Do powercords make a difference in sound?

Clean power does, however best that is achieved.

Power cords alone may be hit or miss. Current delivery capability and a good ground are keys. This is not rocket science. Personally I believe a lot of power cords are overengineered for the task at hand or sometimes just overpriced and not a good value.

TBG,

I said some PCs are overengineered and overpriced and not a good value, not all.

I'll stand by that assertion with no problem whatsoever.

ALso that making a good power cord is not rocket science.

GEtting lots of clean power when needed in general can be an issue in many but not all cases. A power cord alone cannot solve that problem when present.

Tbg,

Sounds like we agree on more than disagree.

I wouldn't compare the technical complexity of building a good PC or launching a successful space mission to that required of a power cord though. Very poor analogies!

Plus the space program is government funded therefore I would look there for innovation perhaps but not value.

Succesful commercial computer technologies tend to deliver both or do not survive.

High end wires are a boutique market with limited market. By their nature, they have to be expensive in order to survive. Only a select few will see value for whatever reason.

I might like to buy NASA mission grade surplus power cords if available for market value. Anybody know of such a thing? I think I have seen some power receptacles around this site that are of similar lineage.

The simplest answer is: maybe.

No doubt they can.

But in some cases they may not.

Also, when this topic comes up, I like to point out that powercords do not have a "sound". What they have is the ability to affect the quality of the sound the device they help power makes. That will vary by device and is not an attribute of the powercord itself.

"Mapman, I think by your logic on pcs not making any sound, only speakers would have a sound."

It's true that there is no sound without speakers, so technically that is correct.

But ICs and speaker wires are at least in the signal path along with the other components. I do believe that the choice of components used in the signal path does directly determine the resulting sound.

Not so sure with power cords though. Better/cleaner delivery of power more enables the devices that the electric audio signal passes through to do what it is they already do better.

I suppose its all relative. Everything has to work well and well together for best results. Plenty of clean power helps. The power cord is definitely part of the game.

Chad329,

I think you have the right perspective.

Good luck!

"Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading."

Quintus Septimius Tertullianus (160 AD - 230 AD)

"But wonder on, till truth makes all things plain."

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V

" I always wonder why any of the Scam police ever buy anything new."

Are you saying everything is a scam? :^)

I buy lots of things and spend a decent amount of money, but my scam radar is always on, especially on a site like this where expensive items and money is bandied about in a manner relatively loosely compared to the norm.

A scammer or con artist might perceive as fertile ground upon which to help relieve people of their hard earned money, especially when nonsense or unsubstantiated claims go unchallenged. Those who ask questions or seek validation of claims based on anything concrete should be welcomed, as long as it is done respectfully. AN open mind is a good thing as well. Everyone should be free to read, attempt to discriminate between fact and fiction, and get on with it as they see fit.

Whenever facts are asserted loosely, a red light should go off in each person's mind. Is this a truth, lie, or misconception? All are possibilities. Knowledge is everyone's best friend. Misinformation, whether deliberate or not, should always be considered a bad thing.

There is no mathematical equation to follow for good sound, but there is a lot of relevant science that can help....a lot!

"Hifitime, I will just say that I have had too many experiences with audio that belie that our measures, tests, and physical laws cannot explain obvious improvements in audio reproduction. "

Its undoubtedly true that not everything is known about most anything.

But I would argue that in teh case of home audio, all that one needs to know can be learned and applied practically. The ingredients for top notch sound are well known and applied by experts daily.

So, if one has already applied the well known good practices, the goal of achieving "good" sound should be reachable.

If that is not enough, and one wants to dabble or explore new less understood horizons, that is fine.

The problem I have is when people are encouraged to focus on the latter prematurely before perhaps the "fundamentals" have been addressed properly. That is not a happy path to audio nirvana! But nothing wrong with it for those who never want the journey to end even after they've crossed the T's and dotted the I's to the best of their ability..