Do power cords make a difference?

I just replaced the standard 18 gauge power cord on my neighbours speaker system for her iPad with a 14 gauge power cord from Home Depot - not even a high quality power cord

She is not an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination - but she heard the difference right off the bat - made her a believer.

Here's one explanation as to why they work...
http://www.image99.net/blog/files/category-you-need-good-power-cords.html

The amount of improvement you will hear depends on every other component and cable in your system - so don't be expect to replace just one power cable and achieve a significant improvement.

Also, not every power cable will have as dramatic effect on one component as it does on others.

E.g. for high current components I have found that 10 gauge power cables perform better than 14 gauge - but putting a 10 gauge cable on a source component may be overkill - so think about it's intended application

If you are into DIY then making your own is definitely a more cost effective solution and you can then ensure the connectors used are of good quality also

Hope this helps

Calloway - actually it's the other way around - think of the upgrade as replacing the engine
- put a porsche engine in a Yugo - WOW
- put a posche engine in a porsche - so what
- put a Ferrari engine in a porsche . Better, but it's more subtle

Better quality components tend to have large power supplies that can handle the transient peak demands of the audio signal, so they operate at their optimum level

More modest components have smaller power supplies which actually restrict their performance. Having a quality power cord allows the circuit to handle the transient peaks, as a result they operate to a higher level of performance.

This does not mean good gear does not need a good power cable, but the better quality components actually need a much better quality power cable for a difference to be as discernible as more modest components

From my post above - a simple heavy gauge power cord from home depot was enough to elevate the performance of a boom-box

That same Home Depot cord on my Naim would not provide much improvement over the stock cord - but my Furutech is a whole other story. However, the furutech would not produce significantly better performance in the boom-box than the Home Depot cord did..

The most important and difficult aspect of power cord upgrades it to get the right match - i.e. best bang for the buck

To do this you have to either try several different brands/models or rely on the feedback of Agon members OR buddy up to your local supplier to get your hands on some loners.

Calloway - sorry, but I was not attempting to equate car parts to hi-hi components, I was trying to illustrate that improvements in higher resolving components are more subtle - i.e. they might go unnoticed to the untrained ear. It doesn't make them less significant, just less noticeable to some people.

E.g. in my $300 Hitachi mini system - replacing the power cord resulted in a very noticeable improvement in the bass and dynamics that even my wife readily identified

Whereas replacing the power cord on my naim amp resulted in significant improvements in staging and details, but my wife (not being a serious listener) could not readily identify those improvements

So, I believe a $1000 pc on a $1000 system would achieve significant improvements - it just might not be a prudent investment - i.e. overkill

Also, the improvement that same cable has on a higher resolving system would be quite different from those heard on the $1000 system

The trick is to find cost effective cables that allow components to operate to their full potential without going overboard.

So putting a Porsche engine into a Yugo would not be good because the chassis/suspension/tyres/etc... could not handle it :-)