Monstrous power cables

The model is 1000 from Sunny Cable Technologies and retails for $2700.

I was going to tear it down to see what was underneath but I think I’ll stop and retake the damn thing.  Crazy price!

I attempted to put some photos in virtual system.

BTW, it is Teflon tape.  The bulk is what I don’t like.  It’s out of the lineup and has been replaced by a generic cable costing much, much less.

@audiodwebe 

You can easily post photos under your UserID… virtual systems. Just create one called power cord.

@rolox some are here to discuss snake oil’s too. My opinions are my opinions and not those of this forum. Also I am free to post those opinions regardless of your opinions. So enjoy the day. 

audiodwebe

Another way to look at this is that if you want a great sounding cable, you can experiment with different builds for little money invested.  In a previous life, I built interconnect, speaker and power cables.  It was fun and educational.

FWIW, I doubt it was 'steel" mesh. Probably tinned copper to reduce EMI. Also, teflon "tape" (if that is what it is) isn't a bad thing in cables. But, regardless of all that, if you don't like how it sounds, don't use it. 

All the best

OMG!
 

So I finally decided to take the tape off of the monstrous cable to see if I could find the maker.  In so doing, I discovered that this cable, which is about the thickness of the center of a toilet paper roll, is wrapped in the following:

Outer nylon mesh for looks; black velvet material around the cable; plumber’s tape (yep, you read me correctly) in about a third of an inch thickness; then under that a fine steel mesh wrapped around the cable; then I think the next level going in toward the cable themselves is another layer of plumber’s tape.  I haven’t gotten there yet in the unraveling of this thing.

Needless to say, i was absolutely shocked that the majority of the girth is made up by an enormous amount of plumber’s tape.  One of the plugs is made by Hubbell and I didn’t see a name on the other end.

To think the original owner paid over $1K for this thing is…well, crazy had he been able to look underneath the pretty wrapping.  

I don’t think I’m inserting this back into my system mainly because I got tired of the thickness.  And the location of the plug made it almost impossible to move some speakers around closer to the wall behind the speakers because the thing literally stuck out damn near a foot from the wall!

I wish I could post photos here.  You would not believe it.  It looks hand-made.

Crazy!

@jerryg123 there's merit in what you wrote but this is an audiophile forum, hence we are mostly hear to discuss sound and components, aren't we? 

@jasonbourne52  you have absolutely no clue, sorry. You're just assuming things and obviously have zero actual experience in the matter. There are numerous articles explaining that a component isn't "at the end of hundreds of meters of Romex". As many have stated above, it's not water in a hose. That's not how electricity works. And if you would have TRIED a good power cord, you would know, because the right power cord for a given component will give more readily audible improvement than ANY interconnect or speaker cable swap. 

I am waiting for my Shunyata Everest 8000 power conditioner to arrive and I must say that it was the third most expensive component in my system.  Additionally, each  power cable cost as much as my phono preamp, a Sutherland 20/20 with LPS.  My sales associate has been spot on with his advice, so I ordered these, but knowing that I have 60 days to return everything.  So far, adding subwoofers and acoustically treating my mid sized listening room have made for the largest improvement to date.  Today, a Shunyata Sigma NR cable arrive, so I replaced my McIntosh MA12000's power cable and plugged the Sigma into the wall.  I am totally at a loss to explain how the music sounded like a veil was removed.  It was at the level of treating the room.  I previously believed that power cables contributed little to the systems presentation and that the power amps were the last place to upgrade power cords.  I was wrong.

For a fairly recent A/B experience, I have a Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2 DAC that has parallel solid state and tube buffer outputs.  I had listened to both regularly and formed a strong enough preference for the solid state output that I didn't even both having interconnects hooked up to the tube buffer output.  In the process of upgrading, I purchased a Schiit Modi Multibit DAC and found it quite enjoyable.  After several weeks of listening I had the idea to compare it to the tube buffer output on my MA DAC and oddly enough found them indistinguishable to my ear.  I can only attribute temporary preference for the Schiit Modi Multibit DAC to confirmation bias/placebo.  I also have a Pioneer Elite SACD player that was indistinguishable from the solid state output on my MA DAC.  I found some information on upgrading the MA DAC, so upgraded the tube (Western Electric 396A) and three op amps (Sparkos Labs) and now strongly prefer the tube buffer output and find it far superior to my SACD player.  Now that I have an upgraded interconnect on my DAC I don't even bother using the SACD player anymore as it's simply disappointing in a way that makes any A/B comparison a waste of time.

If time and money were no object, I have have two identical pieces of everything so that I could always compare A/B with only a single piece of gear changing.  I'd confirm that I couldn't tell any difference with the dual setup and then swap a single item and compare and see if I could distinguish a difference.  It would be fun, but totally impractical.

I read on a forum somewhere a great quote that if an audiophile can see a difference they will hear a difference and I think there's some truth to that though I don't discount that with enough time and effort some people will be able to distinguish things that are far more subtle than most of us can.

Thanks for all your suggestions.  I do appreciate them all.

Normally (like 95% of the time), when I compare a new component I’ll put it into my system for an extended period of time.  The only times it’ll come out quickly is if it bothers me and makes listening to music not enjoyable.  Those instances are pretty rare, however.  
 

With the recent comparisons, I wanted to be able to do a quick side by side test.  The reason:  I’d recently picked up three different streamers and DACs to test out and, as I don’t want to keep them all, wanted to figure out which one to let go.

First, I listened to the Stack streamer with the Denafrips Aries II combo for many weeks.  I thought the rig sounded great.

I then swapped to the Lumin U1 Mini with Benchmark DAC3.  I was, and still am, having trouble getting the Lumin to play nicely with Roon.  It keeps either stopping or getting jammed to the point I have to restart it.  Kind of a PITA.  It plays fine with the Lumin app but I haven’t figured out how to inport my ripped library which is also a pain.

