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
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.
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.
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.
In a few seconds I know what is there and what is missing. In the past I thought other people do hear it as clear and fast as I do. But these days I know they don't.

What I said before; I can hear all parts which need to be there in a few seconds. Even at shows I can describe what is missing and what is good. I can describe it very well so every person understands what is good and what is missing.

I know from many brands of cables, amps, sources, conditioners and speakers what there properties are.

When you are not aware of these properties you don't know what you are doing. And how the sound you have is created. At many shows I am Always looking to the eyes of people who demo. When it is not good, I can see that they really don't f..know why it is not good. It often makes me smile, and I think what a f... idiots. And believe me at shows in my country there are many!!

I know in a very short time what is good and what is missing. When I am aware of the properties of the equipment, I know what the sound and image will be.

When you have a photographic memory you can compare different options in audio a lot more easy. In a few seconds I can describe what the difference is between them. And I can do this very precise.

When you use all the parts for what I call Total Sound in your system every person will enjoy the music. Because these parts influence the emotion of us people.

When parts are missing in a set, after time you will not be happy with it anymore. So you will listen less to your audio set. This is also very simple to explain.

I can create a much better sound in almost every system. Because seldom all parts are there which need to be there for what I call Total Sound. What is in my world the blueprint of the Absolute Sound.

Even if I listen to stuff I don't know, I still know which parts are there and which are missing. I understand the properties quite fast of new things. It is Always fun to listen to new stuff.

In 1998 I started to give tools ( cables, sources, amps, conditioners and speakers etc) properties. Because I understood they had different properties when you compare them. I still do it this way.

You need to keep things simple as possible. For comparing audio only use a few numbers you know very well. Do this over and over again.

In the past I hated those brands which give a very average or even poor sound. These days I still hate it. I am still surprised how much shit there is on the audio market.

That is why I wanted to to it differently. My goal is to create the best sound for every single person.

I am a perfectionist and only interested in the best. I almost only wear Italian cloths. In every single thing I buy it need to be the best. For my clients I have the same level to perfection. Why? Because every single person deserves the best sound for the money they spend.

I work with the same dedication for people who spend 1000 dollar and those who spend 10.000 dollar. There is no difference in approach. For me all people are equal.

My focus is on the endresult of every single system. Even when I sell new speakers, I make people aware they still need an amp to create a 3 dimensional sound. I understand that many people buy audio in parts. These clients now are saving money to buy a 3 dimensional amp. I am Always doing a quality check at all my clients.

I Phone the older clients if everything is still working. I told them all that they can contact me every single day till 2 a.m. Then I go to bed.

My approach and my world is a lot different compared to others. It is as it is because the low level in endresult many audio companies give irritates me so much.

I want to increase the quality and pleasure for all people to be happy with there beloved music.

Bobby
^^^To make your long reply shorter Bobby, no, you would have no idea what was wrong either, just as I replied to this question on 4/7/14. Remember, Cbozdog wants to know if you walk into a unfamiliar room with an unfamiliar system if you can immediately determine what component needs to be upgraded. Yes, I'm sure you have heard a lot of gear and cables, as have I, but I'm also sure that there is much out there that you haven't heard. The key word here is "unfamiliar", which means that you have no history with the equipment or cables, or room for that matter.

Now let's simplify it for you. You walk into a strange room full of gear and cables that you've never heard before, could you guess the component that could be upgraded to give the best benefit? It's really a yes or no answer we're looking for here. I'll cheat and answer once again that no, in an unfamiliar room, with unfamiliar gear and cables, I couldn't identify the culprit.

I've been in this situation before several times, when going to audition a piece of gear that I'm interested in buying. I may have never heard the gear before, but I'll admit, if I don't like the sound of the system, I won't buy the piece of equipment/cable, even if that is not the culprit. On the other hand, I have been blown away by the sound of a system, bought the piece of gear, only to find that it didn't sound as good in my room. Synergy is critical, and that includes the room as well.