Which Cable Makes the Biggest Impact?

Zippyy, Yes, we can be cordial. No skin off our backs, eh?

I agree w. Tvad that we could spend thousands of keystrokes. I'll add about 100.
Your comment:
So, based on that thought, all the tens of thousands of dollars that (we) spend on equipment isn't "reaching Hi-Fi" because we didn't invest money in a 6 foot power cord?

My response: It's entirely possible. That is, the entire chain might be held back by a bottleneck at the source. Once that bottleneck is cleared, I would assert that you or anyone else who hears the difference would think that they've attained a much closer result to "Hi Fi" than ever before.

You said:
Without good PC's, our equipment isn't much better then Circuit City type of equipment.

I reply: That depends. You haven't listed your system. ;)
Seriously, I'm not trying to spit on people's rigs. I just find it incredible that people would spend thousands on components and use a stock cord, or a Home Depot cord!

You're not talking to someone who has not tested these things. Years ago, I went and made my own Home Depot cords. Straight up, a waste of time. They made a very marginal contribution, not even close enough to merit the time and money. Almost any manufactured PC I used sounded better, and I tried four or five different ones against it. My philosophy regarding upgrades is very simple: If it doesn't make an IMMEDIATELY perceptible, large difference, then it's a waste of time. For me, there must be a sizable change or else I'm not wasting my time on it, because later I'll grow dissatisfied again. If it's a huge difference, then I'm moving ever more speedily toward my personal vision of what Hi Fi should sound like.

Who among the naysayers have gone out and made cords? Who's bought five or six used cords and set them up to critically assess them? If you've never done it, how can you comment definitively as though you have? Are you simply relying on heresay? Why not go and DO IT, then come back and report what you've found.

Again, look at my MIT review in Dagogo.com; it's very telling that I was able to ascertain the impedance of the component without looking at the manual, but based solely on listening to the changes wrought by the settings on the IC's! You'll understand when you read it. I have not seen too many better tests to demonstrate positively the benefit of cabling. You won't find a more honest critique of efficacy of IC's and speaker cables in toto than that review.

ok, 400 keystrokes

Wow Foster_9, not even my wife listens to what I have to say. 8-) I must say that I am honored. Thank you for your vote of confidence. Yes, I do begrudingly admit now that the power cord has the most affect on the sound, IMHO, IMS.....though I'll be damned if I can explain why....

I do hate to admit when I'm wrong, but after all of the 'experiments', I do now have to admit I was wrong. I'd previously held the fact that the interconnect from source to preamp was most important......live and learn (hopefully).

Cheers,
John

Douglas,
The reason I posted the article was less about OFC and more about the fact that the last 6 feet shouldn't make a difference considering how far power has actually traveled and through its various mediums, i.e. different wiring to get to your home. I guess it's just the skepticism in me. My current system consists of Magnepan 3.6R's with two Vandersteen 2Wq subs and two M5 crossovers. They replaced my Dali MS5's. A pair of Electrocompaniet Nemo monoblocks and a Pass Labs X1 preamp, in the process of being replaced by Aesthetix Calypso preamp. I am currently looking for a replacement front end for my Pioneer PD-65 with a Pass Labs DAC1. Suggestion would be helpful. Truthfully, I have not tried any PC's in my system, I guess I've always figured I'd never be able to tell the difference , so why bother.
Perhaps I will give it a try. After I read your review.

I once used Pass Labs X-600 amps to power my 1 ohm speakers. A friend of mine had much easier to power speakers. When he started getting into digital amplification, he began experimenting with power cords. He found they made a big difference on his sound.

I held an audio party, and he showed up with these new power cords. To his amazement the cords made no difference. The reason was my system was not as revealing as his.

That was a long time ago. Now I am powering my Scintillas to astounding success using ever more fluoride glass quality power gear, I have found my friend was right.

Like Tvad says, your system has to reach a point of realism before wire's real strengths and weaknesses come into play.

There is not a commercial speaker cable that suits my needs. That's all right, I make my own. For ICs, there is no doubt, the simpler the better. One thing I can say for sure, nothing has made more impact than speaker cable substitutions.

I know that the power cables have to be shielded on my system. What I haven't understood, is why some of the expensive ones are better. I want to know, so I can make my own.

In my case, there is no getting around the most important piece in my system is the speaker. Very fortunately the maker of my power duo owns the same speaker. I am in good hands. Being that very few amps survive an encounter with 1 ohm, my needs are unique.

IMO The source is always number one in a successful system hierarchy. Next you want a very agile and seamless speaker. If you get the power needs adequately satisfied, the wires can be written into the plan as called for.

Meaning, if I were to be using some nasty AB amp, I would look into getting MIT cables to cure what ales such a sour beast. In my system, I just need the ICs and SCs to get out of the way as physically possible.

In your instance, Zippyy, I think your system would benefit from a devalued speaker cable, meaning costs less money. Your Mangepans are capable of articulating minuteness and musicality. Just for kicks try the Anti-Cable. It is so frightfully cheap, there is no reason not to. I don't use it any more, but that is another story.

I am a non-oversampling zealot, Get a used AN CD player. If you like the freedom, later you can reach for the stars.

Zippyy, You have a very fine rig! You really owe it to yourself to experiment with some decent cabling! Especially power cords, since they can be had for far less than many speaker cables. With your set up I'm sure you'd hear a difference!

I agree with much of what Muralman1 says, except this:
"In your instance, Zippyy, I think your system would benefit from a devalued speaker cable, meaning costs less money."

Huh?! Maybe it would benefit a bit, but more likely it would benefit little. Zippyy has a decent rig, and he should not skimp on cabling. If he did, he'd likely conclude it's not worth it and make the WRONG conclusion for the wrong reason. I would urge people NOT to go too cheap on power cords! You want too much of something for nothing, and you'll often get nothing for something! You're not going to get "sky's the limit" performance from a $100 cord. If you have a good rig, you'll likely be able to tell a slight improvement. But if your rig is mediocre you may not (not referring to Zippy here!). The more invested in your system, the more you should invest in serious PC/IC/SC. As I reviewed the MIT cabling, I found a significant difference in upper echelon PC's versus entry level ones. Just like speaker cables, the technology and performance really can ramp up as one moves up the line.

At one time, I was a complete cable atheist. I did not believe in them. It was only when I dared to test it that I heard for myself, and that was only effective when my rig was at the point of revealing the changes. Zippyy, you're rig could do that.

Please understand that I am not dissing economical rigs! For much of my life I was the guy with the very economical system. For well over ten years with various equipment I would have had a difficult time assessing a change with $100 PC's! As a rough rule of thumb, if your rig is under $5k, then maybe cords under $100@ could help. If your rig is above $10-12k, you should put some decent money into the cabling and you SHOULD hear the difference. If you don't hear the difference, then move on quickly and try another cable. There should be an immediate, easily perceived change - on the order of taking at most a few minutes to hear/notice. (Caution: Only with time, however, can one determine if the long term enjoyment of the change has merit) On a system below $1-2K look for a component change first before blowing lots on cables.

Many may not believe this, but I can hear the difference that one PC makes on my rig, and with very high end cables it is quite a noticeable difference. Or the distinction that changing the setting on the MIT selectable impedance switch makes. When a system gets refined enough, even miniscule changes are detectable. I think those with extremely high degree of synergy in their rigs will agree.