Cables more hype than value?

Open question: what sounds better? All other things being equal, NM10/3 copper coming directly from the breaker box and terminated at the amp/source in an IEC plug OR NM10/3 terminating at a good quality recepticle with a $10,000+ power cord?

07-03-13: Noromance
Open question: what sounds better? All other things being equal, NM10/3 copper coming directly from the breaker box and terminated at the amp/source in an IEC plug OR NM10/3 terminating at a good quality recepticle with a $10,000+ power cord?

Interesting philosophical question.

My guess is that in those cases where a difference is perceivable between the two alternatives (which is not to say that a difference will always or even usually be perceivable), more often than not the good quality receptacle + $10,000 power cord will be preferable. The main reason being better rejection of EMI/RFI that may be coupled to or from the power cord and other parts of the system. That would include rejection of noise that would otherwise be generated within the connected component, fed back into its power cord, and radiated from there to other components, with unpredictable sonic effects.

Other variables, such as differences in resistance and voltage drop, and differences in responsiveness to abrupt changes in demand for current, would seem likely to be negligible between the two alternatives. And if there were any differences between the two alternatives with respect to those variables, the resulting sonic effects would certainly figure to be dependent on the designs of the specific components that are involved, IMO.

Of course, power cords providing quality shielding and noise rejection can be had for vastly less than $10,000.

Regards,
-- Al

@ Almarg, Hi, I enjoyed your very educated explanation to Noromance, I could have not done better myself!, cheers!

Yesterday I met Bill Low from Audioquest. I had spoken to him about 5 years ago also. Also a very nive person like Jim Aud from Purist Audio Design. He still developes there new cables. They do this with only 2 persons. He still does the main part of of. Yesterday I heard the way I like it to be. Extreme 3d touchable image with blacks to die for. Just like it would be in real. Cheeeeeers!!!!

"07-02-13: Bo1972
@Jmcgrogan2, this was new for me. If you were not allowed to have your own oppinion. And they really believe that cables do not matter. They do not want to talk about it. How stuppid you can be? I Always say; more than 90% of everything in sound and vision is not that special. But......I Always want to Judge first before I know how good or bad it is. And wenn I do not know it, I say: I can not say anything about it. How simple things can be....
Bo1972 (Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

07-02-13: Jmcgrogan2
@Bo1972, there are many out there who believe in listening with their eyes. They let specifications tell them what they can and cannot hear. Go figure. "

I don't get those people either. They claim to be objective yet everything they do is subjective. They advocate the use of science to evaluate audio equipment, but they do it from such a biased and emotional standpoint the science becomes a joke. Only the tests that yield results to support the objective claims are used, while others are labeled no valid. What I find is the most amazing thing in all of this, is the amount of time they dedicate in trying to talk other people into believing they have some type of psychological issue if you disagree with them. You would think its their lifes work.