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

Wow @pennfootball71 , thanks.  Impressed you have those recommended lengths by vendor at your fingertips!

Would you know of the ideal length for Audioquest? And, how those recommended lengths might vary if you have one cord for a conditioner and a second from the conditioner to your components?  Would it be the vendor’s recommended length, or  half that because there are effectively two in series?

So no for Audioquest…They use the least amount of copper I mean we are talking. 13 gauge stuff. It’s very expensive for the little amount of material they give you. My favorite affordable power cable is $550 Shunyata Venom V10.

audioquest is like the Chevy of this game unless you spend big money for their solid silver 10 grand Dragon cables. They are nice.

As a follow up. I switched back to my Audio Research REF 160s. First listening to my 1 meter Audio Quest Hurricane power cord for a couple hours. Then switched to the 2 meter Audio Quest Hurricane. I was really hoping not to hear a difference… since I own the 1 meter power cord. But I do.

The shorter cord provides a bit more immediate and forceful sound but a little reduced soundstage and soundstage depth. The longer is overall better sounding. I would call the longer more detailed and refined. Darn. 
 

So, of course, is it worth the extra cost and extra cord in back? I have to say, absolutely yes for me.

 

My 68 Z28 will suck the headlight's out of your Prius. 

audioquest is like the Chevy of this game unless you spend big money for their solid silver 10 grand Dragon cables. They are nice.

@ghdprentice , finally, someone who tried the comparison!  Thank you….  What I am also interested in however is how power cord length factors in when you have a second cord that powers a conditioner.  For your test, were you testing your Hurricanes connected to a conditioner (and if so how long is the cord feeding it?), or were you connecting your Hurricanes direct to wall?

I’m curious as to whether 1m to conditioner and 1m to component is ideal, or if 2m in both spots would be better (or worse).  Thanks again.  Good to hear some results after all the bluster (which I admit to have found to be amusing) on this thread.

OP,

Your welcome… I learned something as well. (Every thing matters and more money, more better… oh, I already knew that.)

I have two direct lines. One for my power conditioner and one for my amp. I found plugging an amp into a power conditioner has never been a good thing for me… and that is the rule of thumb. Amp direct to the wall.

My amp is most effected by power cord changes of all my components. I have a good power conditioner, but it does not allow power cord changes.

 

Judging by the fact that virtually all power conditioners allow and frequently place really high end cords on them… I would say it is likely to make a substantial difference as you are going to be effecting most of your components.

Thanks again @ghdprentice , and your results are consistent with what I’ve seen others report.

When I was trialing the Niagara 5000 I definitely sound my amp preferred to be plugged directly into my second dedicated line as well. But I ended up with a Torus RM-20 and it’s better with everything including my amp plugged into that.

I guess my question with conditioners is if the positive effect of a single 2m cord is reproduced by two 1m cords with a conditioner in the middle. And, if having two 2m cords with a conditioner is too much cord and makes things worse. It doesn’t sound like you have the components needed to perform such a test.  But you answered the first part of my original post, so thanks again!

Ideal power cord lengths?

My two monoblock amplifiers sound fantastic without power cords. That said, I did an AC mains tweak eliminating the power cord and wall plug from my two monoblock amps, by installing the female IEC C13 plug onto the direct line from the electrical panel into the male IEC inlet of the power amp. Previous power cords were 12'' long, 12AWG. The two direct lines to the monoblock amps are 10 AWG BX/AC cable. Ideal power cord lengths for my amps would be no power cord. Your lengths may vary! 😎

Mike

@nyev 

Two of the 3 amps in my system do require independently a 20 amp breaker service. First can do a healthy 1500 4 Ohm watts at 0.01% THD, weighs in at 136 pounds. Second a healthy 1400 4 Ohm watts at 0.05 THD, weighing in at 95 pounds. The reason for multiple 20 amp breaker services…I’m wiring anyway, do it then I don’t have to think about any order plugging things in. 

Cheers 

OP,

 

Great question on having two, two meter cords, or two one meter one cords.
 

That sounds like one that is going to be system dependent. If you can, get your dealer to loan you enough cords to figure it out. I would get a 1 meter for the power conditioner and a two meter for the amp. But I am getting older and have a greater interest in getting to the final system in my lifetime. 

