audiphile power cords

I put a pair of 'upgraded' power cords on a pair of electrosstatic speakers once for a friend and all of a sudden, when the refrigerator cycled on, he no longer heard it through the speakers. Not only do better power cords do a better job of delivering power to your coponent - they do a better job at keeping things out.

Ive had a pair of inexpensive power cords remove a chalky sound from some class D monos. Sounded much smoother than the stock cords. Ted

The only thing more entertaining than a cable thread is one of those fights you see in third world country parliaments.

On second thought, cable threads are better.

Mitch4t asked if any component manufacturer has gotten on board with recommending aftermarket power cords...

When shopping for an integrated amp last year ($4500 piece of equipment) I spent some time with a tech from the company discussing my speakers, room, and whether that particular amp was a good choice. After covering all the bases, he asked one last question...did I have any plans to purchase an aftermarket power cord. I said no, just planned to use the one that comes with the unit. His response, and I'm paraphrasing, was basically "good, don't waste your money".

It's just one anecdote, from one guy in the industry, but since Mitch asked...

I won't publish this gentleman's name, as I don't think it's appropriate, but I'm quite certain he's been in a position to test more equipment than I have, so his opinion carries weight with me. YMMV.

As a side note, thanks to my local dealer's in-home demo option I have tried various power cords with my ARC VSi55 (not the unit I'm referring to above, that's in another system), and I could never hear a difference.

The whole thing about power chord has been blown out of proportion. At the end of the day, it is all about supplying proper AC to your equipment. The problem starts from your home AC socket. The electricity coming out of it is more often than not highly distorted, clipped or noisy.

Power chord, being a passive device, can do very little on distorted and clipped AC. Most PC's change the wave form of the AC to vary degree. This causes the sound to change for better or worse. Since the AC in every household is distorted in different degree, no single PC however good it is can do magic in every home.

The first proper thing to do before even talking about swapping PC is to improve the electricity coming out of the socket. Dedicated power line and new breaker make a big difference. If it is not possible, an active AC regenerator like PS Audio powerplant is a really good investment.