Almarg: Much of what Dr Johnson writes does go over my head. I am not involved at all at that technical level. But I can understand this email that he wrote helping a client and I would think that it will also pertain to The audio craze when it come to power cords.This has been shortened but his response is dead on..
Dr Howard Johnson's response to a power cable upgrade question Lets look at the facts, not the fantasy.
Ordinary 60-Hz power travels miles from the nearest power station over ordinary, oxygen-rich, noncryogenically frozen wires laden with bird poop. It goes through a local distribution transformer (gobs more regular wire in there) and then travels hundreds of feet more through your house wiring to a local outlet. Do you think the last 6 ft of cryogenically altered, helically wound, hand-braided, eight-gauge wire makes any sensible difference?
You could probably solder together old, rusty coat hangers and do just as well, provided you dont have any young children or pets in the house.
So what do you really need in a power cable? Insulation is a good idea. Stranding is good, too. Stranded wire is flexible enough to bend many times without breaking. Thats all the technology you need.
Dr Howard Johnson's response to a power cable upgrade question Lets look at the facts, not the fantasy.
Ordinary 60-Hz power travels miles from the nearest power station over ordinary, oxygen-rich, noncryogenically frozen wires laden with bird poop. It goes through a local distribution transformer (gobs more regular wire in there) and then travels hundreds of feet more through your house wiring to a local outlet. Do you think the last 6 ft of cryogenically altered, helically wound, hand-braided, eight-gauge wire makes any sensible difference?
You could probably solder together old, rusty coat hangers and do just as well, provided you dont have any young children or pets in the house.
So what do you really need in a power cable? Insulation is a good idea. Stranding is good, too. Stranded wire is flexible enough to bend many times without breaking. Thats all the technology you need.