In term of construction, what's the difference between cheap vs. expensive power cables


When it comes to interconnects and speaker cables, it is easier to understand the justification for the costs of these cables.  But when it comes to power cables, it is a little difficult to understand.

Some believe that as long as the power cable has enough gauge the that's all you need.  I've used some cheap power cables vs. some high price cables and there are clearly differences in sound, so the "gauge" of the cables is not the ONLY thing and it's a little bit more complicated than that.  

In speaker cables design, you can adjust the R/L/C parameters to achieve a certain kind of sound and it's easy to visual how these parameters will affect the sound.  For example too much C then the sound will lack leading edge.  Too much L then the sound will be brittle.  If too much R then the sound will lack dynamic.  Or if the cable has too much jitter, then the transparency will be affected.

But the power cable main job is to establish a DC source, it's not too clear how the R/L/C parameters will affect the sound the same way these parameters will affect the sound of the speaker cable.  Also I am not sure how jitter would affect a power cable either

So the bottom line is what's actually inside a power cable that make them so expensive?  Do they use fancy dielectric?  How about construction geometry?  

For a designer, I mean how do you fine-tune your power cable.  How do you know your power cable will sound good?
andy2

Showing 10 responses by nonoise

I knew it was him. I just wanted to see how far he'd take it before getting booted again from this forum. 
I didn't say you made it up. You're hiding behind someone else's words.
Go listen to a bunch of power cords on your system and let us know if you hear a difference.

It's a relatively easy thing to do. It's what I and lots of others did, and the way you do it is real easy- you just listen to it.

All the best,
Nonoise

Why do you have to hide behind Nelson Pass and make up things about his customers?
Stay on point.
Two days and 5 posts in and you're already dictating protocol?


@hilde45,
Maybe if a certain someone would change their avatar to an image of Elaine, it would make it a bit more bearable.
The challenge of understanding the mechanics of power cables and audio is nothing compared to understanding the psychology of denial. For those on the fence between learning a little bit and trying a power cable for yourself vs. going down the feral path of conspiracy theories, why not just be honest and admit that you just don’t want to spend the money and move on? If you try it and hear nothing, you get your money back. The danger is that you'll hear something and be out a few hundred bucks. If you don't want to spend that, then it's just much simpler to live with an economic argument based on frugality than on the notion that there's a conspiracy to defraud people of their money. Real frauds don't have return policies.
That's all fine and good, but how are you gonna argue against anyone who uses all those exclamation points? 😀

All the best,
Nonoise


Requisite Audio makes cables for the recording industry but will sell to home audio enthusiasts. They have very reasonable prices for their cables that would surprise most here but their power cables start at around $600 or so because that's the cheapest they can make them and still have them perform at the level they require. 
http://requisiteaudio.com/
Just making something that can pass local code and won't burn the house down doesn't mean it will sound good in one's system.

All the best,
Nonoise