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Premium Power Cable Survey: The Results Are IN

Survey says ....

Thanks to the 179 who took the time to complete the One Minute (okay, TWO minute) Survey. If one thing was clear to me after designing the survey and collecting results is that this is one elite group, with a collection some of the most NOTE-worthy music systems on the planet.

It was no surprise that not everyone shares the same opinion on this subject. There are those who feel premium power cables were on the order of magnitude of migrating prerecorded music from the cylinder to the disc. And, others who feel that premium power cords are the industry equilivent of Pinto exploding gas tanks.

Rather than a plea for decorum, which has been done before (not always with the best outcomes), I’d like to request sometihing a little different. A request that we minimize our energy and emotion related to the specific subject matter at hand, make it somewhat generic, and encorporate "newer thinking" where we maximize the benefit of our time shared together on these forums. Particularly on subjects where we disagree. It’s been said: "It’s better to invite someone tell you what’s right about their viewpoint than to tell them what’s wrong with it."

I’d like to begin with the premise that those who contribute here feel they have something to say. Sure there are "opinions" and "rebuttals" that may be entertaining, but we have the most to gain when contributions add something of value to others in the group. The "best of the best" are actionable items where the reader not only has something to learn, but is compelled to take some action to improve the performance of their systems.

As mentioned earlier, this is an elite group of audio enthusiasts. Some of the best ears in high performance audio, with the brain matter to go along with them. I’d like to suggest that those claim who "hear" sonic differences actually DO hear them. And, those who don’t hear something magical happening, actually NO NOT hear it. The correct response in my view is not to immediately challenge the person and their perspective, but rather ask the question: "What are they hearing that I’m not hearing, and why am I not hearing it?" Or, the inverse. Assuming BOTH questions are valid, then take the conversation to another level. "Tell me about your system. Your location. Your room." The ideal scenario would be to place yourself IN the environment in question to listen for yourself. You may find that you heard nothing of interest. Or, you may find the person did, in fact, hear something pretty amazing. In most cases, the logistics will prevent this from happening. So, we can only share our viewpoints, among gentlemen that we share indulgences with and hopefully those receiving our communications are willing to allow us to tell them what we feel is right about our experiences.

That being said, there are those on the survey with a very high degree of certainty that their observations were correct. Some on the positive side. And, some on the negative side. Hopefully, we can upgrade the conversation from "disbelief and delusion" to "curiosity and willingness to experiment." I hope we learn more about ourselves from the survey and find even more ways to connect in a positive way.

Thanks for all who contributed.

John

A little "housekeeping issue". The "dashboard" link below will take you to the results of the survey. The couldn’t figure out how to edit the font size, so some of the text is crammed together. I hope there is enough information there to make it discernable.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-tcfn8dsvGcfAoSyut8ngrw_3D_3D/

128x128waytoomuchstuff
asctim
500 posts
 

Years ago I had some Stax headphones and their matching amp. I bought some kind of expensive power cord for it. I honestly couldn't detect any change in the sound. I tried really hard to hear something but didn't get even the subtlest of impressions of a difference.  It could be that that Stax and some other speaker amps I used it with later just didn't need whatever that cord was doing, or it wasn't the right power cord that would have helped them in some way.  I liked the look and feel of the power cord. It was definitely better built than anything I'd had before and it inspired confidence. One downside with it was that it was so thick and stiff it could push whatever it was plugged into around, making it difficult to put devices just where I wanted without them being pushed sideways. 

In contrast to the power cord, I really did perceive what I felt was a very significant difference when using some expensive silver interconnect cables. That difference completely disappeared when I did a blind comparison to some super cheap cables. I don't know if this happens to everyone buy my hearing perception changes a lot from day to day, and sometimes over the course of just a few minutes. I've done listening comparisons where I've heard something really good from one component, then switching to the other component the sound has seriously degraded. So I go back to the first component but the sound remains seriously degraded. This used to happen to me when I played string bass too. The instrument would sound rich and warm and then start to sound really edgy and raspy. I really think it was just me and my unstable perception of sound quality. My ear's sensitivity to different frequency ranges changes, and this can be because of psychosomatic effects or just purely physical processes. My sinuses seem to be in a constant state of flux, as is my hearing.

westcoastaudiophile
334 posts
 

@waytoomuchstuff 

thanks for entertainment! 

it will be good to see what exact power cable ppl replaced with “good one”! 

willyht
62 posts
 
I have no doubt that I would fail a blind listening test with A versus B power chords. Having said that, I did spend what I consider to be real money ($200-$300 per chord) to purchase entry-level "premium" power chords. They look good, and fit well, and I am satisfied that I didn't skimp entirely, given that my overall system cost is around $35k.
waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff OP
1,157 posts
 

"Other" responses to the question: "If you have NOT purchased a premium power cable, what is holding you back?

"The Romex in my walls, as well as the miles of wire to the power station, are not premium."

" make my own. I borrowed Nordost Tyr 2 power cords and they made the whole system VERY diffuse and lost bass. I tried it on my audiomagic conditioner, my integrated amp and my dac. Same result to varying levels."

"Being an electrical engineer I know better. The only benefit the larger/better power cables have are the ability to handle higher current and voltage loads....NOTHING MORE."

"All showed 0 significance"

"Just do not know / not convinced which one to buy"

"I tried them and they didn’t work"

"Isolation transformers do the same job, but better. I use three."

"other methods of mitigating high frequency noise"

"Premium power cords are part of the basic tool set of the audiophile, without them you will not be able to reach the potential of your system"

Thanks to those who took the time to provide a detailed response to the question.

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff OP
1,157 posts
 

@willyht

You are not alone. There were more than one respondent who owns premium PCs and not convinced they make a difference. I can appreciate your answer. It might have been an interesting question to find out why people added premium PCs to their systems given no perceivable sonic benefit in their view.

Since you’ve had time to listen to your system for an expended period of time with the premium PCs installed, it might be an interesting experiment to revert back to the OEM cords and listen again? Might be a fun way to spend an afternoon/evening?

 

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