Do Transports Matter???

The transport + the AC cord that is on it have a huge impact over the overall sonics of any system

KF

Redbeard, I have heard it many times over how much an AC cord makes on a transport or CDP or DAC. Read my reviews of AC cords here at Audiogon. 3 years ago I was skeptical like yourself. But now, I would swear on a stack ob Bibles now that I have heard MAJOR differences in the sonics of a system by just changing out AC cords on the transport.

KF

I find it funny when people proclaim that science is the only thing that really tells us anything about anything. They think that science is black and white, and that it can be bundled and bound in a nice little book or on a webpage.

One of my undergrad degrees is in the History of Science, and I have come to the conclusion that science is pretty darn subjective in more ways than many folks realize. For starters, measurements are only as accurate as 1/2 of the unit they are measured in. This in itself is a subjective call by a scientist making a measurement. The way data is analyzed is AMAZINGLY subjective. Look at how many scientific studies CONTRADICT each other. Many times it is all in the data analysis. Heck folks, scientist have even figured out (not too long ago) that the earth's grativitational field is NOT UNIFORM. What does this mean??? Well it means that something that might weigh on a scale 2000 pounds in the USA may weigh 2001 pounds somewhere else in the world. This to me is pretty strange... especially since I was taught that on earth at equal distances from the center of the earth the pull of gravity is constant. Go figure.

Science is constantly proving what we think we knew because of 'science' is well... not right or slightly wrong.... or totally off base. (I could go on and on on this subject... so many things that science only gives us a 'likely story on').

So I kinda give a little chuckle, when someone brings science into audio. Music itself is art. Why would someone want to pick apart or analyze music/musical reproduction using science as the ONLY yardstick. When it is what we HEAR that only matters. I have heard vast sonic differences in AC cords on components. Can I explain why? Nope. DO I really want to know why? Heck, yeah, but so far I have only heard what I would call 'likely stories' to explain what I have observed.

There are also many many things science has not ven began to expain. Maybe in the near future someone will write a paper on AC cords and why they make a sonic difference?

KF

Listening to audio is about sensory perception and not about a scientific analysis. I did not say in my previous post that science should NOT be used in hi-end audio, but that it should NOT be the only means we judge anything.

When the CD first came out scientist figured that the human ear could only hear 20hz-20khz (which is more or less true), and that one would only need to sample music at a rate of some 44khz to get a signal that was unnoticeably the same to the human ear from that of a traditional analogue signal. LMAO! All I can say is that I can tell from the next room whether my wife is playing a record or CD. The sound difference is painfully obvious.

Anyway, I would never say that technology has not succeeded in many ways. It has! And technology even gives us the music we get through our music systems. I am in wireless technology, and I love it.

However, I would STILL say a few things: Technology has not even come CLOSE to reproducing a human eye's capability. NOR has technology come remotely close to reproducing a human ear's capability. Nor has technology given us the artificial intelligence it would take for technology to tell us whether a particular 2 channel setup compares to live music.

Technology does not analyze reproductions of art. It is great at analyzing black and white thinkgs such as 1's and 0's.

Heck, one can even make the argument that our speakers can never 9and I do mean NEVER) sound like live music, because the way they reproduce the music is so vastly different than live music it is scientifically impossible for it to absolutley sound like the original.

I will readily admit that there are many things on the audio market which make fraudulant claims. Yep, there are many people out there who will readily take your money for a wiz bang gizmo that is supposed to sonically improve your system. HOWEVER, I know that certain AC cords make components sound A LOT different than the stock AC cords do. Not just little differences but HUGE differences. And I am not selling anything. I am not a dealer or manufacturer saying this. I have tried many AC cords and detailed some of my experiences in my reviews here at Audiogon.

Lastly, I will point to an Audio Reviewer who I have a little respect for. Check out Art Dudley's latest column in Stereophile where he talks about a power cord he just tried. I think he said it was the first cord he ever tried that he thought made a huge difference over stock. And Art Dudley is a pretty cynical guy (at least it sounds like that from his writing style). I take all reviews with a grain of salt, but it was very interesting reading Art Dudley's column. I personally think he needs to try more AC cords because he is only at the tip of the iceberg.

If you are a TAS fan, look at the review they wrote on the Kimber Palladium PK10. Also see Enjoythemusic.com for another review of the Kimber Palladium PK10.

Maybe this is a big audio conspiracy?

Maybe AC cords are the audio equilivilent of Big Foot?

Maybe I am INSANE? Maybe I cannot trust my senses?

Because what I am hearing, Redbeard, directly contradicts my sensory perceptions. And frankly, everyone's sensory perceptions that were around me when I was doing some listening.

Even my WIFE, who does not care a flip about hi end audio equipment, has heard a difference between the AC cords. And I was not telling her what one I preferred at all. She came to her own conclusion without any influence from me. Go figure...

I am friends with many people who love two channel, and we all principally agree that AC cords make big differences on components.

Maybe this is one big delusion???

Oh, and I never said that there were unexplainable forces at work. I believe I said no one has yet to explain to me why AC cords really make this much of a sonic impact. I have heard attempts at the explanation, but nothing that satisfies my curiosity. I am sure there is some scientific explanation. Until I haer an explanation that I can understand, AC cords remain mysterious to me. But in the end, it is not the factual explanation I am seeking, but the experience of listening to wonderful music.

KF

I never said that all people or even the average person can hear under 20hz or over 20khz. The scientist who came up with the redbook CD standard designed it to this criteria. I really wonder what the CD would sound like if it were designed from 1hz to 30khz. I am sure the format would sound different than the 16bit format that we have today even though humans are suposed to not be able to hear outside the 20hz-20khz range.

Anyway, the issue I am taking up is AC cords. Not Tri-orms or Glucsamine. I have a lot of personal experience with different AC cords, and I find it very silly when someone dismisses them outright on the 'science' basis.

It seems that both Redbeard and Pbb think that if science cannot explain something, it does not exist. Or if there is no scientific basis for something to happen, it should not happen.

Science starts with observation of something we really do not understand. I have observed hearing amazingly different musical presentations coming out of my system (as well as many other systems) with the switching out of AC cords. I do not understand it nor have I heard a satisfactory explanation as to why this happens. But to dismiss it outright would be a horrible alternative. That would be like Copernicus after he documented that certain stars have an anagle of paralax just saying the data is totally wrong and the stars still must be infinitely far from the earth (an angle of paralax basically proved that the stars were a certain distance away from the earth, and not an infinite distance that had been theorized in the past).

To put things into a perspective that may be a little more analogous. The science of nutrition I find very mysterious. Over the years human nutrition has been debated widely. Many years ago a nutritionist by the name of Atkins came out with a diet that went totally against what most nutritionist had EVER considered healthy. The Atkins diet was ostracized. Until recently... And recent nutritional studies have shown that the Atkins diet can work and be healthy. My father has lost like 30lbs on it. Go figure... I think (if I remember correctly) the Atkins diet initially came out in the 60's (I may be wrong).

Redbeard makes an argument that 16bit digital has been totally mastered by the scientist and that it is child's play for these people... Why is it then that companies are coming out with CDPs that sound better and better? Do you think all CDPs sound the same? DO you think all DACs sound the same? I have heard cutting edge 16bit digital playback that was absolutely amazing compared to an Audio Aero Capitole 2 CDP. When CDPs came out many laymen thought they all sounded the same. Over the past 22 years 16bit digital has come a long, Long, LONG way soundwise. Everytime I dare think it can get no better, someone comes along with another DAC/tranport or CDP that sets a new standard. Perhaps I am hearing things here as well?

KF