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Power Cord Challenge

I've got a couple of weeks off before starting a new job. As I clearly fall into the camp of those who suspect no purely audible differences exist (except in pathologic cases of too-small cords or RFI interference), here's a challenge:

If you live in the San Jose, CA area, let's get together and put this to the test. Your system, your choice of music, I supply a stock power cord to test against your exotic. We play both cords blind (identified as A and B) for a reasonable amout of time; I then play one of the two (randomly chosen through a coin flip) for a reasonable amount of time and you identify it as either A or B. We'll do 10 trials for some statistical significance.

Given that some claim drastic and easily heard differences ("blacker background", "music is more alive", etc., etc., etc.), it should be trivial to get right and shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes per trial. The kicker: you get 9 or 10 right and I'll give you $500! The downside: 8 or less correct and you donate $250 to the Red Cross. Hey, I'm even giving you 2 for 1 odds!

Regardless of the outcome, we post the results to this site. Any takers?

Cheers,
JHunter
jhunter
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,662 posts
 
Hi Kevin: Thanks for the offer and I will definately take you up on it if either of these sessions come together. If you have a personal cord that is already broken in that would be great, and I will burn it an additional 100+ hours after it arrives, just to get rid of the travel blues. Best regards, David.
kevperro
72 posts
 
I had a broken-in one around here for awhile but I shipped it. I'll put another one on my amp and let it run. I have a MOBIE for the interconnects but the power cables are useless to break-in before shipping. All that agitation during shipping does something to them. Keep them off the ground for listening and it helps to run them on the equipment you want to test for awhile before getting into listening mode. If all of this isn't unscientific enough for you then try some yoga and meditation before listening. :)
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,662 posts
 
Kevin: I have been having good luck running extra PC's in on the computer for 2-3 weeks. They sound smooth enough to listen to anyway and then I use them on the systems.
greg_lock
2 posts
 
JHunter, My first time reading these threads, but this hits my questionong right on. I've been out of the hi fi cicuit for some time,( a good 15 yrs. ). Back when I was really into it, the only 'wire' upgrades were Monster cable speaker wire, & Kimber cable had just hit the market,( we're talking 20 yrs, ago),& I wasn't overly impressed with Kimber back then.I ended up on e-bay from another site, & decided to search audio. I saw a power cord advertised,& was floored by a 1000.00 price tag, then I saw another 2995.00 cord on 'sale' for 1500.00. All I can say is that a fool & their money are soon parted. I can't see spending 1000.00 for a power cord, much less 500.00 for a pr of interconnects. For crying out loud, that's the price of a decent pre-amp, or amp! When you consider the amout of 'material' in any component, even a cheap cd player compared to whats in a 'pig-tail', come on. I don't doubt thay it makes 'a' difference, but the dollars just don't seem to add up. That's my 2 cents worth
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
JHunter, I live 10 minutes southwest of San Jose and will bring the wine in exchange for a ducat to sit in on the event, if you ever find a taker. Of course, the wine will have to wait until AFTER the ballots are cast so as not to unduly influence the outcome!! :-)
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