2. cables
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Cable differences -- power, interconnect, digital, and in what order?

A friend of mine has been a real connoisseur of interconnects and speaker cables; he hears very subtle differences between them, mixes and matches them with different results, and experiments with upgrades (and reselling!). 

One thing he's never done much with is power cords or power conditioners. 

This raised a question for me -- to what degree have people found differences in source and interconnect cables vs. power cables? Are they all important to an equal degree for you? Where is the greatest impact for you?

And if you do find power cables to be an important factor, where have you started making changes in your system? Wall to amp? With source? 

Thanks for any thoughts. 

128x128hilde45
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,792 posts
 

@audphile1 Thanks for the further detail. 

And I suppose it goes without saying that unless one has tried a very good cable for any of the above, one cannot really know what they're missing.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,218 posts
 

@hilde45 correct. And to add to the power cord conversation…not all power cords work equally well on all components. The only exception I found so far is the Audience AU24se power cable that worked very well on all 3 DACs that I had over the last 1-2 years. It wasn’t great on amplifiers or preamps. I’ve also had power cords that worked great on one amp and not as well on other amps. It’s all about trying and finding what works best.

decooney
1,905 posts
 

@audphile1 ...And to add to the power cord conversation…not all power cords work equally well on all components.

 

audiphile1, If you had to pick using a higher end 1.5M power cord (from a very established cable manufacturer), for use between a solid state DAC with internal transformer -vs-. a tube preamplifier with an external transformer - what would be your preference, and why - if you care to share more?.

Notes: Both components are plugged into a Richard Gray Power Station right now. Nice dark background, as-is. If it matters, I do use the preamp for other inputs however, most serious listening is for components through the dac itself.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,218 posts
 

@decooney is the power cable on RG of equal or better quality than the power cables on your source and preamp?
As to answering your question…I would try it and determine where it works best. I would also try to see what it sounds like with the higher end cord on preamp direct into wall outlet bypassing the power conditioner, especially if you have a dedicated line. Probably not the answer you were looking for, but there’s really no substitute for a listening test. 

decooney
1,905 posts
 

@audphile1 is the power cable on RG of equal or better quality than the power cables on your source and preamp?

Interesting question. Similar quality, not one too much greater than the other. This is another reason I may step up and try a potentially better PC for source or preamp, or at least a demo/test down the road. I don't have 5 dedicated outlets in my current room, and chose the path of RG for now, instead. Works pretty good.

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