Thanks, Willie Wonka.
I was about to reply to ghdprentice about that, and say, essentially, what you just said.
The noise floor’s lowest level is likely to drop with a better designed power cord. That’s part of the reason I like Shunyata. I have several generations of power cords here, and it can easily be heard that the newer lines have a considerably lower noise floor, so I can hear quieter, more delicate details (and in classical music, that is what makes the music: the delicate moments).
As for Megabyte’s argument, I’m not going down that rabbit hole. All I will say is, I have a $300 power cord, and it does not reproduce eight notes remotely as well as the Sigma power cord does.
Designers design to a price point, lets not forget that. And if a $100 power cord can reproduce triple tonguing (as heard in Scheherazade, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, RCA Living Stereo), then the designer has no need to have a $1,000, $3,000 or whatever cost power cord. It’s hard enough for many electronics to reproduce things like triple tonguing, never mind the power cords.
But some people don’t care about triple tonguing, legato or staccato, or diminished eighths. That’s fine for them. I do want to hear these things on the disc because they are is part of the musical composition. If it’s there, I want to hear all the pauses, rests that make the composition come alive. 50%?? 60%?? Not good enough. When I’m at the symphony, I hear 100%. I want my stereo to reproduce that as closely as possible.
I do get why people stop at a certain level. That is not what I am arguing against. I am arguing against people who have never heard what can be reproduced and yet still scream "Snake Oil". How do they know?? They’ve never, EVER heard the product. Anyone’s better products, for that matter!
It’s like telling me that a Corvette drives as well as a Lamborghini, even though you’ve never even sat in either vehicle, much less driven one. People would be laughed out of the racing car community if they ever made a statement that "The Corvette is just as good as the Lamborghini.Pardon me, you’re asking if I’ve ever driven one - or both - of them??? Why, no, I haven’t. But I’m certain of what I’m talking about..." Laughed. Out.
This reminds me of something I learned when I was young. Other kids would come to the house, and my mother would offer them food - usually including a vegetable (my mom was a nutritionist). One of the kids would invariably say, "I hate_______(broccoli/lettuce/ spinach)." My mom would then ask - in a very neutral tone - "Have you had it before?" And I knew what was coming. I would turn to my sister and say, "DUCK. HERE IT COMES." And they'd say, "No, I've never had it." And them mom would say, "Then you don't know what you're talking about!!! Shut your mouth until you've tried it!!!" (I suspect my mom must have known Ivor Tiefenbrun, the Linn founder, who said exactly the same thing.)
'Nuff said!