Power cord? Why?

Viridian: As i've mentioned before, i do think a lot of what we hear can be collaborated with specs. That is, to a certain extent and taking into account that the specs and testing were done in proper fashion. Obviously, spec's can be made to lie and / or be presented in a manner that is less than completely telling.

Being able to decipher and interpret which specs are most important and "telling" of how a component might perform is no different than the clues or "evidence" that a well trained detective has to decipher in order to put the pieces of a crime together.

As we have all seen, a good "investigator" can crack cases whereas a less skilled "investigator" could look at the very same "clues" and come up with a different interpretation of events and / or have nothing to go on at all. While it is true that a lot of what the "super snooper" comes up with is based on "educated guesswork" and requires "logical deductions", it is sometimes spooky what one can conclude by looking at the spec's / test results and corraborating this with what one actually hears.

Having an idea of what all those charts / graphs mean is a good starting point, as you can't interpret what you can't understand. After all, if test results meant absolutely nothing, we would not have been able to refine products / designs to the point that we have today. Good luck trying to make something better when all you have is guesswork to go on without some way to measure / substantiate the various changes made along the way. Sean
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The only one who can convince you is you.

To those who say, "Convince me", I say, "Sorry, I'm too busy." I don't particularly care whether you can hear the difference a power cord makes, or not.

But to those who are interested in learning, I say, "Try." Make sure your system already performs well--a poor quality or badly matched system won't show differences in power cords well, or at all. Then you can try a cord or two, listen to recordings you know well, and see what you hear.

The higher the resolution capability of my system evolved , the easier it became to discern the changes various "tweeks " imparted on my system. Pc s have only recently become relevant to me. The introduction of the Elrods were at once apparent. The proof is in the listening and with my system , its obvious . To me it is anyway.

There has long been "discussion" about whether psychic (mind reading) powers exist. Many experiments have been done using valid statistical methods to see if a subject is doing better than guessing about things like a selected playing card. Results are inconclusive. However, if one scientist could find the MECHANISM for psychic power, perhaps some kind of electrical wave traveling between people's brains, all the sceptics would be converted.

So too about power cords. The reason to look for the electrical characteristics responsible for sonic characteristics is to fix the problem. Thousand dollar power cords may not the the best solution.

Of course the 115VAC power lines also carry some HF modulation...simple table radios often use their power cord as the FM antenna. It's doubtful that any such HF would get through the power transformer impedance, and if it did it would be shunted to ground by the power supply capacitors. What's the impedance of 20,000 mfd at 20KC? Ziltch. If this isn't enough, put some ferrite beads on the power input wires.

If your digital electronics GENERATES noise that propogates through shared power lines to other components you need a better digital electronics design. Fix the problem at the source. (Frankly, if I were digital noise I would travel by the signal interconnections).

What is a "closed mind". I think it is one that dogmaticly argues for some point of view as an article of FAITH rather than as a result of LOGIC. For some, I guess, audio is a religion.

Psychic powers do not equal--nor have anything to do with--mind reading. If my mother read you the cards you'd be surprised. I, on the other hand, don't have that specific gift. I can sense the present and my surroundings very well...sometimes "too well".

And yes, power cords have an effect. Whether you can notice it or not depends on your hearing and your system. I hold the view that as power delivery/noise control improves, expensive power cords are not needed. They could actually be deleterious by acting as filters and limiting extension.