After Market Power Cables - Gold or Snake Oil?

Recently I was talking with the designer/president of a prestigious cable manufacturing firm about his various AC cord offerings. Get this: even *he* doesn't completely understand why they do what they do for a sound system! No argument from me that they do work wonders; no question about that at all. Certainly the builder has his theories, but all the numbers still don't explain everything...

Case in point: based upon feature-set alone, about 18 months back I bought a fantastic famous-name $10K preamp sound-unheard. Initially I was not all that satisfied with the sonic performance, although very good, it just wasn't what I expected it to be. In fact in some respects it was less satisfactory than the $2K preamp that it replaced. Since I only change one thing at a time, after about a week allowing for some burn-in time I then decided to experiment. Shelving & footers accomplished some audible changes, but that wasn't the answer. I figured that the AC cord was fine because I had experimented extensively with different cords on the first preamp & had found a good combination. Finally I decided to change the AC cord again & I am still amazed at what happened; the new preamp completely came alive & sang just beautifully. I'm now very happy with it of course.

So use your ears & don't worry about the physics. And if you haven't done so already, burnish all of your AC cord prongs with at least an ink eraser, or better get some crocus cloth from a good hardward store & shine up those prongs bigtime. Follow with a quality contact cleaner. Your ears will thank you.

Audioengr,
If i read your post correctly, the same results would be obtained if the run of ROMEX were 19 ft, and the 6 ft. P/C were at least as good as the ROMEX?

Just thinking...

I am the 'other' collegue to Checkmate110. I am intrigued to hear both sides of the discussion but I am yet to be convinced by the pros of the PC. I am no expert when it comes to electrical wiring but I understand the basics of inductance and agree with Checkmate 110 that having a shorter length of house wiring from the transformer to the wall socket would have a much greater impact than purchasing a short length of expensive "jewellery" (considering what many of the high end cables are made of).

From my point of view a power conditioner or separate power supply would be of benefit because you are changing the quality of the AC supply after the wall socket, but I find it very difficult to believe that a power cord can change that much since it is just permitting the same AC supply to pass through it to the connected component. However, if the electrical transformer was connected with the same wiring as what is in the after-market power cord all the way through the hifi component, yes you would have more of an arguement than what is being presented.

Since this seems to be as much a quest for questions as it is for answers, here are a few in response.

Ever wonder why dedicated 'philes upgrade their in-wall wiring and use better grade receptacles? Ever consider why solid wire is recommended over stranded wire for this application? What kind of wire, connectors, insulating material and geometry is used in building stock cords? How does all this compare to a good quality aftermarket cord?

What kind of care was taken in that stock cord's construction? Is it properly terminated or was it just slapped together? Have you ever taken a stock cord apart and compared it to something better? Regarding the latter, if you haven't taken a cheap computer cord apart before, do so. It's an eye opening experience, especially considering that this is what comes with many hi-end components.

BTW, this has been discussed before, so try giving the search tool a workout. There's a wealth of reading material available. My guess is the redundancy of the thread is why some of the more knowledgeable regulars haven't chimed in.

I have read so many posts that start with the "why" question, that make me wonder at whether they have any practical value at all - for anyone.

My experiences with power cables lead me to see them as of similar importance as speaker cables - ie. having a very significant impact on both the quality and character of the system. For all practical purposes, that is all I need to know.

I have heard several quite different explanations of why PCs make a difference, such that I really don't have a clue why they make a difference at all. But I am none the poorer for that.

So Checkmate110, I want to ask you a "why" question. Why do you want to know? Are you a cable designer? If I give you an explanation that Power cables improve the sound according to how much floobie dust is in the cable, and then give you an explanation of how floobie dust has been scientifically proven to attenuate RFI and EMI on the cable, how does this change anything for you? The scientific proof of a reduction in RFI and EMI might be thoroughly conclusive, but how can you be sure that it has anything to do with whether or not the PCs sound different? What if floobie dust does work but that the effects are totally inaudible? How does the floobie dust explanation help you?

Let's consider an issue such as a silver cable rather than a copper cable. If I ask on Audiogon "why do people think silver is better than copper?", then I will get answers which can be scientifically verified, such as that silver is a better conductor than copper. But is that really the reason why silver sounds different from copper? A great many audiophiles prefer copper to silver and some even prefer poor conductors such as carbon (VdH) and brass (Magnan). Does knowing that silver is a better conductor than copper mean you should buy ANY silver cable, since they all conduct the same and therefore sound the same? Does it mean every silver cable is superior to any copper cable?

I know that some of these why questions are really about people who are simply curious and interested. But most of these why questions posted here are about someone wanting just one believable reason to suspend their disbelief - and this appears to be the case with this post. But that almost always turns into a fairly meaningless task, and the post turns into a vociferous argument about the level of proof about floobie dust. What is great about the responses to this post is the preponderance of posts that simply concentrate on "I hear a difference" and "the improvement over stock PCs is worthwhile". That is where the real value of these forums exists - credible weight of opinion.

So Checkmate110, and the many that have started similar posts before you, my advice is to accept that the best value you will get from this forum, if you are struggling with your disbelief, is to listen to the credibility of the experiences people list here, using a healthy dose of scepticism, and then select which of the recommendations you will try with your own ears. The last thing you should do is seek some scientific explanation of the effects of floobie dust and blindly go out and follow the mantra of buying the most floobie laden cable you can find. That would be a recipe for sonic disaster.