Do powercords make a difference in sound?

Mrtennis, given your perspective in this matter perhaps your reviews should come with a disclaimer:

"I can't really determine what this component sounds like because I used it in a system, and I have no clue what it might sound like in your system. Weight my comments accordingly."

Perhaps you could use all your philosophy to develop a new method of reviewing, one in which only the component sans the rest of the system could be used. Then you would be able to say:

"I can't really determine what this component sounds like because I didn't use it in a system, and I have no clue what it will sound like in your system. Weight my comments accordingly." :)

Rwwear, ok, I respect your response, thank you.

When discussing with Liguy it appeared that he had tried only similar cables and was now interested in trying ones with dissimilar build/design. Is that perhaps also the case for you?

I'm sure the Krell amps have been very high performers. I currently am using (for review) some top level amps and they show a clear change in sound with various power cords. So, I'm not inclined to believe that the power supply quality diminishes the influence of power cords.

I would imagine that if a person worked in the industry and saw a case of overcharging or misrepresenting the quality/technology of the cabling they would be quite digusted and consider it hokum. But shenanigans by a company in the industry would not prove that cabling with different designs, conductors, etc. cannot sound different. Again, the fact that there is little "solid ground" on which an audiophile can stand in determining the quality/validity of cables in general (i.e. regarding price to performance ratio) does not negate the sonic effect of various designs.

Douglas_schroeder, you say that Mrtennis is saying, "I can't really determine what this component sounds like because I used it in a system, and I have no clue what it might sound like in your system. Weight my comments accordingly."
Apart from the last part of what you say he is saying, it is a true statement in my opinion. As reviewers, we have to hope as do our readers that there is a good deal of communality between our systems, hearing, and tastes. I suspect there is but this sharing is not total. Every time I attend a show and learn what rooms are rated "best sounding" and I totally disagree, I am aware of the lack of sharing.

At its best reviewers, I think, can say this component, cable, etc. deserves your serious consideration. I have also learned over time, that from some reviewers I should ignore this recommendation.

Tbg, Mrtennis will almost invariably take an audiophile reductionist/agnostic viewpoint, i.e. that one can know little to nothing about sound, setting up systems, etc. absolutely.

While this may be true philosophically, I find it obfuscates learning about putting together high end systems. I find it of little value in actually assembling better sounding rigs.

My understanding is that Mrtennis objected to my statement that I can tell the sonic characteristics of sets of cables. I'll stand by my claim that one can indeed utilize cables to achieve a certain result in systems when they know the character of the cables' sound.

So, what do you think, Tbg; what if you used a set of cables in five different systems and the results were consistent every time (but obviously not identical as each system is discreet) in regards to their sound as compared to different cables - would you accept that those cables had a particular sound quality? Or would you take the position of Mrtennis that you can't know what a component sounds like?

I'm not into philosophical ramblings, especially when they're self-evident like Mrtennis's last post. I'm into practical methods of building better audio systems. But everyone's got their own philosophy and methodology. :)

On a practical side.....how many of us have a hodgepodge of cords of different models and manufacturers or worse, running into a conditioner where any difference is homogenized and ultimately inaudible? I know that's my case.

I wholehearteldy agree with the approach of upgrading the outlets and having a dedicated line and stopping right there.