Let's talk power cords

And there it is in a nutshell. The only ones selling power cords made of Romex are the ones that are either ignorant of electrical code or have simply elected to stare down the shotgun barrels.
As a manufacturer, I follow the code because I don't want the liability. And that is why most power cords are flexible, because the people that make them like to sleep at night.

OSHA?

Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Between them and UL and also national electrical codes, essentially solid core power cords are illegal. So if one makes a fire, electrical hazard or any such, it won't be covered by homeowner's or renter's insurance.

There ARE solid core aftermarket power cords available commercially.

Yes- I'm sure there are. But they don't meet OSHA regulations.

Has anyone been able to explain why power cable would make a difference?

Yes. See the first page of this thread.

And then I thought, the exact same wire I was using is still in the extensions. So WHY is that not making the later wire the same as it is on it’s own???

Anyway, I do not have the answer.
However it IS a project anyone could do. make a PC out of the same sort of wire in the wall Romex, whatever. See how it sounds? Then remake the PC with your own audiophile wire. And see if/how it changes.

Romex is very high performance but is illegal and dangerous for use as a power cord. That is why all power cords are flexible wire. The other requirements for a good power cord were outlined on the first page of this thread.

thinking more about the diode effect analogous to a fuzz pedal, what if the effect was much more subtle than a fuzz pedal yet still perceptible to the human auditory system?  Possible? Could it be measured, and if not with current technology, still be audible?  This is the part that I find truly fascinating: that we may be able to hear very subtle differences that we have yet to measure accurately enough or even account for.

@jc4659 If the effect were there to begin with, I suspect it would be audible. But its not. The reason you hear differences between power cables is not directionality. Its voltage drop, plain and simple. Some at audio frequencies, and some at ultrasonic frequencies, depending on the rectifiers in the power supplies of the equipment used, as I explained earlier at the bottom of page 4 of this thread.

If there even was directional wire, power cable manufacturers would be working really hard to build cables from non-directional wire since it would sound better.

Your beef is really with the moderators, Ralph. Geoff seems to be playing by the rules here.

@cleeds  The first statement is true, the second is not. Geoff's MO is not to only to try to refute arguments (I've no beef with that) but also to make personal insults and attacks on anyone that challenges his mythology. This is one of the definitions of a troll. To be within typical forum rules, the principle is "attack the argument not the poster". For now, moderation seems to be content to tolerate trolls, which is unfortunate, as it makes it harder to wade through threads to find the useful bits.

I know nothing is going to heat up, because wire isn't directional. The links you've provided in the past go to fake 'data' that can be safely ignored. We've already covered on different threads how its impossible for a fuse to be directional, and on those threads I provided the reason why some people hear a difference when the fuse is reversed, and how to predict it, using a simple DVM.

@cleeds I believe have have made my point. Geoff will continue to troll, but the facts can't be changed by that.

If you think Geoff is a troll, please alert the moderators.

I have on many occasions. And for things like this:

“Directionality would cause the cable to heat up and fail or cause a fire?!!” OMG!! 🔥Now I’ve heard everything. The tiny strands of wires in all power cords are directional since all wires are directional. But there I virtually no difference in how electricity is conducted either direction. Are you pretending to be slow?

The above quote contains several contradictions plus a personal attack; it is based on the falsehood of 'all wires are directional'. Its easy to parse out: if a wire were indeed directional, it would have a higher resistance or impedance with current going in one direction than if current were going the other direction. This increased impedance would over time heat up the resistance of the wire in the same way that all resistors do when current flows through them.

In an AC power cord, current flows each way 60 times per second. So a wire that somehow favors one direction over the other (were that even possible) would be unsuitable for this application (it would heat up...not a good power cord behavior); that is why there are none. If a wire conducts better in one way then the other, this implies a diode and diodes cause rectification (conversion from AC to DC, which is a non-linear function) which would make the power unsuitable for the power transformers used inside the audio equipment. Further, diodes in series with any AC signal (for example an audio signal) are a source of distortion; in fact they are used in effect pedals used by guitarists to make distortion (and are known as 'fuzz boxes' or 'fuzz pedals').

This is a forum for discussing things related to audio and music, so I think Geoff's comments belong here - whether you approve of them or not.

When you say Geoff is wasting "our time," please tell us on whose behalf you are speaking, other than yourself.

@cleeds ,
The statement he was contesting was that directionality makes a difference on a power cord. It was in this case the voice of reason; if you think about it, if a cord is working with AC power, directionality would cause the cable to heat up and fail or cause a fire. Clearly this isn't happening and on a large scale- the idea of directionality is nonsense, and is a topic that should not be discussed beyond debunking it.

Its unfortunate that Geoff continues with this as essentially his comments are trolling.

Now if you engage in the idea of a directional power cord, then you are wasting your time, unless the entertainment value of doing so is valuable to you. Certainly it won't make any difference in how your stereo sounds!

No. This is a scam. Think of what is between the wall socket and the generator plant.

I use tube amplifiers and did not hear any difference in power cords.

A lot depends on the equipment used, but it is possible to not only hear differences in power cords, but they can be measured as well.

A variac is required. Run the amp up to full power and measure the power output. Measure the voltage drop across the length of the cord. Reset the variac to compensate for the voltage loss on the cord. Measure the output power again. What is the difference? I have seen power cords rob an amplifier of 30% of its output power. Is there anyone saying that such is not audible?

There are two aspects of power cord performance- the overall voltage drop and the ability to pass high current at high frequencies. The latter is a requirement as power transformers, rectifiers and filter capacitors are used in amps. Power rectifiers only turn on for brief periods of time when the cap voltage is less than the transformer voltage- IOW at the peak of the incoming AC waveform.  If the cord can pass current during this brief spike, performance is impaired.

Willemj asks us to think about what's in the wall and beyond- well, ROMEX is pretty high performance, good for in the wall but illegal for use outside of it. That's why we have flexible power cords, but they don't perform as well and that's why there is a power cord market.