Do powercords make a difference in 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.

Rwwear, I'll pick up cordially on your comment, "My assertion was for those unfortunately hard of understanding is that you can not compare dozens of cables and remember what the first one sounded like. If you can, you're an amazing person."

Well, thank you, I guess I'm an amazing person, because I do recall what the different cords did in various systems. If you would compare sets of cables like I do you would likely hear the "character" or specific sound of the cables, which in reality is fairly easy to categorize, similar to taking a drink of a new beverage. I do slot cables into mental categories based on their use in multiple systems. I do believe that if I were to return to those cables again I would hear the same effect from using them, just like returning to the beverage once tasted.

Now, is that amazing? I don't think so. :)

Anyway, to return to the topic of the thread, I do not need to remember the sound of dozens of types of cables to prove my point. I need only argue that there is a sonic difference between two types/sets of cables. There is no point in my arguing that I can recall various cables, but there is a good point in my arguing that any given set of two cables likely will sound different from each other. If you wish to apply this argument to power cords specifically, feel free, as I believe it pertains.

The pertinent question now is, Rwwear, have you actually conducted comparisons between sets of cables? Merely listening to "everything out there" is not the same. And frankly, I do not care how many years you have been in the audio business; this is not a matter of time in the game, but rather specific experience which you may not have. Have you run listening tests between two or three brands of power cords? Have you tried two different sets of cables (power/IC/SC)?

If you have and didn't hear the difference, I respect that. Then simply say so. But if you haven't, then you owe it to yourself to try.

Mapman, yours is an interesting argument technically to say that IC/SC is in the signal path but that power cords are not. I take a very pragmatic approach to audio; if it influences the sound, it's considered efficacious. I think we would agree that if power cords do influence the sound it would be due to being far more directly involved electronically than various tweaks which have at best only a physical contact to the component and at worst no contact nor demonstrable influence upon the sound waves.

So, in practical parlance it matters little to me if the power cord is "in signal" or "out signal" - I find they alter the system performance powerfully (pun!). They influence the electronics which influence the signal.

I have no problem with you Douglas. But I do with Zaikesman. He appears to be a jackass.
I have tried different PCs in my system and have never heard any difference. I have always had Krell amps up until recently so I'm sure the power supplies were up to very high standards. Maybe that's a possible reason I never heard differences. But I don't really think so.
I once worked for a company that designed high end audio equipment and power cords.
'Nuff said.

hi doug :

your logic is faulty.

you cannot know what any component sounds like.

i'll let you figure that out or prove to me how you can determine the sound of any component.

when you listen, you hear what comes out of a pair of speakers. there are many variables and there is insufficient information to figure out the sound of a component.