcome to investing. But what they saved my clients from the crash more than made up for any net-of-fees underperformance going forward. But again, keep that head in the sand and you’ll know no different nor learn anything. Like I said, it’s certainly easier that way.
I’m very satisfied in my hole because I made the effort to be open minded, continue to learn, and explore what else is out there. To me, that’s part of the fun and great reward of being an audiophile. If the head in the sand method works for you, great. It’s a much easier life but also much less rewarding because you learn nothing further. How fun and enriching that must be. Ignorance is bliss is your friend along with plastic, generic power cords. Enjoy that exciting world of yours. I gladly choose and embrace the other.
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