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Ever hear a power cable make a huge difference?

I just had to share this. I went to synergistic research the other day to get some cables re-terminated. I saw some power cords on the floor and decided to ask about them. Ted, said they were all prototypes, would I like to listen. He brought me into the demo room and played some great music. He switched out the preamp power cord for one of the prototypes and man was it noticably better. Then, he left and came back into the room with a big smile on his face. He pulled a cable from the back that I swear was just recently built. He confirmed that no one had listened to it yet. He put the new power cable on the preamp and...................NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!! It was unbelieveable what a difference I heard. I could not believe how much bigger the sound stage grew, better focus, detail, and faster tighter bass. I had him switch the PC in and out because I just could not believe what I heard. Then he said "lets make it better." He brought it to his Tesla machine and gave it a quantum tunneling. He put it back in the system and to my surprise it was un believably better then what I had just heard. It now made the whole system easily sound 3 times as good. I just could not believe my ears. Then I had to know, how much could I get this cable for. I would think at least $2000 if not $3000. Nope, this will probably go for $500. Well Ted, sign me up for a few of those bad boys.
brutusab
psacanli
535 posts
 
I find MIT Power Cords are extremely effective. I consider the basic Shotgun AC1 as a minimum and each step up provides significant results. Well worth an audition at whatever price point you are considering. They work very synergistically with the power conditioners I have tried as well.
bigamp
219 posts
 
Yes, in answer to the original question. Anyone who debates they don't make a difference maybe hasn't tried a PC that can make a difference. The change in sound can be obvious. It is more obvious for some components than for others.

I had switched from stock PCs to Nordost Valhalla PCs. Valhallas can make bass tighter and highs more detailed. For some equipment this was good, for others not so good. For example, for kicks I tried a Valhalla PC on my old Denon 2600 DVD player, and the bass became almost non-existent (not good). But it was interesting to hear such a difference. WMMV.
alun
181 posts
 
I think I'll stick to my original statement here.
"Why don't manuf. supply quality cable with the product?"
The answer of " products are designed to a price point" doesn't hold true in high end game. I don't think many manufacturers were considering price when building much of the product seen on the hi-end market. I'd really like to hear from a designer on this forum.
I'm not arguing that one cable sounds better than another. Thats personal and I couldn't care less, but if I were to order a pair of Vitus mono blocks, I cant see why they wouldnt be voiced on a supplied power cord!
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Alun, the same answer applies to why they don't provide a better power supply that might not be so affected by the power cord-price point. But I must say that I don't know any designer that spends much time with power cord evaluation. Recently, I have seen a number of components that do not even come with a cheap power cord, suggesting how common it has become to leave these cords in the shipping box and to use the power cords that you prefer.

I suspect that most manufacturers think that they have properly "voiced" their components on decent power cords and that consumers will use their personal choices anyway.
leica_man
153 posts
 
>>> The answer of " products are designed to a price point" doesn't hold true in high end game. I don't think many manufacturers were considering price when building much of the product seen on the hi-end market. <<<

Alun,
Seriously? Then why don't high-end manufacturers only sell their "best" component in each category? Whether or not an electronics manufacture wants to admit power cords make a difference is not the point. They have many reasons, not least of which are consumers who "want" to believe all power cords sound alike, to claim power cords make a difference. Think about it, the minute a manufacturer admits power cords make a difference they will be shunned by people who like to believe all cables sound alike. Conversely, people who take the time to make comparisons discover cables sound very different from one brand to the next. Now if your electronics manufacturer of choice admits power cords do make a difference they will then be asked "which brand sounds best on your components." I doubt very many amp manufacturers want to answer that question as not all of their dealers sell the same brand they endorse or heaven forbid they recommend a power cord that costs thousands of dollars. Should they do this some people will conclude that their electronics only sound good if they spend a bundle on power cords. Manufacturers endorsing power cords or a specific brand is a standard Catch 22 if you ask me.

I revert back to my original response to your proposition that if power cords made a difference then manufacturers would include the best power cord for their products- it's the same reason speaker manufacturers don't include speaker cables and why electronics manufacturers don't include interconnects- price point and the fact no one cable will make everyone happy. I would rather purchase a product that did not include the cost of cables and get that product for the absolute lowest price then to be stuck paying for a cable of inferior sound quality and then have to pay for it's replacement.

LM
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