Power Cords: A Skeptic Looking to Dabble...

"And why would it matter that the power cord be 12, 10, or 9 gauge when it is the last 6 feet to the amp with 30, 40, 50 feet or more of 14 gauge feeding the system outlet through connections of inexpensive outlets? As I said, dedicated lines should be the first step for a power upgrade." - Tls49

This gets back to the argument for why any power cord of higher quality that what's in the house wiring could ever make a real difference. I'm not saying that a smaller gauge power cord couldn't sound exactly the same as a larger gauge one, but if the only difference between the two power cords is the gauge it would be expected that the larger gauge one would at least be equal and have more potential than the smaller gauge power cord.

A water large water pipe has the potential for more water to flow through it, but if a smaller pipe has adequate capacity to carry all of the available water then having a larger pipe wouldn't result in a benefit, but would have more potential.

Jmcgrogan2 - In theory, if the goal of audio equipment is to reproduce the original signal as close to the original as is possible then it would be expected that as the various pieces of equipment get better and better the resulting sound should become more and more the same among different pieces of gear. A well designed pieces of gear where no expense was spared should have less room for improvement than a middle of the road piece of gear would.

As an example, I used to own a 2000 SS Camaro and there were quite a few aftermarket bolt-on options for upgrading the intake and exhaust with a real improvement in horsepower and torque. I had a friend that worked at Dinan working with BMWs and at one point they were trying to improve on the OEM exhaust and after they essentially stripped the system do to what you'd find on a race car could only document 2 hp on the dino. BMW had designed the exhaust system so well that there really wasn't any room for improvement with a bolt on product.

A water large water pipe has the potential for more water to flow through it, but if a smaller pipe has adequate capacity to carry all of the available water then having a larger pipe wouldn't result in a benefit, but would have more potential.

True, but you need to take this a step further. If you are listening to test tones, no problem, however a bass drum requires an instantaneous burst of current in a fraction of a second. Obviously, having that larger pipe will deliver more water in that fraction of a second than the smaller one. Also, the multiple connections prior to your system outlet will limit the potential for that instantaneous demand. No doubt that dedicated lines will improve bass definition, but other aspects of the sound will improve as well.

I have encouraged many local friends with quality audio gear to install dedicated lines and told them if they didn't think the improvement was worth what they spent, I would pay their bill. All have thanked me, and some said they wish they had not waited so long to do it.

Mceljo - one last tidbit

I tried 13, 12, and 10 gaude cables on my amp and although the details were pretty much the same, the bass response and dynamics improved as the thicker gauge cable was installed.

Would an 8 gauge improve performance any more? Probably, but I think the law of diminishing returns kicks in and the gains may not justify the expense - gotta draw the line somewhere :-)

What gauge to select really depends on the power supply of the amp and it's ability to address transient demands. It also depends the the design of the amp. Tube is very different from solid state and even the different tube designs differ immensely in their power requirements and transient handling abilities.

This is a key reason why so many people promote auditioning cables in your system.

In my case, I also found that the 10 gauge did not offer any improvements for any of my sources.

Someone mentioned how can the last six feet of cable make a difference. That is the one mystery I have not yet been able to figure out, but having tried a 10 gauge braided Romex cable and found the 10 gauge Furutech to perform better, I can only assume it has something to do with cable design.

FYI my dedicated line is a 20 amp 10 gauge romex with a Pass and
Seymour outlet running off a 200 amp service.

Good luck with your cables

Tls49 - I think you missed that my example included that the smaller diameter pipe had adequate capacity to carry "all of the available water" meaning that a larger pipe would never be able to carry more in reality because it simply wasn't available.

For example, if the water source was a water truck with a 6 inch outlet there would be a restriction at the source that would limit the benefit of having a larger hose attached. It's possible that having a hose that is larger than 6 inches might be an advantage, but at some point going larger would have absolutely no effect.

In audio, at some point a power cord will either be adequate to supply all available power (probably unlikely in reality) or it will be capable of handling an amount that is sufficient to supply everything that the power supply could ever ask. I think this is where Williewonka right on when he talks about dimenishing returns.