Power Cords Snake Oil ??

Kt 88:
The lab amp, which we built, sits on a 1 ½” thick solid walnut plinth. Its transformer is separated from the electronics; the rectifier bridge is a soft recovery design. We spent 6 months developing the emitters made from resistive copper wire rather than nichrome; the diameter and length were tuned to the amp’s performance. To our knowledge this had never been done before. We recently discovered that YBA’s top of the line $35,000 amp has the emitters removed completely from their transistor design which is even better. Tube designs don’t use emitters but they have to deal with output transformer problems. We used Hovland’s best film and foil capacitors and Vishay’s best resistors. The transformer and power supply were wired with very heavy gage solid core with an isolated symmetrical configuration; the transformer temperature is controlled by constant convection flow. We have compared this amp with CJ’s and many others; bottom line: there is no comparison. CJ will probably tell you if they built an amp like that it would cost a fortune. We have no plans to sell this amp but 6 years ago when we built it the projected price was about $6500; in today’s market it would be a bit more.

I’ve followed this thread for awhile but hesitated to join in. It almost read like a private email exchange of ideas due to the character of the responses.

Some of what every member has posted seems factual (at least part of it, based on my experience). I don’t understand the string theory bit, but that last post by Corona makes sense. I can see how some of these ideas put into practice could result in a significantly better sounding amp.

As for his comments about power cords and his speakers, I have no experience to go by. I do know that the type and design of power cords plugged into my Soundlabs (they pull one eighth of one watt) make a huge difference. It should not, but every person who sits listening while I pull one and replace with another always laughs in disbelief.

I try different cables when people I respect tell me they’re worth listening to. That’s how I found most of the equipment in my system.

I know nothing about the cable Corona is talking about and even less about the theory describing why it works. I do know that most cable sounds different from each other and some is a great deal better than another.

At one time in my audio career I refused to believe that any power cord could matter. To me, this was like kids putting giant mufflers and four inch outlets at the end of their one inch exhaust system. How the heck could it help after all that small pipe?

In spite of it seeming ridiculous, power cords make a big difference. The amount of difference depends on the equipment, quality of the system, the cable design, the quality of your in wall wiring and the service provider. It’s no wonder this is the most hotly debated topic. It’s unlikely any two of us have identical situations to draw results from.

My decision is as always. I test by listening and deciding if the amount of money involved is worth making the change. Not very scientific, but the music always benefits doing it this way.

Albert, I think your method of choice is plenty scientific, or at least as scientific as choosing a cord based solely on 'scientific' notions of what 'should' be the case without listening. And the fact is, enjoyment is enjoyment, whether we can 'prove' we hear a difference or whether we can only *say we think* we hear a difference.

I have no doubt that if Corona's cables are physically unique in *any* way compared to all other cables, then they may - even probably will - sound different from all other cables to a greater or lesser degree. I say this about *any* brand of cable, or indeed any piece of audio gear period. But I realize that even were I to subjectively come to the conclusion after auditioning that Corona's cables were the best-sounding (to me) cables in the world, that fact *still wouldn't* validate his claims about *why* they might be the best. And I *still wouldn't* place any credence, only discredit, in his (non-specific at best, deviously misleading at worst, and completely ascientific any way you look at it) invoking of untestable String Theory to explain the differences.

Agreed.

All scientific theory aside, maybe Corona will allow you or I to listen and determine if they work in our situation.

Tonight I went to a formal salsa dance. I was wearing a suit that was ten years old, since I've lost 25 lbs. Like the Men's Wearhouse TV commercial says, "You're going to like the way you look". Wool jacket and spiffy pants, deerskin shoes w/ leather soles. The first band was more jazzy/mambo; softer in sound. I thought my system could do a good job at conveying the illusion of what was being played. Then Sammy De León's band went on stage--Ouch! the entire horn section is composed of young Anglo guys who are incredible jazz performers (sax, trombone, two trumpets). Sammy is THE best modern timbales player--period. There is NO way any system can convey THAT. By the end I was dancing with a HOT mami in her early twenties, with native American indian features, golden brown skin and a good set of hooters. I am 41 years old and let me tell you, audiophools...THE WORLD CHANGED.

Albert, I've taken your advice to heart.

With psychic power and primal intensity,