I have to disagree, Jeff, this thread can go on as long as there are two opposing viewpoints.
I personally don't expect you or any other person to experience what I experience, in my system and with whatever power cords I have at hand.
All I can do is relate my experiences to you and others.
Whether you believe them or not, that's not the issue.
I am not trying to impose my point of view on you.
But in the interest of equality and fairplay,you should afford me and the rest of us who do hear audible improvemnts the same courtesy.
In other words, I don't doubt that you can not hear the same things that I hear.
But you can't for certain deny that I can hear the things I claim to hear .
You should not be exempt from supplying the rest of us with the scientific proof that"I"can not hear what I claim to hear.
Is that not being fair?
Is this now putting the same burden of proof on the denier as it is on the believer?
You know I started in this hobby years ago, about 40.
I have also been a musician for close to 50 years.
I've got a pretty decent aural imprint of what music sounds like, from real up close on stage, and from a few feet away from my listening chair.
I don't claim to have any super ears(especially not in my advancing age)but the ears that I have were self taught to be able to distinguish certain things regarding music that perhaps lesser trained ears may not zero in on.
I don't claim to be better than you,or superior(as some folks may imply)I just can distinguish things that some folks may not, or have not been shown how to.
I was also mentored, by folks who knew more than i did in my early years.
They guided me and told me what to listen for and how to listen to music in critcial mode and to distinguish between that type of active listening to just passive, listening for entertainment sake.
I value the latter more than the former, but to really get the most enjoyment you have to start with critical listening.You have to have a foundation.
Which, if I am accused of anything related to beliefs, is believing that this is becoming a lost art.
So much is printed about how audio today is too fixated on the details etc, and that the essence of the music has been lost.That the gear from bygone eras is more akin to the real thing than what is hoisted upon us by the high end and all their shills(as some contemporaries of mine like to say) that old vintage gear should be all that anyone with a sane mind needs.
The rest of the stuff like expensive aftermarket power cords is just for show and to impress the "boys".
Well, that's not the reason I bought expensive power cords(yes the power cord to my DecWare amp costs twice as much as the amp), I bought the power cords(Shunyata, but try any of the others)because my ears heard the improvement.
What creeps me out, is that there are folks who say that I didn't hear those improvements in my system ,in my home and with my ears!
What science can back up those claims?
It's beyond the realm of any science I have ever read about.
More like the paranormal.