2. cables
  3. 1071276890

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
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
LT: I agree with everything you said in your last post, but this is your prior statement I was mainly responding to:

"Absolute snake oil...The notion that you can 'hear' an AC cable flys in the face of common sense. There have been too many failed 'blind' tests, convincing test data (please don't tell me your hearing is more acute than electronic test equipment!) and not to mention the laws of physics."

This part I must have misinterpreted: "I don't completely discount the possibility that cabling in the signal chain, or even an AC supply cable can make a sonic difference, whether for better or worse. The caveat is: there MUST be a measurable difference in electrical parameters to explain it..." I took that to mean that you doubted such measureable differences really existed. (Not to mention maybe even a few we don't know to measure for...)

Also 'for the record': I've personally never spent what I consider to be unreasonable prices for PC's (used, natch), but even so, some of those I was eagerly hoping for an improvement with I turned out not to like the sound of. I'll have my worms fried, whether canned or fresh, on the theory that you can eat just about anything if it's fried (...and some might say you can also *hear* just about anything if *you're* fried ;^)
vvrinc
323 posts
 
Hey, real men don't dance jigs!
Everyone knows that.
Real men grunt and fart...only...or maybe grow up to become Attorney General.

Disclaimer:
My wife will, under oath, swear that I was nowhere near the “peebles” thread and was peacefully sitting by her side watching an episode of the “The Iron Chef” while all the shenanigans were taking place. From what she read in the recent Enquirer, a certain, Sir K. Piglet, was the ringleader of the proceedings and is now being sought by Count Viggen's seconds for some good ol’ Brooklyn-bone-breaking. Word is that a duel is imminent.
I fervently pray that the two gentlemen in question will embrace in the spirit of prudence and pulchritude, and settle their differences where “real men” solve their problems...the YMCA.

Pace, pace, mio Dio.
quanmer
102 posts
 
If you could not tell the difference among PCs, and call them " snake oil" , and just leave it out of your option.

I had Shunyata, Tara Labs, Nordost, BMI PCs in my system, and my friends brought their Argento, Siltech etc., all are top model PCs to A/B test in my system, let me tell you, they are all different, and you can tell immediately.

Maybe your system or your ear is not sensitive to the changes . No offense:)
ebm
9,311 posts
 
Jive big time HELLO!!!!
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
The way I understand power is that it does NOT start at the power station, flow through wire, and then is used up in our amps, but instead the electrons push against the next electron. Its not a flow, but a miniscule exchange that is reversed every 60 cycles per second....so that your power cord is actually the FIRST foot of wire that the amp sees, not the last of miles of wire. It has been MY experience that there is NO cable that makes more of a difference than power cables. Again....each design has to be auditioned in each system to hear what that cable does. It has also been my experience that power conditioners can change the sound, but nearly always does so at the expense of some other aspect of the total sound picture. I have never met a power conditioner I could live with.
More to discover