How can power cords make a difference?


I am trying to understand why power cords can make a difference.

It makes sense to me that interconnects and speaker cables make a difference. They are dealing with a complex signal that contains numerous frequencies at various phases and amplitudes. Any change in these parameters should affect the sound.

A power cord is ideally dealing with only a single frequency. If the explanation is RF rejection, then an AC regeneration device like PS Audio’s should make these cords unnecessary. I suppose it could be the capacitance of these cables offering some power factor correction since the transformer is an inductive load.

The purpose of my post is not to start a war between the “I hear what I hear so it must be so” camp and the “you’re crazy and wasting your money,” advocates. I am looking for reasons. I am hoping that someone can offer some valid scientific explanations or point me toward sources of this information. Thanks.
bruce1483

Showing 1 response by slawney

The powersnakes metaphor of a river current (that is, the AC) being calmed as it enters a large peaceful lake (a quality PC) is a really seductive "explanation" of why PCs make a difference. There are also some interesting scientific explanations from HMS, but I think they are only in German, and there is also a company--CIC (one of the Cs shoud be backward)--that includes a long white paper with all of their products.