@ghdprentice , good luck. If you can swing it, I do recommend the Firebird or Dragon cords. Hurricanes do sound very good as well, but I find there is more air and more of a 3D presentation of instruments and vocals with the higher end cords. That said, I found no other differences other than that between the highest two cords and the Hurricanes.

I’ll ask my dealer for some demo cords, but I try not to do this unless I intend to buy. I doubt they will agree, as in the past Audioquest has had to manufacture their higher end demo cords just so I could try them (which I ended up purchasing).

 

 

But I am getting older and have a greater interest in getting to the final system in my lifetime.

@ghdprentice Ha!  We can dream I suppose. 

Not done any real testing with cable length.

I remember many years ago that Steve from Empirical Audio saying that a USB cable needs to be either very short OR 1.5 meters or greater to avoid what I think I recall him saying as "reflections" on the cable. This correlates with what the OP was experiencing with USB as well.

Also I seem to recall that the prior head guy at Nordost said that power cables were best at 4M. Seems to jive with what @ghdprentice was saying above. Me, I'd rather keep them about the length needed so I don't have a rats nest of cables behind my equipment and that makes it much easier to dress them and keep them apart as much as possible.

It would be a fun exercise to experiment, but most of us don't have the $$ needed to buy two of every cable to do the experimentation. Just my thoughts.

4 meter PCs from Nordost will definitely optimize profits for Nordost.  Not sure about the sound though.

Wow, never considered cable length to factor in; dumb luck that most of my power cables are 2 meters long. More noticeable than comparing different cables, was getting dedicated power to the equipment. This was an immediate and noticeable change. 

(1) I have a dedicated 20AMP circuit to a PS Audio PowerPort plug, with Pangea Audio AC9 SE MkII (Cardas copper) cable driving a Denafrips Thallo amplifier.

(2) I have the same set up feeding a Panamax M5300-PM conditioner, and Pangea Audio AC14 SE MkII (Cardas copper) cables feeding the low current devices.....only exception is a Cullen Cable C7 cable feeding a BlueSound Node 130

At some point will get around to swapping in various recepticles and power cables

OK, so how about this: you bought a great amp from a reputable company and they sent you a power cord with it... HOW ABOUT just use THAT one? 

Would Marantz send an inferior cord with the Ruby?  I don't think so.  Would Hegel or Arcam or Anthem or anybody else with any kind of engineering and reputation send you an amp with a power cord that detracts from the amps performance?  I don't think so.

@curtdr - They are only inferior if you're concerned about sound quality. But to your point... Stock power cables will certainly power up the component. 

@boxer12  -  Color me deeply skeptical. 

I don't believe those companies, or any mid to high enders, would scrimp on the power cord if such a scrimp degraded sound quality, especially of their top models but really mostly through the line.  Certainly somebody along the line, in the engineering team or quality control or otherwise, would have spoken up if after all the care and expertise they took in designing a product such as the Marantz Ruby... or take your pick, Accuphase 480, Luxman, whatever.. then the supplied power cord degraded all that work???  I don't think so.  They wouldn't pick a random cord and throw it on.  They would use one that works and works well without degrading the capabilities of the machine.   

If you are bothered by a 5' or 6' cord as too long or too short, well I can see swapping out the cord and making sure you get one at least the equivalent of the supplied cord, to get one of a length you need and leave it at that, if you are concerned with cable management and want to tidy everything up.  But as for sound quality upgrade?  Nope, I don't believe it. 

Some may call me naive, and some might call me critically skeptical: take your pick.

I completely get why it’s tough to make sense of things when it comes to HiFi. I get it; I have an engineering background, and nothing in HiFi makes sense. In this hobby common sense does not apply, and is often inaccurate. The fact that a USB cable transmitting 1’s and 0’s can make difference is absolutely preposterous to me, even moreso than the fact that power cords matter. A system assembled through a practical, common sense approach will not get you far, in my experience.

To me this hobby is all about using your ears, preferably through objective, double-blind testing of one component at a time, on the right type of system that will reveal differences the component being tested makes, is what ultimately matters in this hobby. It is all that matters in this hobby. Other than your budget!

it is important to validate results through double blind testing if at all possible.  If not possible, I know enough to distrust my own perceptions enough to really question what I think I am hearing, and only make an assessment after many weeks of comparisons.  Many prefer to use a new component for weeks or even months, before going back to validate the difference it makes.  A/B testing is SO difficult because human auditory memory is absolutely terrible.  By the time you’ve connected a new component your perception of what you just heard before will absolutely have shifted.  It’s even worse if someone talks to you between tests.  That’s why double blind testing is so efficient and effective.  If you’ve not gone through this process, you are left only with common sense, and the rules that govern our world do not apply to HiFi.  Those who apply common sense will disagree, of course!

