How can power cords make a difference?


I am trying to understand why power cords can make a difference.

It makes sense to me that interconnects and speaker cables make a difference. They are dealing with a complex signal that contains numerous frequencies at various phases and amplitudes. Any change in these parameters should affect the sound.

A power cord is ideally dealing with only a single frequency. If the explanation is RF rejection, then an AC regeneration device like PS Audio’s should make these cords unnecessary. I suppose it could be the capacitance of these cables offering some power factor correction since the transformer is an inductive load.

The purpose of my post is not to start a war between the “I hear what I hear so it must be so” camp and the “you’re crazy and wasting your money,” advocates. I am looking for reasons. I am hoping that someone can offer some valid scientific explanations or point me toward sources of this information. Thanks.
bruce1483
7, everyone here is still waiting to hear what kinda music ewe listen to, on what equipment, w/what cabling, & what equipment/cabling yure familiar with. *yure* the one keeping it a secret. what's the point? i thought the purpose of this site was to learn by sharing experiences. no one can learn from ewe when ya keep everyting a secret, except yer belief that cabling makes no difference. whether one agrees or disagrees about the worthiness of cabling upgrades, yer beliefs have no meaning w/o examples of how ewe came to them...

doug s.

I must agree with Sedond. The question of equipment is a topic I have ask you ( 702 ) about on many occasions. The question continues because you avoid all discussion that concern either music or the equipment necessary to make it work. My reason for saying that you do not care for this site is based strictly on such actions.

Audiogon is about the tools necessary to improve music reproduction. You are preoccupied with the desire to discuss (only) ABX testing methods. You have thus far expressed no other interest or otherwise made any contribution to this forum. From such actions, what other conclusion could we reach? It is much like the person who says they are serious about attending a live performance or a movie and then instead, talk all the way through it.

Possibly a dozen posters have already addressed ad nauseam, our reasons for not applying ABX testing to high end systems. Regardless of how often it is explained, the best we seem to accomplish is your non response, followed some time later with yet another ABX posting as though the subject had not been covered.

Obviously, any interest you have for music is totally and completely overshadowed by your passion for this subject. I cannot imagine why it offers you so much comfort unless it is for the reasons I have already expressed. It would be wonderful to have you surprise us with a response that shatters what you have offered to date.
Hi 702, unlike me you seem to have a good knowledge of electronics and why things should or should not work. I believe that most PC,IC, speaker cable, ETC have a sound, coloration or whatever you want to call it. Maybe thats part of our problem. When I put something new in my system, I expect a change in sound. You are coming from a different point of view. I guess you don't expect a change in sound with PCs. Maybe we both have preconceived ideas. As far as double blind testing, I have tried and failed but that does not mean PCs are not a benefit. It just means I failed. I could give reasons why double blind testing doesn't work for me but it would sound like I am making excuses.
I don't think you are a pseudo intellect, I think our background in audio sometimes gets in our way. Even though I failed blind testing, at least I gave it a try. Have you or will you give a PC a try? I have one you can borrow for a week or two. I took the PC challenge and failed but it doesn't change the fact that PCs can be a valuable upgrade. I challenge you to try my PC. With this challenge there is no failure. You hear a difference or you don't.
Hang in there 702, I like the way you stand up for yourself. I agree with Jhunter, I think you are getting less respect than deserved.
Sedond: If I told you what I use, I wouldn't have the fun of seeing a bunch of people telling me what _they_ think it is. ;-)

Albertporter: Obviously what? You make a lot of assumptions on things you know nothing about, Albert. Maybe that's why you disapprove of blind listening tests? To me, valid tests require that assumptions and biases be eliminated and that they be maximally sensitive. That means double-blind testing, especially ABX. Non-blind listening tests are so easily fudged that they aren't worth a bucket of warm spit except to the person making a sale.

Brulee: When I put in something new, I don't expect a change in sound unless I purposely alter something that will obviously change the signal; I wait to listen to see if there actually is a change. Expecting a change is an assumption, an article of faith, a baseless and premature decision. To be open minded, you have to first prove that there is a change; then you can decide if it's a change for the better or not. I don't expect a change with PCs because in my experience, any design engineer halfway competent or better is going to make his power supply robust enough to handle AC that varies over some range, and a change in the AC wires to the outlet just isn't going to make a detectable difference unless the wires are actually damaged. I'd like to try some of the fancy PCs some time in a proper double-blind test with a bunch of different listeners who are sharp and then publish the results. It's not a priority, though, just because I've got a lot of other stuff on my plate already, and those that pay the bills get first dibs. Some people whose opinion and audio knowledge I respect have done numerous blind tests of all sorts of cables and found that within certain parameters (for example, comparing a 12 gauge speaker cable, whether it's zip cord or something fancy, to a 24 gauge wire would be an absurd thing), they don't affect the sound because their electrical effects are minimal enough. OTOH, I've yet to find or read about anyone who actually knows audio and electronics (and I don't mean just knowing the buzzwords or how to sell) who genuinely believes in fancy special cables AND can prove that they're better.