Do powercords make a difference in sound?

Thank you for understanding my position. For a while it felt like I was under attack for having a different opinion when in fact I always maintained that power cords do make a difference in systems with poorly designed power supplies.

The sad part is that there are some high end companies that do not put very much thought in power supply design. I wonder how many companies actually use inductors in their power amplifier power supplies or how many use regulated supplies beyond a three terminal regulator in their preamps or build in EMI and RFI filters beyond a capacitor or leave out a filter to keep DC off the input of a power transformer to eliminate transformer hum? It is certainly food for thought on why power cords make a difference or sound different on different equipment.

hi liguy:

since you are an engineer, how would you test your hypoethsis that well-designed power cords are less sensitive to power cords ?

if you could devise a rigorous experimental design i might make tou a wager that the affect of differences in the sound of a stereo as power cords vary is independent of power supply.

keep in mind there are many variables which are involved in the fabrication of power cords. in your experienece, have you used gold, totanium, palladium, and other "exotic metals ? have you used a variety of iec connectors and plugs ?, have you used a variety of dielectric materials ?

all i am suggesting is the range of parts contained within a power cord could affect the sound of a stereo system , despite the best efforts of power supply design.

i will be convinced of your hypothesis when i hear the results.

oops, typo--i meant well designed power suuplies--my bad.

i meant to say how do you test the hypothesis that well designed power supplies are insensitive to power cords ?

Liguy, ok, very nice additional explanation; thank you!

So, your position is that any component which can be influenced sonically via power cords has a compromised power supply. Correct?

Which components/companies would you say have "done their homework" and have correct power supplies? You seem to be a fan of Pass amplifiers. Do you feel Pass has what you would consider a proper/good power supply? What other companies would you say have good power supplies?

Hi Liguy, never was any offense taken. I simply felt you should be more forthcoming rather than cryptic, and now you have been, so thank you. Yes, we'll agree to disagree -- I just find it impossible to believe that hundreds of high-end component manufacturers are all somehow derelict in the designs of their power supplies when, in your estimation, they could just as easily make them completely immune to whatever influences power cords have upon them.

Personally, I feel it's more likely the other was around: It's the ubiquitous generic stock power cords which were discovered to be suboptimally designed (as we might expect for something that's not even designed or made by the component manufacturers themselves and is treated as a giveaway 'freebie' and an afterthought).