2. cables
  3. 129450-96171

Hearing is believing?........power cables.......

For anyone who is skeptical about the difference a high quality power cord can make in your high quality audio system........try it.......hearing is believing. About 10 years ago when I bought my first "entry level" hifi system (B&K amp/preamp, Canton speakers) my audio advisor dropped off a Tara Labs Prism power cord. He said just try it for a week and if you don't think it makes a difference just return it. I, like most unfamiliar with high quality cables, was skeptical.......how could a cable 1 meter long from the wall to my equipment make a difference? I put it on the power amp and yes I could definitely tell there was a more defined bass and overall clearer soundscape. I'm a musicians, so I figured maybe the "non audiophile" can't hear the difference. So my brother-in-law who is a bricklayer came over and we did a blind listening test. I randomly switched the Tara, sometimes trying to fool him......told him I switched but didn't........he could tell every time I used the Tara! So I was convinced that it was "wishful thinking on my part or particularly sensitive ears. If you don't think a great power cable can make a difference........take the challenge. Try one for a week and see (hear) for yourself!
128x128mikeelzeysguitarstudio

Showing 3 responses by decibell

decibell
69 posts
 
Does anybody know - and is able to explain - why power cords can make a noticeable difference? I'm searching for answers but don't find any. Shunyata's list of "misconceptions" is interesting to read, but it does not really explain what physically happens inside the equipment explaining the influence a power cord can have.
https://www.gcaudio.com/tips-tricks/why-power-cables-make-a-difference/
So far I experienced the most dramatic improvement when upgrading the power cord of my CD player. Analog-like liquidity, higher resolution, lower sound floor, more dynamic presentation, better dynamic differentiation and denser tone color saturation could be easily heard when swapping power cords. I even recorded a CD for a friend to demonstrate the effect of power cords. I recorded the same (analog) record twice on CD - one time with original power cords  for phono stage and CD recorder and after that with different power cords on both units. The mixed CD contains each track twice - so you can "swap" between both versions of the same track. The differences are clearly audible and my friend was able to hear the difference in his system as well. After this experiment I also upgraded umbilical cords of my preamp's and phono stage's power supplies and was shocked because the impact of this upgrade was even more dramatic than the simple power cord upgrade. The overall impact was so dramatic, that I am now replacing every inch of reachable power conductor inside my gear. 
I do know that the claimed shielding and/or filtering of some power cords does not explain this effect in my case, because my power cables/conductors have zero shielding or filtering that could explain any of the above improvements.

Is anybody out there smart enough to understand the physics behind these effects? 
decibell
69 posts
 
@shadorne 
I appreciate your perspective - which I understand and agree to when these circumstances apply. In my case though, I don't think they do. Each piece of gear that I use has it's own dedicated 20 Amp line - running to a dedicated breaker box. The damn equivalent is a good analogy, but I don't see how a 3 ft power cord would be able to make up for a poorly designed power supply - assuming the power supplies in my gear is not able to provide the supply a damn would do. I don't use any  power conditioning either. Just the change from one power cord to another one has major audible impact. The damn theory also does not explain why the umbilical cord upgrade can make such a big difference - since it only connects the damn with the gear that consumes the power - in your case this would be the river below the damn.
decibell
69 posts
 
@dynaquest4

dynaquest4 wrote:
"Analog-like liquidity"....really?  That's a new one.  Who makes up this stuff?

I just went thru your responses to a few posts. Did it ever occur to you that you're wasting your time (and others) on Audiogon? 

You have obviously not experienced what impact cables can have in a high resolution system? I feel sorry for you! 

Did you notice, that the earth is not flat ... ?

More to discover