Do powercords make a difference in sound?

Gentlemen;

Some of you have alluded through your posts you write reviews. I take this to mean you write professionally for a periodical or site?

If so, I wonder, is it inappropriate to ask you to identify yourselves and where one could find your reviews?

I for one would be interested in reading your points of view on other subjects besides power cords.

Best,

Dave

hi dave:

i write for audiophilia.com. if you do a search on my name, you will find a variety of essays that are not reviews.

if you read any review i would appreciate feedback as to your attitude regarding my reviewing style.

Dave, I write for StereoTimes. I did write for Dagogo and for SoundStage. Let's just say they didn't work out. I am the only Norm on StereoTimes list.

Dave: That's a very interesting question you asked. I am quite frankly surprised by the answers.

(It would be too politically incorrect for me to explicitly say why -- although in another sense I guess I shouldn't be surprised at all, since I myself was once asked if I would be interested in reviewing for one of the publications mentioned above, by its editor. I wasn't, but also declined because I didn't feel that I was qualified: not as an audiophile, nor technically, nor as a writer.)

Zaikesman, let us consider what might "qualify" someone as a reviewer. Would it be an EE degree, years of experience in audio, experience as a dealer in audio, knowing many manufacturers, being wealthy enough to not be bought to give a good review to get the component at a good price, being articulate, hearing well in tests, etc.?

When I entered audio in the late 50s, there were few manufactures and JG Holt listened to them and said what he thought without any influence of advertising on his judgment. Even in small towns there were dealers who were more interested in the best audio than making a lot of money and who would get products in where you could go a give a listening. All of this is gone now. Even were I to travel over a hundred miles, I could not hear a comparison of products that interest me. Even going to shows where such products might be in separate rooms allows no such comparison.

What becomes very important now is opinions of others about these products and hopefully a comparison with two that interest us. I think today that reviewers now serve to replace going to a dealer and listening and hopefully hearing a comparison between two of the few available products that interest us. I still remember hearing a comparison between Crown and SAE amps.

I seek always to be aware that others might have different circumstances, tastes, and rooms than I do. I view my reviews as personal experiences, with more substance than just saying "this product blows my mind" or "sucks."

Two of my undergraduate majors were EE and physics. I always had trouble with these two as they often contradicted each other. One focuses on building things that work and the other on exploring how things work. I am constantly aware of my not understanding why quartz some places helps, in others does nothing, and in yet others greatly hurts the sound. There is no theory as to why this happens. There are many, many instances of this, in my experience. All that I can conclude when reviewing such products is that in my system they are very important.

Of course, ethics are very important. In the old days, if a dealer had both products that interested you and you heard one that you liked, there were no ethical concerns other than whether he would honor the warranty. I have no real solution to whether you should trust a reviewer.