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Do power cords really matter?

I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum in the past, but while reading an ad for a power cord, I've had a very simplistic thought on which I would enjoy hearing other's opinions.
Case in point : The idea of dedicated lines appealed to me, but as we will be moving in the not too distant future, I just grabbed a left over roll of 14-3 Romex and strung about 60 ft. through the basement, and terminated in a box w/ a couple of audio grade duplexes. I did run the ground wire directly outside to a separate ground rod. (I realize for optimum performance I should have several runs to separate amp, digital, analog, etc.) My question is this: am I really to believe the last 6 ft. of power delivery can be that critical, when it has already traveled a much greater distance in ordinary wire. As we use outlets for convenience only, why not just terminate a 6 ft piece of Romex w/ high grade connectors? Are we just buying eye candy? Have we been duped w/ the hype?
Without having studied power conditioners, perhaps they can actually "clean" the raw power electronically?
Thank you for enduring my Sunday morning musings - all opinions cheerfully received.
Best regards,
Tom
tburn

Showing 2 responses by metralla

metralla
945 posts
 
03-24-07: Dazzdax writes:
What I want is music.
What you actually want is for the music to sound more real.

Forget detail, ambient retrieval etc. All those things could remain the same ... but add more dynamic gradation, and the music will sound more real. That's what good power cords really help with. That's what you want and that's what you need.

Regards,
metralla
945 posts
 
If there is a "major" change towards the sound due to application of special power cords, I would say that one is rather screwing up the inherent qualities of the system
That sounds pretty fair.

However, on good midrange digital components (CD players, SACD players) there can be a "major" change with a decent power cord. That was my first experience with after-market power cords (a Cardas Golden Ref on a Arcam Alpha 9) and I was unprepared for the improvement.

Regards,
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