 

I remember reading an interview with an upmarket cord manufacturer. Asked whether high priced wiring really sounded better - he said 

"Yes, in the same way your car drives better after it has been washed and cleaned"

 

pennfootball71,  I change some of my AC Cable positionning, and your tests reveal me something, I wonder if the difference is not necessarely the brand, but also the lenght,  a 1.5 m is better than a 1 m on my power bar.  Thank you.

OK, so how about this: you bought a great amp from a reputable company and they sent you a power cord with it... HOW ABOUT just use THAT one? Would Marantz send an inferior cord with the Ruby? I don’t think so.

@curtdr The answer is yes, they would and do. You’re missing the fact that after retail markups including a better PC would add significantly to the price of a product. Plus, cables are also notoriously system dependent, so it’s possible that an expensive PC wouldn’t synergize with a customer’s system/tastes so they would’ve paid all that extra cash for nothing. Then there’s that more serious audiophiles often have their own preferences for PCs and would likely never use the cord that came with the equipment. For all these reasons it makes sense for a manufacturer to include a cheap cable that’s good enough to do at least do justice to the equipment and let the customer choose what PC works best for their tastes/system. If you were right then manufacturers would be providing better PCs with their products, but they don’t. I’m not aware of any that do and everything I’ve bought has come with the generic black cord. Have you ever seen a manufacturer at an audio show power their products with a generic black cord? I think not. They pay a lot of $$$ to have their equipment at shows, so if the generic black cord was their best option they’d use it to show their products at their absolute best, but they don’t.  Hmmm.

@soix 

I'm not missing the fact that an expensive power cord adds to cost.

I am extremely skeptical that the power cord supplied with a Marantz Ruby, to continue the example, is a detriment at all to its audible performance.

Hey, if it makes one feel better to swap out a cord to a more expensive one, well then do it and feel better.  That's fine, I guess...  but I don't believe it's a wise efficient use of funds when it comes to upgrading for sonic performance, unless it's the one thing that would make one feel better, sleep better, whatever, and that's on you and it's fine.

However, I stand by my overall message of high skepticism, except maybe in extreme cases of crappy or lower level products in the first place but then why would anybody invest more into an inferior poorly-designed overall product?  If the power cord is a problem, why would you trust the product or the company in the first place?  

I suppose one possibility, but it would be a relatively rare one, is if there is some extraordinary electrical weirdness in your home and you need some sort of super shielding, but I've lived in many places of this country in a variety of towns and cities and have never seen it personally except for one house where I had subwoofer hum.  And, if you do detect weirdness, try just plugging in to a different plug, which is a simple solution that instantly solved a subwoofer hum problem that I used to have when watching TV.  I just used a modest "indoor/outdoor" extension cord of adequate length to get the subwoofer onto a separate circuit in the house, a plug controlled by a different breaker than the TV was on, and voila, problem solved.

@curtdr

 

Welcome to the world of high end audio. Many of us started with highly skeptical thoughts on effects of various components. Then pretty quickly ran into objective reality… it doesn’t conform to logical thought. Power cords, interconnects, cables make small to huge differences. I was a practicing scientist when I first got into high end audio and quickly learned to listening to determine what made a difference and what didn’t. Hint, it all does.

My $17K to $22K Audio Research products ship with heavy duty 20 amp power cords. Replacing with a number of good quality power cords made large improvements in the sound. I spent nearly a year finding the best, and it was worth the effort. My system sounds significantly (and cost effectively) better.

@ghdprentice Well said.  You’re a good example of someone benefitting from keeping an open mind and letting your ears being the final arbiter versus just sticking head in sand and calling it a day.  Ignorance is bliss, to each his/her own, etc.

Early in your journey, when you are stretching just to get into what may be barely considered “HiFi”, speaking from my own experience at least, your mindset is just on obtaining the gear you can barely afford. The last thing you want to hear is that you should allocate a portion of your budget for cabling, including power cords..  It’s far more convenient to believe it’s ridiculous that power cords have an effect, and it IS a ridiculous concept.

