Effects Of Power Cords On Electrostatic Speakers


Several weeks ago I took delivery of a pair of Martin Logan CLX ART speakers. I hooked them up with the supplied power cords from the seller. The sound was pretty underwhelming, so I let them settle in. After about 4 days the sound had not changed significantly. I decided to rob a pair of PI Audio power cords from my phono stages and put them on the CLX. Signicant change and was getting the sound I expected. 

The question I ask myself is why? This is a low current power supply that just feeds the stators. 

If it is indeed significant, and it seems to be, what level of cord is going to meet the needs? No reason to spend more than I have to. 

 

Looking forward to reading your thoughts or experiences. 

neonknight

Showing 5 responses by neonknight

To be safe I should try the Belden again and see what happens. No reason to spend money if I don't have to. 

@jhnnrrs

 

So you know the "truth". How comforting.

 

And what makes you think I own a lava lamp?

As a truth teller you should get the facts correct and not lean on conjecture.

@mrskeptic

 

But what happens if do not expect to hear a change? Do we then have unexpectation bias? If so what does that prove?

Yes but we have expectations. I expect to receive a paycheck every two weeks. When I get it does that mean it is a false paycheck and not real compensation? Isn’t it funny how we live and order our lives with expectations and yet people like you demean others for having them. Tell me, when you bought your audio equipment did you not have a set of expectations? If so how can anyone believe that your answers of anything audio have any level of validity?

As an update. The stock ML cords have been installed on my subwoofers. So I let the system play all night on a playlist. I sat down for a bit before heading out to work. I was able to swap cables between subs and the ML. Small differences between the stock and the Pi ones. Small enough that a new sweep of the DSP program could conceivably minimize those differences even more. I will try that this evening.

 

But at this point it does not seem plausible that this is a good place to invest any significant money.