2. cables
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the magic of power cords

We need a bit of magic in our lives. It might be the reason why audiophilia has such traction among people from all walks of life.

The neophyte's skepticism is likely proportional to the level of technical training - the more you think you know, the stronger the conviction that, for example, the power cable business is a sham: "electrons are electrons" and "if the house cabling is bad, why would the last 3 feet matter?". The stronger the conviction, the more humbling the experience of hearing the power cord magic in action.

A few years back a Sophia Electric amp came into my hands with what looked like a generic power cord. The few non-generic cords I tried (Audioquest AC15, Audio Magic XSteam, Shunyata Research Diamondback) made a significant difference for the worse. The thin, black, generic-looking original cable allowed for a clarity and definition of voice and instruments that got totally washed out with the aftermarket cables. A night-and-day difference. No doubt - the power cord made a huge difference - but not in the expected direction. The Audioquest AC15 was particularly bad.

For awhile, I kept trying them around on all incoming equipment (be it DACs, preamps or amps). The AC15 sounded so bad every time that after awhile I wasn't even trying it out.

Many years and few amps later - something seemed not quite right with the presentation of my KAV-300i: slightly dull upper bass. Power cord: Zu Birth. Finally (after multiple interconnects and few speaker cable swaps) I pull out the power cord stash (same as above). This time around the AC15 was the great surprise: it allowed for clarity and macro dynamics well above the others.

What do I learn? Nothing, really. When is shielding important? When is gauge? How about the conductor or the insulation? How come there isn't one "best" design?

The magic continues.
cbozdog
czarivey
5,931 posts
 
Well, I'm a music dealer. CDs Vinyls(mostly), cassettes, R2R etc... Feel free to find hidden treasures among my vinyls http://www.discogs.com/seller/Iriedog
Different music always good to explore and it always sound different.
Why not spending more time for record shopping instead of auditioning aftermarket powercords?
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
Music is the essential of audio. It always will be the main thing. My biggest hobby is music. I buy a lot of music every week. Without music you never can enjoy your audio system. In 16 years of time I met several people with extreme expensive highend sets with not a lot of own music. I told these people that it is impossible to become happy with there set. It is all about music!
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,190 posts
 
In 16 years of time I met several people with extreme expensive highend sets with not a lot of own music.
I would hope that you would refuse to sell these people $3,000 power cords no matter how much they pleaded and begged. It would be the honorable thing to do.
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
My focus is Always on how I can achieve the best endresult with the money they want to spend.

The result ( what you hear) is that what counts. That is why I say; hearing is believing.

I have said it many times; it is easier to achieve a higher endresult with a source/amp of about 2000 dollar with a powercable of 2500 dollar. Than with a poweramp of 4500 dollar with a powercable of 100 dollar. I have done these comparison blind for clients. Normally they think the more expensive poweramp/source will be the one they prefer.
Almost all of them prefered the less expensive poweramp/source with the expensive powercable.

Hearing is believing. That is what counts. I am only interested to create the best sound for an amount people want to spend. You can spend your money in an audio system differently. If you are a perfectionist like me it needs to be the best possible. That is Always the goal.

In the past I did send many clients to other shops even if they already wanted to order it. Why? Because I wanted them to hear how big the difference is for the other options. For me it is always about convincing and honesty. If you can get a better sound at a competitor you should choose for this. I would do the same.
cbozdog OP
63 posts
 
Hi Bobby (Bo), I enjoy your posts very much. You seem to have a good skill for listening.

Can you maybe explain - how do you listen to a new, unknown system to guess what is the component that can be upgraded to give best benefit? Without swapping components and comparing? I still feel that this might be possible for the best trained ear like yours.
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