I believe this is partly what has driven people to be so passionate about this debate for so many years, using the same common-sense based arguments that don’t apply, and passionately doubling down while refusing to find out for themselves by doing a simple blind test in their local HiFi shop. It’s far more convenient, budget wise, to believe that aftermarket cords make no difference. Very few people won’t hear an improvement with premium cords in a blind test when they actually get to doing it, and you absolutely don’t need to be an audiophile to hear the difference (my wife and daughter hear obvious differences but couldn’t care less).

@ghdprentice

@soix

etc.

Thanks for the welcome, but it’s misplaced.  It's far from early in my journey... But thank you anyway.

Yes, indeed, ears as arbiter I understand very well.

I also understand confirmation bias.

But if spending even more money on a 20k product for a power cord is necessary for you to hear "large improvements"... well, er, then I’d call out the manufacturer on that one because the amp must have some design flaw, because with a good enough amp there’s no such thing as "large improvements" except for system synergy with speakers, maybe dac, maybe... subtle, perhaps audible or perhaps psychological, improvements perhaps... One hopes to hear "large improvements" when one drops $500 or $1000 or more on a power cord or an interconnect, and hope leads to belief leads to thoughts of even greater nirvana if only, if only...

And I also understand priorities, to each his own there, financially and otherwise.

But as an educator, and as an educated long-time audiophile on the side, I do not agree that ignorance is bliss... and I’m also aware of endless, self-imposed rabbit holes that intertwist and eventually lead to more rabbit holes and never a home. So, if that’s where people want to lead the OP down, and if the OP chooses to follow, well then that’s your priorities and the OP’s priorities.

In my considered and experienced opinion, if you’re not satisfied with the sound of your system, and if you have a well-designed modern amp, you’re better off trying different speakers that are more to your taste than dumping money into cords and interconnects.

So, yes, follow your bliss, and if that means pouring money into... cords... well, so be it. Myself, I’m not following into that questionable hole, however, and the OP will just have to weigh everything out and decide for him or her self.

@ghdprentice 

I agree with soix, very well stated and reasoned reply. I've reached a point where I don't bother with those who are skeptical of what others report with regard to hands on experience in High End audio. That's their choice and issue. Listening is the best method for deciding what does and does not produce meaningful results. This approach has served me well.

Charles 

So, yes, follow your bliss, and if that means pouring money into... cords... well, so be it. Myself, I’m not following into that questionable hole

@curtdr Yeah, you’re obviously right and the rest of us who’ve found PCs to make meaningful improvements are just kidding ourselves along with the manufacturers of equipment who never, ever use stock PCs either. You keep rocking those black plastic throwaway cords and reinsert head back into that much more comfy hole in the sand rather than daring to explore ours. It really is so much easier for you that way — I’ll give you that. Enjoy.

@soix

Ad hominem much?

By your stridency, I do believe I’ve struck a cord... er, chord. 😉

Yes, fine, you and some others have experienced "significant improvements" in the sound of your system by buying expensive cords... great. Enjoy.

Experience = subjective, by definition

Significant = subjective, usually, unless tightly defined

even Improvements = subjective

if we do adhere to the concept of let your ears decide...

... and if the OP wants to follow you into that replacement cord tangle, that’s fine w me... we all have our hobby or hobbies, right?

This subject reminds me of finances, in more than one regard. Esoteric financial products are not superior to intelligently implemented simple products. Many people buy way more insurance than they need... including "whole life" products... because they either don’t know the research or just because it makes them feel better. High priced hedge fund or other active professional managers, or amateur active traders, do not beat the indexed market in the long run, especially once the premium fees are extracted. Any that do, do it by statistical luck, not skill. But, people who buy into all that esoterica in the face of overwhelming long-term academic research to the contrary often feel better anyway and frequently think themselves smarter than us "uneducated" schlubs with our heads in the sand of our low-fee index funds... And that’s fine too.

It’s good to have a hobby, and I’m glad you found one that gets your juices going... more power to you and your system... my hope for you, in all sincerity, is that you someday find your own comfy satisfactory hole, or if you do not, then you will be comfortable with eternal wandering. It’s all good, whatever path you choose.

Few people follow the rabbit holes I follow through Kant and Wittgenstein, so hey... and I don’t blame ’em at all.

And it’s up to the OP or any other audience member to weigh it all out, consider his own priorities, and choose his or her own path, as well.

