Power Conditioning done by IC's & Speaker Cables

Sean wrote:

As such, i would rather have a power cord do as much filtering as possible than to have to go through current limiting devices that eat up more rack or floor space.

If I understand you right, I think we may differ on this one. I relegate power cord filtering to only the ground conductor (for common-mode noise). For the current-carrying conductors I prefer no filtering, in fact I want the inductance and resistance to be as low as possible. This is the way my cord, the Magnum2 works, and it has held its own against much more expensive cords, particularly when used with power amps (see BFS review issue #140). I do not believe in shielding power cords either. There are better ways to control stray fields.

I believe the reason that some of the shielded and highly inductive/capacitive cords can have a positive effect, particularly on line-level components, is that they are reducing common-mode noise from ground-loops, abeit at the cost of signal dynamics.

Tom says, I've used all of these types of things, and they work. I use Bybees, and they work nicely. I use power conditioning and it works. I use decent IC's and Speaker Cables , and they work well. I think a combination of things is the way to go. If you have a real problem, address it as best you can. I use Bybees at the speakers, and battery power for the mains. I don't have an RF problem, so I use unshielded IC's. I have no AC wiring or power in my house, except for the high voltage section of my tube preamp. I have DC lights, DC refrigerator, no TV, and DC everything else. I am 400 feet from the nearest power lines, and am not connected to it. The stray fields in my house are as low as it can get. So, I am adressing the issue from as many directions as possible. No mains power or fields. DC battery power wherever possible. Less offensive appliances in the house. And I still have Bybees on the speakers, and they still help. Do whatever you can, and you'll get better results out the speaker. But be sure that it really does something. Don't buy snake oil.

Speaker cables would be one of the least effectives places to attempt the type of filtering accomplished by power line conditioners. If your problem is 60Hz line hum, then you've already run it through your power amp thereby wasting precious headroom. If its some sort of ultra sonic hash, then it will have already done its damage in your CD player or preamp. I use Versalab Red Rollers at the speaker end of my cables to filter out radio frequency interference that may be picked up by the cable, it's no substitute for dedicated, active power line conditioning.

Twl, you truly are a 'purist'. And in more ways than one. You are to be commended for some to many of your choices.

Audioengr: As i've stated before, there is nothing wrong with shielding a power cord. You've probably based your opinions of this matter on the commercially available models that are out there. I don't think that any of these do it "right", especially for high current devices like a power amp.

Other than that, i agree that power cords should be as low in inductance and series resistance as possible. If it sounds like i'm "dodging" specific design criteria, you are right. I am trying to say something ( as i have tried to do in the past ) without giving away the whole bag of marbles. Sean
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