McIntosh C2300 Power Cord Recommendation

Most all homes have a 12AWG (American Wire Gauge) Romex wires inside the walls with a 15Amp circuit breaker (some have 20Amp). There's roughly a 50ft. run between the 15A circuit breaker and the wall plug of this 12 gauge wire.

To test the misguided theory about special power cables, I measured the voltage with my DVM at the circuit breaker to be 119.6VAC. Then I measured at the wall socket about 50ft. away and it was also 119.6VAC. Then I powered on all my tube equipment (preamp, dual mono-block power amps, turntable and electrostatic speakers). The voltage was still 119.6VAC at the wall socket. Then I measured it at the input wires under the chassis of the power amp power transformer. It was still 119.6VAC! Will wonders ever cease?

The last 5 ft. of wire from the plug to the power on/off switch will not make any difference in the performance of the amp. Any money spent on "special" A/C lines is a pure waste!

I'm an audio/video freak starting way back in the late 50's even before stereo was invented! I'm also have a BSEE and I combine facts with proof in the listening had saved me countless thousands of dollars over the years.

There are certain items which will definitely improve, or at least will sound different. A/C line cords are not one of them.

BTW, hospital grade means that the internal connections and the mating of the plug and socket will not create a spark (think oxygen tank) and nothing more.

Have to think about the Tellurium Q Black speaker wires a bit before I can give an opinion. I suspect the reason it sounds "better" (different) is because it presents a different reactance (a combination of capacitance & inductance)load to the output of the power amp than the other cables used which we hear as an improvement. The chart Tellurium shows on their website forgot to mention at what frequency was the square wave generated that was used to produce the signal.

Also, I remember many years ago reading that human beings have a very poor audio memory. Using double blind AB testing proved that what you heard yesterday cannot be remembered today to be matched with the same sound quality.

Remember the fairy tale about the Emperor's new clothes?

Luckily, you have the flaming sword of a BSEE to cut through illusion, rendering power cords powerless to deceive you.

Notbananas: Very sagacious reply. Good to see some "snake oil repellent" out there.

I believe that if you add an expensive power cord, it will only sound better (or different) if you look at it. That's why the manufacturers make them look like something NASA would use on a Mars Rover. Once you've looked at it connected and powering your equipment it will sound different because you just dropped a whole bunch of cash on it. Your eye's will convince your mind for you.

This is my opinion based on my ears, but the three things I wish I never bought was very expensive speaker cables, a cryoed hospital grade 20a wall outlet, and after market headphone cord for my AKG 702's. I cannot hear the difference in any of those. YMMV.

I don't have a BSEE. I barely understand how electricity and electrical appliances function. But when I replaced the stock power cable on my McIntosh C220 preamp with an Empowered Cord by K-Works, I absolutely heard some clear, but subtle differences. The soundstage became more focused, and the level of detail retrieval improved, especially low level details. Remember, if the rest of your system is not highly resolving, you probably won't hear any difference in cables, but when your system is highly resolving, differences in cables and other connected items becomes clearly apparent. Notice that Notbananas has no system link, and did not provide a specific equipment list. Also, that "how could the last 5 feet of wire make a difference" thing is silly. Every stretch of wire has the potential to introduce extraneous noise into the attached components, so any improvement anywhere along the power-signal path has the potential to improve the performance of the attached equipment. Finally, to paraphrase Einstein: Not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts.