In a word; NO.
If your PC sounds better in a longer length, then you've got the 'wrong' pc. Of course, by wrong, I mean 'less than optimal', not 'horribly awful'.
I've listened to pc's in roughly .5awg increments between 9awg and 13awg, and in .5 ft increments between 3ft and 8ft (in gauges 10-12).
Yes, I'm that obsessive.
And when you find the 'right' gauge and length, that's when you discover just what your gear is capable of. |
C'mon you guys, be serious here. Everyone knows it's how you 'make contact' that counts. I find plugging n' unplugging really fast for a minute or so to do the trick... |
Actually, Caelin Gabriel doesn't say shorter is not better. He say's shorter is not automatically better.
And I still disagree. If a pc sounds 'worse' in a shorter length, then it's the wrong pc for that application.
If you're sticking with one specific brand and model of PC, it may sound best in a longer length, but that's not to say that a different model of pc that has a better 'synergy' with the component won't sound better in a shorter length, because it will. Every time IMO.
If you ask me, there's a bit of the 'one size fits all' mentality in the pc biz. |
LOL, I guess I left you scratching your head eh?
You understand my position clearly on points D and E of your post. Let me clarify the rest: For A), I said electrical measurements would show a shorter cord to be better. Meaning better performance in regards to inductance and capacitance. Those may not be the only factors that affect PC performance, but they are indeed measureable, while others are not. For B), we can't currently find measurements to support the audible changes we 'believers' hear. Meaning you can't use a Db meter, frequency analyzer, etc. to 'see' proof of differences. For C), listening may well reveal that a PC sounds best (to you) in a longer length, given your personal preferences and system-specific sonics. But as I said in D), if that is the case, then you've got the wrong (less than optimum) PC. Chances are a different PC of shorter length (and probably of different gauge), will accomplish the same sonic change you preferred, plus may do so with improved dynamics. (Whether such a PC product is currently available on the market may limit your choice). As for E), some of the more exotic explanations for why PC's affect changes on audio gear, while they might be perfectly plausible, can't be proven with measurements, so they are, for the time being at least, just theories to support what might be causing the changes we hear.
As for point F) of your post, I'm sorry if I left you with that impression, it certainly wasn't my intent. I was merely suggesting a method that might make it easier for you to hear the differences between 2 otherwise identical cables.
I'd also like to add that I think Shunyata makes excellent PC's, and that their efforts to improve upon PC performance are greatly appreciated by 'true believers' such as myself. The very fact that they are one of the very few cable companies to use cryogenics tells me all I need to know about the quality of their products, and the sincerity of their efforts.
Maybe next someone could start a thread asking if cryoing PC's makes them sound better?
(The answer, IMO, is a resounding yes) |
Perhaps I missed the 'Physics' to which you are referring Grant. Where in the linked item did Caelin elaborate on why "longer is_always_better"? I read an opinion that he doesn't recommend PC's shorter than 3ft. That's not really a practical problem, since most folks can't place their gear that close to their outlets anyway.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but since none of the differences we power cable 'believers' hear can yet be verified by standard measurements, then any "technical" explanations as to why PC's "always" sound better in longer lengths is just theory attempting to support subjective experience, yes?
However, a person can easily buy measuring devices that will show that a shorter PC does indeed have superior electrical characteristics over a longer one of otherwise identical design. So it would seem the 'shorter is better' camp have more evidence on their side, for the time being at least.
Of course, you're welcome to your opinion, and in your context it may well be true that longer sounds better. I firmly believe in trusting one's ears as the absolute judge of quality. |
Zaikesman, if you plan to compare the effects of PC length, I'd suggest changing the PC that connects your power conditioner to the wall. By affecting a number of components at one time, the sonic effects of the change in length should be somewhat more pronounced. It also makes clear that the change in sound isn't solely due to reduction in EMI near your gear, or RFI filtering, since the PC should at that position be both farther away from your rack, and before the much heavier filtering of your powerline conditioner.
Differences of over 3 feet should be very easy to hear, while lengths shorter are useful for 'tuning' once you've got a handle on the difference length makes. |
Zaikesman, you should keep equal-length PC's on your amps. No matter which side of the length argument a person falls on, we're in agreement that length does affect sound. I would think that having unequal-length PC's would affect soundstaging.
I'll confess that I'm just itching to tell you what you can expect from your listening tests, but since that would 'poison' your mind, I'll refrain. |
Well, that settles it; the source of all audio knowledge has spoken.
:) |
Ehider,
The difficult part of defining "better" PC performance is knowing what is causing the change in sonics from cord to cord. You can't say with certainty that a cable sounds better because it offers 'filtering' of some sort, unless you've compared the exact same cable with and without filtering. Several power cable companies claim that certain of their cords sound better because of a degree of RFI filtering, and yet they also employ other changes on these cords, such as different geometry, different gauge, or even different connectors. When measured, many of these 'filtering' cables have significantly different inductance and capacitance values compared to a basic "diy" cable, which makes it hard to know if you're hearing the filtering, or the increased inductance.
If that seems to leave the issue 'up in the air', I think that's exactly what some of the cable marketing out there seeks to achieve. |
Zaikesman,
Did the longer version exhibit less glare, a warmer midrange, and a fuller bass? Or any of those attributes? |
Zaikesman,
The adjectives I used, though fairly broad and basic, were chosen because that's my experience with the vast majority of PC's. So if, as you stated, there was a reduced brightness in the longer Van Den Hul cord, how would one explain that same tendency in cords that feature no 'filtering' of any kind?
The answer is in the inductance and capacitance factors that result from increased length. It's no more complicated than that. Longer cords get 'warmer' with every foot you add, although how rapidly you hear the change depends on the specific geometry of the cord. The VDH cable is an outstanding design, with very low inductance, so it's losses in resolution and dynamics should be more gradual as the length increases. Other cords, which have higher levels of Inductance per foot, will yield a more rapid change as the length increases.
A properly designed PC should be resistant to noise, but if the changes in sonics we're hearing are strictly from filtering out that noise, then where are the measurements to back up that idea? I've seen plenty of powerline conditioners that give specs on their noise filtering capabilities, but have yet to see numbers on a PC. I don't think that's coincidence.
IMO, RLC factors rule the roost when it comes to PC sonics. They don't explain everything (like why cryoing 'sounds' like lowered inductance, but isn't measureable), but they seem to get us most of the way there.
Again, JMO. |
