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Ideal power cord lengths?

A quick Google search suggests there is consensus that the ideal power cord length is 2m.  1m cords sound “harsher” and 3m cords sound “smoother”, with 2m being the sweet spot.  The PS Audio dude suggests that the reason is that the reason is that all cords have an impact on the power, and the greater the length, the greater the impact, good or bad.

I know many will say there is no difference between a 1m cord and a 3m cord.  But my question is, who here has tried like model power cords of different lengths, and what were the differences?  
 

Second question:  How does length factor into the equation when you have a cord feeding a conditioner, then other cords feeding components?  If 2m cords are in fact the ideal, would 1m cords be ideal when using conditioners?

I tend to believe those that say that power cord lengths matter.  While I’ve not been able to do this test myself, I’ve had these two experiences:

  • Testing Audioquest Diamond and Nordost Valhalla 2 USB cables, the cables shorter than 1.5m sounded TERRIBLE by comparison.  Especially the .75m Audioquest Diamond vs the 1.5m version.  But the 1m Valhalla 2 also sounded awful in comparison to the 2m version.  In general this opened my eyes to how much cable length matters, and counterintuitively in the case of digital cables. 
  • I have a 2019 2m AudioQuest Hurricane Source cable from back when AQ braided their cables, and I also have the newer non-braided Hurricane Source, but 3m in length.  The new Hurricane sounds vastly superior to my old 2m Hurricane.  In comparison the older cord compresses the soundstage depth.  I don’t know if the differences are due to the differences in length, or if it’s due to a design change by Audioquest.

Very interested in learning of others experiences with power cord lengths.

 

 

nyev

Showing 2 responses by mirolab

mirolab
208 posts
 

I was reading in a pro-audio mag, the writer’s experience attending AXPONA for the first time, and his head nearly exploding at the ridiculousness of power cables. This is really why people hate the word "audiophile".... because of this silliness. There isn’t a studio in the world making records today that is worrying about the power cables feeding the racks of processors used to make a record.

... just sayin......

mirolab
208 posts
 

@soix 

I've had a home studio for 25 years, and been in several studios, looked behind the racks of multi-thousand dollar processors, all plugged with generic black IEC power cables.  So YES i know the difference between those cords, and the ones used on the monitoring system.... BUT there is so much more going on with the power than worrying about the LENGTH of each power cable, as the OP is inquiring about.  

Is the OP really hearing a difference with different lengths of power cords?? I don't know.  But if he is, his solution is going to be unique to his particular setup.  I can guarantee that someone else, in a different location, is going to get different results.  

Just like with audio recording & mixing... I can use the same exact guitar/amp/mic/preamp recording chain as "XX" famous guitarist, but try as I might, I could never get the same sound he's getting.  Every situation is different.     

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