I mentioned already but for me the stress of figuring out how to solve my system issues related to some sonic aspect that troubles me is FINALLY over. I find now it is more relaxing, and in fact highly enjoyable, to consider how I might improve my system. But the beauty of where I am now is that I’m in no hurry to do anything, because I think my system sounds fantastic. In fact, I already have a mix of 2m and 3m cords already! So no rabbit holes necessary.

I asked this question purely out of genuine curiosity to see if anyone had experienced comparing like power cords of varied lengths, and what effects there might be…. @ghdprentice did the comparison and he found he preferred the longer cord, while also confirming what others have said about the sonic differences that power cord lengths make, when used in highly resolving systems like @ghdprentice has (beautiful system btw….).

I suppose I didn’t start the thread for advice on my system, but rather simply to share experiences and maybe learn something about our hobby from other.

Next up for another highly controversial subject:  isolation and/or vibration control!

@curtdr Im in finance, and a lot of my clients were very happy to be partly in managed futures (it’s called diversification) while the market was collapsing in 2008 and those funds were making money hand over fist. Sure they may underperform the market from time to time — every asset class does dude — welcome to investing. But what they saved my clients from the crash more than made up for any net-of-fees underperformance going forward. But again, keep that head in the sand and you’ll know no different nor learn anything. Like I said, it’s certainly easier that way.


my hope for you, in all sincerity, is that you someday find your own comfy satisfactory hole, or if you do not, then you will be comfortable with eternal wandering. It’s all good, whatever path you choose.

I’m very satisfied in my hole because I made the effort to be open minded, continue to learn, and explore what else is out there. To me, that’s part of the fun and great reward of being an audiophile. If the head in the sand method works for you, great. It’s a much easier life but also much less rewarding because you learn nothing further. How fun and enriching that must be. Ignorance is bliss is your friend along with plastic, generic power cords. Enjoy that exciting world of yours. I gladly choose and embrace the other.

 

“Next up for another highly controversial subject: isolation and/or vibration control!”

@nyev

I just looked at your system pics and don’t see any room treatments. If you haven’t already, I would focus on room acoustics before you spend a dime on isolation/vibration control devices. Room acoustic treatments should be the first and foremost part of any serious listening space and fundamental to getting the most out of your audio system. I recommend consulting with GIK Acoustics, they were very helpful when I treated my room few years back. 

I am assuming you will be starting new threads on room acoustics and vibration control :-)

There is a principle involved here. Only if you spend lots of money improving something of extreme minuscule benefit that only a meter could possibly measure can you be judged worthy to have an informed opinion.

 Right there at the top of the list from Audiogons weekly update was this jewel. Only on Audiogon do you get such priceless topics and pithy answers. The surreal ones from believers and the amusing from those of us who know better. In the mean time I bet the OP has bad music files and trying to fix them with stuff and not Audacity, Thanks for the chuckle of the day though.

Nyev, Soix, CurtDR, and all of you are correct. Of course there are ALWAYS differing opinions when discussing power cords, or interconnects, or HDMI/Ethernet/USB/I2S cables, or balanced vs unbalanced, or clean power, or separates vs integrated, or room treatment, or price of a system, or whatever it is that gets us going.

I am on a different journey from most of you, I have a budget that I am comfortable with, I prefer a different "sound"  from my system, I listen to different music, and maybe even different volume levels, and there are things about this hobby that bring me pleasure.....like tube rolling in my VTA ST-120 amp, or cable rolling, or trying to extract just that little bit more quality from the system that I can afford.

Truth be told I am jealous of those of you who can afford $15,000 speakers/amps/pre-amps/DACs and wildly expensive cables.....I am positve that you can extract better sound than I can out of my $15,000 total cost system. But that is a cap based on my particular financial reality.....and my  wife's patience. And frankly, it has taken a ton of time and research (many suggestions gathered here) to find reasonably affordable products to give me the best sound (for my ears)

Yes of course I know that a better pair of speakers will have a greater sonic improvement than a Audioquest Vodka HDMI I2S cable, and KrellAudio Research/Wilson products will outperform my Denafrips stack and Buchardt S400 MkII speakers. But I have a damn fine system for my needs and sounds amazing at low, mid, and loud listening levels, and I'll continue to find each little tweak I can afford to improve it.....and I will be getting some GIK products for room treatment, so that's another rabbit hole

@lalitk , I agree, I am going to tackle room treatment next, before dealing with vibration/coupling.  But I might start considering vibration control and learning more about soon as I simply plan to engage a qualified expert to specify how to treat my room.  I think my room is more complicated than most as there are angles, open walls, high ceilings, and it’s not simply a rectangle like most rooms.  TBH I’m not noticing any issues with my room, but I know it can be improved.  I’ve had terrible rooms before for my system but not this time.

