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Power cords: does length matter?

This is a serious question, however if you don’t believe that anything about power cords matter, and you feel the need to make a joke out of the question, feel free.

Anyway: I have noted that all the stock power cords that have been provided by the manufacturers for my equipment are about six feet long. After looking at various aftermarket power cords on the internet, I note that they can be ordered in various lengths from one meter on up.

I would think that the shortest possible power cord in any given application would be desirable (meaning one meter if it would work), but I find that a lot of notions I had about things like this are often wrong (such as what I very recently posted on misc about manually tripping breakers to protect components). So am I also mistaken about selecting lengths of power cords?

TIA for any and all legitimate consideration and answers to this question, and to all others, enjoy the laughs.

immatthewj
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,071 posts
 

+1 buy the length you need. To tell the difference between a 1m and a 2m power cord you will need an extremely resolving system and I am not sure that every power cord in these two lengths will sound any different. Keep it simple. 

donquichotte
131 posts
 

Yes, the length does matter. I have directly compared a 1m and a 2m long Lessloss C-marc power cords, both previously burned in. The shorter cable had an audibly different tonal balance, more tilted towards treble. I also own 2 OCC copper power cables from Clearer Audio, a lesser known British boutique brand, a 1m long one and an otherwise identical 2.5m one. The sound is different in more than one way and there is no clear winner. In a third case, again with some Clearer Audio cords, a 2m power cord has stronger bass and treble than the 1m cord and seems preferable to me.

I've never heard two audio cables of any kind (interconnect, USB cable etc.) to sound the same regardless of their length. If I were buying a power cord and I had to chose a length without being able to audition first I'd probably go for 2 meters or so.

jeffreyw's avatar
jeffreyw
268 posts
 

@donquichotte 

Sorry, I have to call BS on this! Yes, PCs of various manufacturers do sound different; however, in no way will an additional meter of the same brand change tonality so audibly. I think one of your cables was defective. It does appear that you are length envious, though!😁

mike_in_nc
1,153 posts
 

Not unless they are so long that there is voltage drop. That would apply only to high-powered amplifiers and terrible cords.

laoman's avatar
laoman
444 posts
 

"In the dark all power cords sound alike!" Yes JasonBourne, especially if they are switched off.

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