Effects Of Power Cords On Electrostatic Speakers

I've been following with interest this dialogue. When everyone is referring to "audiophile" level cables, exactly what is it that constitutes such quality? That is, I'm not interested in a brand name, but what is the technology? The composition? Is it a single solid copper cable or a dozen strands twisted, or hundreds of very fine strands, or copper-coated aluminum, or what? 18 gauge vs 12g? Shielded? Surely anyone can replicate quality if there's a sound basis for it, and there must be an explanation for the arguments I've been reading above.

Thank you @ghdprentice. This is the best explanation I’ve heard. I will certainly go to the Cardas site right now. This about transparency strikes me because I am planning on investing into a number of AMT-2560 (NEO-10) Planar Ribbon drivers, and so I want their transparency to come through. And I suppose that the same thing also applies to crossover networks - that they’ve also come a long ways since the 1960s when I last looked into them? So much has changed since then it is bewildering. What I got from the time I was a kid was to go with 10 gauge copper wire to avoid impedance, so I’ve just stuck with that ever since, but that was over 55 years ago.

@ghdprentice  What you wrote about Planars above and returning to more traditional drivers is most interesting to me because I was about to make the investment this very evening in about 18-36 planars at, what would be for me, a very substantial investment. (I had planed on building a stereo system for each of our children.) I have heard almost uniform praise of the transparency of planars, the lower distortion, the flatness of response, the tightness of transients. Now your comment has baffled me because you obviously have much audio experience, esp. with AMT planars. Could you please advise us further or share more detail?  

Thank you @terry9 .  I will take a look at Scanspeak, Bryston & Magnepan. And I do listen to a fair amount of organ music, and I don't know of anything else that produces such sustained below 50Hz-low notes that can be so tough on subs, so maybe you've just put me onto something I need to be considering barely in time for me to make my purchase decisions, as I was about to place orders. 

@terry9  Humm...Listen before I buy? I was going to order the speakers online from overseas-- they are clones of the BG NEO10 & NEO8s--and so I've been relying on others' recommendations. When you said "every time I slide into cones, I have to replace them" - "them" is referring to the cones you regretfully acquired? And the isobaric subs: I don't know that I've ever communicated with someone with those: worth the double cabinets and double drivers? If so, why? what is really accomplished? (While in the process of ordering subs and designing cabinets, I want to consider every worthy alternative to get the best I can.) 

@ghdprentice @terry9 I have spent my time studying the websites of Magnepan DWM and Bryston, watching videos, learning all I can. Then I just encountered the recent comments above. Living in a small city there is not a single audio store that carries any speakers with Planars, yet I am still convinced by the words that they are the way to go, simply by my reading of the technology and its rationale and the accompanying testimonials by those I respect. The biggest challenge is that I’ve got woofers with sensitivity of 97-100dB, the planars are 92-94, and for over 55 years I’ve liked it when the point source disappears, thus I’ve considered open baffle, and to increase the efficiency of the planars I’ve looked for open back AMT Planars, and I’ve thought about using them dipole with Bi-Horns front and back, positioning them away from the wall, etc. I’ve figured that even 30Wrms would do for the Planars because, if I can gain 10dB with the horns, that would give me a max. SPL beyond any volume I listen to. The most difficult music I like is choral with organ and/or symphony accompaniment, e.g., the Tabernacle Choir, as well as other classical, but I’d like to build matching systems for our children as well, and at least one of them plays bass guitar and I suppose our grandchildren may like rock and other (all 7 are married, and about 24 grandchildren), which puts limits on the budget. I am leaning towards active speakers and using a tube pre-amp where all the controls are. My wife of 46 years likes the Eagles and the more mellow folk-rock, while I am more of a Beatles & Stones guy, but I don’t get into that as much anymore. So yes, the musicality is what I am anxious about, because I like to just sit and listen and zone out for hours, or even do my reading with the background music playing, enjoying the peacefulness, and so the transparency and brilliance are important, and for me that means precise transients and clarity, while also having speakers than can handle the sustained bass of the organ, which also require cone control (I’ve got my eyes on some 15" woofers with high BL and considering Isobaric to increase the transient-cone control). The most creative/challenging part of the above will be designing-building the Bi-Horns for the Planars (for which I’ll use a cabinet design app and laser/CNC for the work). So, I am all ears to any and all knowledge you of much more experience can give me, especially the steps in your evolution in your journey from power prowess to musicality, and anything to understand about planars and adapting them to horns. (For design work I’ll be using REW and WinISP.) Hopefully these might be legacy systems, heirlooms to pass down to grandchildren.

Thank you to @ghdprentice @terry9 @steakster for your insights and time helping me to better grasp where to go from here. My wife is afraid that I have heard so many things that our budget will never un-hear them.    ;-)

@terry9 @ghdprentice Now you’ve both got me with more systems to check out and understand. (I spent last evening until now checking out systems & You Tube videos discussing these systems.) I can see why I’ll need to make a trip to listen to the Planars, which I’ll probably have to do at the end of the month. Now "coherence"? What do you mean by the term? Seamless integration with the various drivers across the audio spectrum? relative dispersion of the drivers? or does it refer to traits within a driver itself? And also, I’m still researching what specs I might look at to identify the dynamic range of a driver.

Any experience attaching horns to a planar? Or are there any systems out there that do so (besides Joseph Crowe’s)? Any suggestions on things to keep in mind were I to go down the path of putting a horn onto a Planar? I don’t know if I can afford a Planar that would cover all bass, so I’ve been focusing on a tight, high BL driver that would carry it up to, say, 160-320Hz, with the Planars taking over from there and up, so one concern I have (naturally) is how they might blend together for tonality purposes around the crossover point.