@audioman58 Wrote:

what truly counts are the end connection points , here purity copper with gold,silver or rhodium over the copper , with ,not brass which is bright and no where good of a conductor. 

I agree. One of the reasons I eliminated the power cords from my two monoblock amps was to eliminate two connection points, the wall plug and power cord male plug. Also, another reason is to negate the question to me about what power cord sounds best. Running my amps directly to the dedicated circuit sounds better, in my opinion, then running them with a power cord.  😎

Mike

If you have high powered class A amps. And live in a tract home neighborhood,

make them long enough to reach your neighbors side yard duplex. 😳

I love how this cable (and in particular power cord) debate has raged on for decades….  It seems that both sides always end up talking down to the opposing side.  All over whether or not you believe a power cord makes a difference in your HiFi system, lol…. Oh well, human nature.  No wonder humans have fought wars for thousands of years. @mahlman , I think you are on the right track.  There is a perception of elitism that people probably find distasteful, causing the drive to be condescending and judgemental.

You are also correct that I am compensating for poor source files.  Lucky guess!  But I would present an alternate way of looking at this.  I want the convenience of streaming via Tidal HiFi and Roon, but I also want quality.  As such you are right, I’ve purchased two items to equalize my streaming performance to that of local high-res files.  The two components are the Innuos PhoenixUSB Reclocker and the Innuos PhoenixNet Ethernet isolation switch.  These devices (not cables) offer me the convenience of streaming combined with the quality of local high-res files.

 

 

Number one problem if you have a decent level of components is your source file. I spend time making mine right or deleting them if not fixable. At times the files need nothing which is good but even with the touted hi res music not a given. I fix up and sell used Klipsch gear and I used to get complaints that it does not sound as good as when I heard them at your place. I learned that I also had to tell my customers if you want the music to sound as good as what you hear at my place you have to do the same things.  Bad source files was the single biggest problem and the cheapest one to fix. Audacity is free and then your time to learn to treat files so you like them. I am a minimalist and I use the fewest number of items I can to get good sound as I figure them more I throw in the mix the more I have to try and make right as a cohesive system. So I have a PC that has the high definition driver for the sound card installed and used, feeds to my Crown amps then to my system for my smaller built two way. On my larger system mentioned in my profile I added a Xilica DSP since the horn throat is 108" and it need time aligned plus the K-402 horn works the best with DSP. I have people over on a pretty regular basis and it is funny to see some of them sneak a peak at the back side of my rack to see what the "hidden gear" is that makes things sound so good.

  What I have found is the minimum amount of gear sounds just as good and most of the times better then complicated expensive high end setups if it is done right and you have really good speakers + sound files. 

 

  I am no longer looking to improve my daily listener because it satisfies my desire for good sound. I watch the guys with lots of gear and see that most are never quite happy and change things pretty often. I think they have over complicated things beyond the chance of top level integration, if that is even possible with so many devices at play, and of course never look at music files. Speaking of which I never stream. I download and put them on a hard drive where I can edit the files if need be. I have heard to many setups with much gear and streaming I did not care for. I was not going to ask to slog through someones pride and joy to try and figure out what was wrong though so I can only reflect on observations.

“TBH I’m not noticing any issues with my room, but I know it can be improved.” 

@nyev 

Honestly, you would not know how vastly your system sound improves until you start to treat your room. No matter how complicated your room is, GIK Acoustics can help you tame the room with a modest investment. You can thank me later :-)

@lalitk , I know it will make a huge difference, but thank you anyways! I am also considering what I can put in front of my TV while listening to music..

@lalitk , I know it will make a huge difference, but thank you anyways! I am also considering what I can put in front of my TV while listening to music..

Takeaway from this contentious thread subject-NOTHING

If one thinks aftermarket power cables make for a "better" setup, then it does.

If someone is in the other camp-you're right, too.

I have overpriced fancy cables only because of smokin' deals.

One certainty-the supplied $1.00 rubber PC will make your component work.