Trust your ears. There are many PC review videos. Don’t trust reviewer’s ears. Listen to the recording of the actual PC. Comparison videos are better. Microphones don’t lie. Human ears are biased always and they trick us. If I like A sound better than B sound in a comparison video, I like A sound better in real life too. Alex/WTA
New expensive power cord for amp and no change in sound?
I bought new an expensive(for me) well known and reviewed power cord for my very good amp and plugged it directly onto the wall socket. After a couple of weeks of daily use I hear no change in the sound quality from a $500 cord. I don’t want to name it for fear of getting my thread deleted. You would know it or at least be aware of the company. Did I throw away several thousand dollars? Before I get the snake oil answer I want to let you know that I bought an upgraded cord for my pre as suggested by the pre’s manufacturer and am pleased with the results.
I guess for full disclosure the amp’s manufacturer said don’t bother. But I had had good luck with the pre so I thought it would be a good idea.
Anybody else have this happen to them?
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@noromance I've measured over 2 Volts, but that was on a class A triode amp that made 140 Watts... or it did if the AC was right. When the spec line Voltage was at 120V the amp only made 100 Watts. The measured AC line Voltage at the IEC connection was closer to 117V as opposed to the Voltage at the outlet. A 40 Watt loss is not only very measurable but also audible. As I said earlier, the power draw from the line is an important aspect of what you can hear and measure. Internal power supply regulation as well as feedback to allow the amp (or preamp) to reject effects of AC line Voltage have an effect as well. So some people will hear things and others will not. This also explains why many people report better sound at night (which the AC line Voltage tends to be higher). |
Unless there was something very wrong with your last power cord, or it was just a very poorly made one, you're not going to here any differences other than those that occur within your own mind via confirmation bias. This has been tested to death. BTW, no one will ever be able to rank a set of well made power cords by quality based upon what they cost. So spending stupid money on cords would be far better spent on room treatments or better gear IMO. I liken these kinds of gimmicks to the nutraceutical industries claims about their pills and potions-- they (almost) never EVER stand up to any kind of real scientific inquiry. The placebo effect however is very real and in almost all cases, the products never test better than the placebo control group. The claims made by so many ultra-high-end cable companies are pure sci-fi fantasy-- and they have the non-science to back them up! Just go for quality made cables that use quality materials, especially the connectors, and you'll be fine. Don't drive yourself mad buying into voodoo claims made by companies that make obscene profits by trying to differentiate their products with sci-fi lullabies. |
And (again): Anyone that feels compelled to harp on not hearing any differences, is obviously too obtuse to understand the term "variables" (as frequently mentioned) and worthy of disregard.
Another rerun, since so many of you are a waste of keystrokes:
Do a bit of research and you'll learn those primitives were limited in their understanding of what they saw with their eyes, based on their prior experience, education and BIASES. A rewind:
OR, two:
At the very first mention of something as simple as Wave Function (a BASIC tenet of Quantum Mechanics), the Cargo Cult will label you a KOOK. But remember: they can only view/understand you, based on their limited experience, education and BIASES. They have overlooked the fact that, if not for the hypotheses/theories and experimentation, regarding Quantum Mechanics: a plethora of modern conveniences, medical devices and the gear they so love, would not exist. Had scientists, chemists and inventors shared the doctrines of the Cargo Cult (Denyin'tologists), there would be no semiconductors, computer chips, LASERs, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging devices (MRIs). Solid State amps? OOPS (back to tubes)! Your Smart Phone? FA'GET ABOUT IT! Your car's GPS? NOPE! Then too: some may be willfully ignorant and just enjoy being contentious. Others: obtuse, uneducated*, misinformed? *Typically, from what's been exhibited here: H.S. STEM, if that, would be a safe inference. Either way: the result, when the Cult begins its rhetoric, is a classic demo of the Dunning- Kruger Effect. But, I digress: Bring up those pesky details, regarding the likes of QED, Dielectric Absorption, Poynting's theorem and possible application/effects, relative to frequency, that our musical signals are carried via photon or wave, outside the conductor and you're a KOOK? Again: the Cargo Cult can only understand anyone with an actual background, experience and education in Physics/QED, based on THEIR own beliefs, education, experience and biases Remember this?.
Oh well: let 'em go build a runway! references: https://uwaterloo.ca/ But: I'm a kook, because I believe in the SCIENCE, from which all that sprang? Einstein got that last one wrong (Quantum Entanglement), BUT- I still wish he'd been alive, when the Hubble Telescope proved, what he considered his, "greatest blunder" (his inability to bring symmetry to his field equation, without lambda). Another example of a hypothesis/theory, with no way to EXPERIMENT/MEASURE, what you're sure must be there, in some detectable way, or another. Just for fun: https://www. Happy listening!
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