Firstly; yes I believe that cables makes a difference. All cables. I don’t want a discussion with ”non believers”.
I use a power strip (Wireworld Matrix 2) which is connected to the wall socket with a Furutech Empire. But now I need a little longer power cable and I thought; does the power cable from the wall socket to the power strip really matter? I mean, all the way to my wall socket it’s just ordinary wire, so why should the part to the power strip matter. It’s just the last bit to the devices that matters, I’ve been told. Or…?
What are your thoughts about this?
I disconneted my conditioner because it is too noisy and it filters and modify the sound quality for the worst... There exist probably better than my Panamax.. I am plugged direct in the wall near the Main electrical panel... Can i improve it ? yes i could with a new wall socket perhaps but the sound quality is already staggering...
My amplifier dated back from 1987 and its power chord is the usual one for the time... I will not change it ...
I dont know if a conditioner will do better... The panamax had good reviews but when i go from speakers to headphone i heard clearly that it introduce noise and distortions...I disconnect it... my headphones are very sensible to the noise floor , i was in the obligation to change even my very good Sansui AU 7700 which i could not fault with my speakers...The Sansui alpha even own a "source direct" button bypassing the tonal controls and the useless circuits from the pre amp stage to the power amp stage.. for less noise... It work well...
I’m not an expert but this is what Cardas states on their website.
“The Nautilus features our own 4181US power outlets. Rhodium/Silver plated contact surfaces and excellent grip tension make both of these premium connectors ideal for audio applications.
There are no current-limiting components in The Nautilus. This is as pure as power distribution gets. The hot & neutral lines are point-to-point wired with Cardas Solid Core 10 AWG copper. The star-ground system uses Cardas 11.5 AWG Multi-stranded Litz Conductor. Each outlet has the same RFI/EMI protection found in our flagship power cables. Each outlet in The Nautilus is equally capable of providing clean power and noise-free grounding to your audio system.” Hope this information is helpful.
My first step (when addressing power to my system) was to replace the 14 AWG, that fed most of my upstairs rooms, with a 20A dedicated line (two twisted together, 10/2 runs of Romex*), on it's own breaker and the bus bar of the Main, with nothing but one side of the 230V, HVAC power on it (I got lucky, there).
The HVAC stays turned off, during listening sessions.
*My listening room's 120' from the mains box.
Although I don't doubt that better outlets would improve things, somewhat: I used Hubbell, Extra Heavy Duty, Hospital Grade receptacles.
That was almost 30 years ago and they still grip like a gorilla, so...
An Audio Magic Stealth feeds everything but the Main Mono Amps and VPI SDS, in my actively bi-amped system.
Though the purifier is there to do just that (purify), making it's job as easy as possible has been my goal in PC selection.
Bear with me a minute, in my folly, far as a possibility on why a power cord might make a difference.
Based on some of the theories on how electricity works, simplified:
The conductor acts as a waveguide for the signal/voltage.
Within the conductor: when excited by an AC current, electrons oscillate, generating photons/electromagnetic waves that travel, always from the source, to the load.
Keep in mind: all signals (ie: music, AC) are sinusoidal waves
Those photons/electromagnetic waves travel through and outside the dielectric, which (according to it's permittivity/Poynting vectors) will have various effects on those waves. One of the most obvious, is the dielectric's effect on the speed of the signal.
The better designers of printed circuit boards, even take the above into account, when choosing materials for their products.
I posted a link on the first page, that included data on the manufacture of semiconductor chips and what was observed when materials were cryo'd, during process. Short version: better contact/lowered resistance between layers.
Under the scanning microscope: much smoother surfaces observed.
I would hope, by now, it's a given that various cable constructions, twists, braids, etc, can make for a cleaner transmission of signals (ie: Litz, etc).
Just seems to me (a hypothesis): given the above (some theories and some things established/measured/proven), it's not a big stretch to believe a power cord, built of the best conductor (Ohno CC silver), wrapped in a very low dielectric coefficient dielectric (ie: Teflon), cryo'd for the smoothest transfer of those photons/magnetic waves and twisted in some crazy way, might not smooth out some of perturbations/noise, from the crap an AC waveform had to go through, back to it's generator. (run-on, much?)
I haven't tested this, actually comparing two circuits, but: it wouldn't surprise me, if a power supply that used a choke, would be less affected by a better power cord, as the former can eliminate a lot of the high freq garbage, etc, that's either created by, or makes it through all the big converting/filtering stuff, before.
Never thought about PCs before the good stuff hit the market, but: the Physics/QED made sense.
I tried 'em, I like 'em and the science makes my head feel better.
OH, and: it takes some time for the dielectric to form, take a charge, polarize, or however one chooses to define the process, when a dielectric is subjected to electromagnetic waves, which affects the Poynting vectors, measurably/predictably.
The lower the material’s dielectric constant: the longer that takes.
You can’t go wrong with Hubbell Hospital grade receptacles. They are built like a tank. Luckily, we have all 12 gauge Romex for every receptacle/circuit in our home with 20 amp breakers. Normally, you will find 15 amp receptacles on a 20 amp circuit. Since our media room is on its own circuit, I swapped our the outlet for my audio equipment and used a 20 amp Hubbell. The rest of the receptacles are standard 15 amp and only used for lamps. Using a Hubbell receptacle is an affordable option that should be considered when setting up your system. Just one person’s opinion.
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