Do powercords make a difference in sound?

Rwwear, I do entirely agree that one cannot compare a large number of cables. But two is no problem. But this is a different issue than saying cables are over-engineered and that cable design is not rocket science implying that differences between the sounds of different cables are minor.

The original post asked if there were differences. I would say absolutely with some being substantial; how would you answer?

The simplest answer is: maybe.

No doubt they can.

But in some cases they may not.

Also, when this topic comes up, I like to point out that powercords do not have a "sound". What they have is the ability to affect the quality of the sound the device they help power makes. That will vary by device and is not an attribute of the powercord itself.

Mapman, I think by your logic on pcs not making any sound, only speakers would have a sound.

I see these threads often. Every single time nay-sayers activists jump in to prove that there is no possible difference in sound. The truth is that THEY cannot hear what other people can and instead of admitting it they go into denial. As a result they jump into every cable thread to tell other people that they cannot possibly hear the difference. Their ego is hurt and they quote any possible thing to substantiate their claim - like education or number of years being audiophile or number of cables the listened to. GROW UP PEOPLE - IT IS PATHETIC.

"Mapman, I think by your logic on pcs not making any sound, only speakers would have a sound."

It's true that there is no sound without speakers, so technically that is correct.

But ICs and speaker wires are at least in the signal path along with the other components. I do believe that the choice of components used in the signal path does directly determine the resulting sound.

Not so sure with power cords though. Better/cleaner delivery of power more enables the devices that the electric audio signal passes through to do what it is they already do better.

I suppose its all relative. Everything has to work well and well together for best results. Plenty of clean power helps. The power cord is definitely part of the game.