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Power Cords Snake Oil ??

Having been a long time audiophile living with countless high end compnents I have to wonder about the theory and practicality of high end power cords.

I have yet to hear the difference a power cord makes. Ive owned, synergistic, Shunyata, BMI and cardas. I in no way can detect any sonic signature or change. Give me a pair of interconnects and I imeadiately notice a difference somewhere in the sonic spectrum. Not the PC though. I have accomplished 4 blind tests with my friends. 3 out of the 4 they did not know their cord was replaced. All 4 were using a stock factory supplied cord. Each of the 4 tests were done on different components. Amp, CDP, Preamp & dac.

My electrical backround tells me that provided you supply the component with its required voltage bet 110vac or 220/240vac its happy. Now, change the incoming frequency from 60hz to say 53hz and watch how quickly your soundstage collapses.! This is often the case during the summer months when home air conditioners are in use and the utility company power output is taxed to the max. A really good power conditioner should however take care of the frequency fluctuations. But 110vac is still 110vac regardless of the conductor it passes through as long as its remains 110vac when it reaches the intended circuit. Does your 8k amp or preamp know the difference of the path the voltage took to reach it ? Many an audiophile will use a dedicated 20amp circut for their equipment.That is a good idea as voltage & frequency fluctuations will occur in the home circuit to to other loads on the main breaker panel but again, A power cord simply is the means of transporting the voltage from the wall to the component. IF there is a clean 110vac @ 60hz at the wall socket, no matter what the medium is to go from the socket to the component, it will still be 110vac @60hz.

Could somebody expand on this a bit more. I just dont understand it. ??
128x128jetmek
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Corona is right on with his quote. The biggest problem I have with the measurement crowd is that science to too immature to know what it is measuring, much less to know how to measure it.

In many cases modern science is like dwarves standing on the shoulders of giants trying to proclaim their vast understanding, and vision.

We actually understand very little about electricity and what takes place within our humble equipment. We don't have to tools with which to measure, or the understanding of what we are measuring.

If two amps measure the same they should sound the same, since they don't sound the same, there is obviously something missing in our measuring system, or tool box!

It is not the fault of the gear that two similar amps sound different, or that two different PCs sound different. Don't blame the PC, blame the science, or the dwarf! If all else fails, blame the racoon.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
"The more I know about physics the more I'm drawn to metaphysics." -- Albert Einstein
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Nrchy...Science is not quite as primitive as you suppose. Don't be snowed by this string theory bs.

In particular it is very simple to measure whether two amps produce identical outputs. Simply feed the same input (a real musical waveform if that turns you on) to both amps (with level adjusted for gain difference) and make a voltage measurement, or oscilloscope observation across the two outputs. The difference voltage in units of millivolts can be compared with the output voltage in volts and expressed in units of dB. This would not be a very useful measurement for an amp designer, but it would give a user an idea of how well two amps compare... for example an inexpensive model vs an expensive one, or a modified vs stock one. It would not tell you which amp was better, just if there was any difference large enough to be audible.
lemec5b2
67 posts
 
Claiming that science hasn't reached a point to reliable measure audio equipment is absurd. I really doubt you can find two amps that measure identically. That myth is from the anti-measurement crowd, usually people with an agenda to hype over-priced and under-performing audio equipment and accessories.

What no one will do however is take those measurements and claim how you will percieve them.

steve
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,242 posts
 
I'll eat the mylar in my Martin-Logans when an article on the theoretical underpinnings of power cords appears in Science magazine. If the techonology of electro-magnetism wasn't already well understood we wouldn't be having this exchange over the internet.
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