soix…so you would agree that power cable technology has made “quantum leaps” in the last 5 years? That’s all I want substantiated. I don’t care about any other cables. I don’t care about sound comparisons. All of you fragile audio elites get way too defensive over all this cable stuff. I just want someone to publicly agree with this absurd claim so I and all rational audiophiles can have a good laugh. I don’t need “big boy audio ears”. I just need a good nose to sniff out this utter BS.
Power cable dilemma
I have to ask the community for an explanation to account for an issue I encountered this past week.
I received a Mark Levinson ML-23.5 amp this past week. I plugged it in with a high end power cord I purchased years ago (because it looked better than the cheap cord that came with the unit. Lol). I switched from an ML-9 so I had certain expectation of the sound. After listening for about 30 minutes, I noticed that the amp did not sound very dynamic. I got up to go feel how hot it was and the heat sinks were barely warm. I turned up the volume and listened for another 15-20 minutes. I got up to check the temperature and the heat sinks were still barely warm. Also, I was playing the amp at volume level 28 on my Cambridge 851N. That is pretty high. The sound was still lifeless. I shut everything down and just sat there, dejected. Was the amp defective? Was it just a bad match? Were my expectations too high? I don’t know what made me try it, but I swapped out the power cord with a plain black cord and powered up the system. Unreal. I was now listening at volume level 22 to the same song, with staggering dynamic impact, at what seemed to be a similar volume. Furthermore, after about 20 minutes, I went up to feel the amp and the heat sinks were very toasty! So the question is: what could have possibly been wrong with the original cord that would result in lower volumes and no heat buildup? It is like it was throttling the current. To me, a cord either connects or it doesn’t. It works or it doesn’t. There should not be an in between. Does anyone have an explanation for this?
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If McIntosh used lamp cord in 1990 and here we are today with a plethora of choices...that is a quantum leap IMHO. And to be frank, if you selected a $40 Pangea cable for your Mark Levinson amplifier - as you stated - you should re-evaluate your audiophile creed. God knows what cable your preamp or source uses..just stop...posting.
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Who gives one great God damn if there’s been a “quantum leap” or not? If it’s better to your ears and in your system, who cares??? My question is, why do you feel you need numbers to tell you it’s better?
No, you need to bring out your big-boy audio ears and make a big-boy decision for yourself. If you wanna use your nose, feel free, but just being able to trust your own ears and make a decision for yourself is what it’s all about. And, as I said before, there’s no better area other than cables to be able to do this. When you call this utter BS it makes me think again you’d be much more comfortable on ASR where they can tell you absolutely by numbers what sounds better. Yeesh
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@jrimer However a lot of people that have systems that are a few steps up from mine tend to be into cables and power conditioners. The other factor is that some equipment may have more “sturdy” power supplies and are immune to cables. A good amp for instance, should be converting the AC into DC and filling large capacitor banks for the energy needed to push out the current (voltage) between the incoming AC ripples. Ignoring the ground, one should be able to monitor the voltage of the internal power supply while playing some known content… like with a DAC that does ADC. I have not seen that done, but that would be a way to convince myself that something is different. If we hold the manufacturer to supply such info then we might see it.
Those manufacturers have enough of a loyal following that will do a “Joan of Arc” fight for them, that it is a bit pointless to get too wrapped up in it (At least for me personally.) That gear may actually work, but I am disinclined to try it as my system sounds good enough, and I’ll save the funds for things that may work, or that I like the looks of… YMMV.
@soix Nina Simone… 😎 |
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