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Why Expensive power Cables when Romex behind Wall?

Could somebody please help me to shed light on this?
Is there any reason I should invest in expensive power cables when there's low grade cable between my outlet and the wall? I've upgraded most other components in my systems, but I'm just not sure that spending several hundred dollars for power cables makes sense, when the cable running from my outlet to the wall costs less than $.10 per foot. Can anyone shed light on this?

Thanks!
boros
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
I agree that relatively nominal amounts of hifi budget may be far better spent on room treatments than on the "upper level" (in price)powercords. I think part of the reason this doesn't always happen is that it is very easy to buy a PC and swap it out with the stock cord. What isn't easy is figuring out what room treatments to do, in what combination, and with what materials to address specific sonic problems.

That being said, I think there IS benefit in going with a "decent" upgrade to the power cord, but no real benefit in going hog wild on, say, a $500+ PC, unless of course you have more money than sense and don't mind lining a few pockets other than your own. I have Harmonic Tech and Ensemble PC's and they did improve the sonics of my system over the stock wire. However, I tried several more expensive cords recently (which shall remain nameless in THIS thread) and could not tell much, if any, difference.
piezo
304 posts
 
I once read an article about using home electrical wires for networking all the computers/control devices in a home togeather. The article went into all the well known sources for noise on the power lines and how the carrier waves were tuned to the higher frequencies to avoid all the garbage. It could be that the high dollar cables are simply acting as high pass filters for the electric signal. Different cable sound then being the result of different filtering, much like a parametric eq for power but with each cord having its own eq shape.
bishopwill
369 posts
 
OK, guys. I can stifle my comments about some of the arguments presented here but this "hospital grade" stuff is over the top. How many of you really know what "hospital grade" means?

Simply put, "hospital grade" refers to:
(1) Current carrying capacity--not required to be excessive, just consistent with the power demands of the device to which it is connected. I.e. a "hospital grade" outlet on a 20 amp circuit must be capable of carrying 20 amps at a 100% duty cycle without overheating.
(2) Strain relief--sufficient to assure that if the plug is jerked from the outlet by pulling on the cord the wires will not detach from the plug and create a shock hazard.
(3) Freedom from leakage--microshock is a major concern when dealing with pacemakers (for example) thus leakage must be very, very low.
(4) Adequate grounding capacity--which many audiophiles then turn around and defeat.
(5) Assurance of power transfer from outlet to plug--accomplished by wide plug blades and outlet contacts with sufficient spring loading to assure that the contacts make tight contact with the blades. No gold, no silver, just good honest brass.

Nothing, repeat NOTHING about the "hospital grade" designation bespeaks any kind of rfi or emf protection, filtering capability, exotic capacitance or inductance characteristics, "oxygen free" copper, special conductor configurations, rocket-science dielectrics, or other esoteric properties claimed for high end power cords. The sole concerns are safety, reliability, abuse tolerance, and durability.

"Hospital grade" in audiophile circles is primarily a marketing mantra. Just wanted to clear the air a bit.

will (with 30+ years in healthcare)

References:
Underwriters Laboratories Standards UL 2601-1, UL 1778, UL 1363, UL 1449
National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code 101
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Hospital Grade a marketing mantra? NOT! If you tried to market any cable for any purpose by calling the parts Hopital Grade when they are not, you could be sued at the very least, and maybe arrested for fraud; because Hospital Grade is an industry standard that means something.

You could sell the cheapest, most poorly made audio cable on the planet; and call it "Audiophile Grade"; because there is no industry standard that I know of.
That's a marketing mantra.

So if you buy a cable with Hospital Grade parts, there is no guarantee your system will sound better, but you can at least be sure you are getting a good quality cable for your money. There is no guarantee an Audiophile Grade cable will have good EMF or RFI protection, or make your system sound better either. The only difference is the Audiophile Grade has the potential to be a piece of junk.

Those $60 Absolute power cords are audiophile grade solely based on the reports that the audio equipment using them sounds good. They are massed produced by a cable company in Taiwan that can produce 6 million cables per month. They claim hopital grade in their ads, but looking at them I wonder?? (a Taiwan Hospital, not USA?)

bishopwill
369 posts
 
With respect, Sugarbrie, your observation is (1) not correct and (2) not directed to the point I was making. There is no legal or regulatory definition of the term "hospital grade." The way that one COULD get into difficulty would be to advertise that a cord met the various UL or NFPA standards that I mentioned when, in fact, it did not. I suppose it is remotely conceivable that one could face a suit for false or misleading advertising based on the common usage of the term but for someone to bring such a suit against an audiophile vendor would be hugely improbable. De minimus non curat lex.

But that wasn't my point. My point is that the term "hospital grade" implies nothing of audiophile interest other than heavy wire and good quality terminations. It has nothing to do with the esoteric properties often claimed for audiophile power cords.

I'm NOT talking down high-end power cords; don't get your knickers in a twist about that. I'm just informing people of what "hospital grade" means. And, perhaps more importantly from a sonic perspective, what it does not mean.

As to the Taiwan cords, ignore their use of the term "hospital grade" and see if, in the small print, they assert that the cords meet the UL and NFPA standards. That's what really counts.

will
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