The sound, though, has been quite impressive.  I enjoy this combo better than the previous one, though not by much.  This rig seems to extract a bit more info from the recordings.  And I had been listening to this rig for a couple of weeks, as well.

The reason I put the PSA back into my setup to directly compare the two was because I had finished taking fotos of the PSA unit, got the box from the crawl space, and was going to list it for sale.  But just for fun, and before bidding adieu, I thought I do the direct comparison.

And now I’m not so sure which I prefer.  Since I’m in no hurry I’ll probably listen to the two for a while.

@audiodwebe , the power cords on your dacs are supposed to be different, meaning if you have already choosen the ones that are best sounding for the gear you are using.

More often than not, the ’wrong’ power cord will change the way some piece of gear sounds and even more if  that piece of gear is new to you, it may lead you to ’wrong’ conclusion.

I guess the best advice how to try something new, is to leave it in your system for some time and than after some period to change it with piece of gear you wish to compare it with (cord, or dac, or whatever)

It happened to me more than once, A-B changes,sometimes I could not tell the difference, or it was very subtle.Lets say, after a week (or two weeks for both things I wished to try) of listening, I could decide without a doubt which piece of gear fits more to my perceived reference of sound reproduction.

If you are honest with yourself (and why you should not be) the blind is not important, imho.

Recently read a good thought about blind testing written by Mike Lavigne, as he challenged anyone to assemble great sounding system by picking components by blind listening, vs his way with ’open eyes’....it was a joke, but he has a point

Pfffttt, listen to the music not your gear, period.

OP,

Learning to listen takes time. It is a big challenge. Music is constantly changing… instruments, notes, timing, etc. one’s mind focus workes by concentrating on one thing at a time… but with music, that is constantly changing and our memories for sounds are not that good. So, this creates a difficult problem when comparing equipment. If the difference is big… not a problem, but if subtle it is much harder.

With experience, one learns the nomenclature of describing sound, and as you perceive and understand sound you can then be able to discern greater and greater subtlety.

Professional reviewers take notes because they are able to discriminate among dozens of variables. It’s like the number of terms Eskimo have for kinds of snow (true or not). Novices have a hard time discriminating and describing sound. What ever it takes to get your arms around different equipment is part of the learning experience. This relentless pursuit to understand sound reproduction is what allows you to master it. Keep at it, you are doing great.

For me. After a brief listen, which helps me identify any major different characteristics, I just listen to whatever it is for a week. Then switch, for a week. I know what my system sounds like. I listen to it 3 1/2 hours a day… every day. The more subtle characteristics come out over time.. they are processed by my subconscious… the more powerful side of your brain. A good way to look at your mind is the elephant and the rider… the elephant is your subconscious and the rider is you conscious mind (the dialog in your head).

Anyway, I know a number of very experienced audiophiles. We can very quickly identify differences between components with complete accuracy in minutes… blindfolded or not, since most of us close our eyes when we listen anyway. There are people that can hear, identify, and characterize I will never hear or understand. The more you try the better you get. 

I've actually stopped even trying doing A/B comparisons and instead rely on my reaction to the music over time. My system is also not at the same level as many on this forum and I'm not a quest to continually be unhappy and wanting something more.

Everyone has a limited ability to remember exactly how something sounded.

I've read that cables always require time to settle/burn-in to sound their best so a quick comparison isn't possible.

With the level of "everything matters" that people experience on this forum doing an A/B comparison is virtually impossible.  Even with parallel setups using the same equipment, do we really believe that they are truly identical?  Are they plugged into the exact same plug?  They are using different inputs with slightly different signal paths.  The sources are not in exactly the same location, so their relative positions to acoustic fairy dust is different.

Then there's the fact that different doesn't always mean better or work, sometimes its just personal preference.

If you've ever seen an interview with Jason from Schiit Audio, you may be familiar with his comment that after a couple of beers it's really hard to tell a difference.

Some of what I'm saying is intended with humor, but if you take everything you read on this forum it's not that far off from what should be expected.

Your son's presence could have literally changed the acoustics in your room resulting in a change in preference for you.

I think anyone willing to be open to confirmation bias and placebo effect will come to a point where it's impossible to truly know which is better.  My standard is if I have to repeatedly A/B to form an opinion it must not matter that much.

Question:  How many of you have done a blind test to remove confirmation bias in reference to power cables?

The reason I ask is I was comparing DAC/streamers the other day.  In the past, I’d listen to one then swap out to listen to the other.  Doing it this way I heard a difference.  But it wasn’t a swapping back and forth type of a comparison.

I finally connected the two setups I wanted to compare (PS Audio Perfectwave with Bridge II vs Lumin U1 Mini into Benchmark DAC3) at the same time using the same brand of Ethernet cables and XLR cables to my preamp so that I could feed Roon to both streamers and swap back and forth using my preamp.

When I did this, I knew which input was what and, using three tracks from three different artists, I heard a difference.  The Lumin rig offered more distinction around the instruments which made the sound stage appear both deeper and wider.  The PSA rig by comparison softened the images and blended the soundstage more.

I preferred the Lumin rig, but not by as much as I thought I would.  I really thought the newer rig would provide more of an improvement in sound since the PSA unit is probably 10+ years old.  But I did prefer the Lumin setup by a slight margin.

Then I thought I’d get my teen son involved in my testing.  I showed him how to play the tracks and how to swap them back and forth.  BTW, I had previously used a decibel meter to get the output volumes as close as possible.

On the first test track, I clearly heard the same differences.  So I knew which was the PSA rig and which was the Lumin rig.  Except I was wrong.

Surprised by this we went to test track two.  Again, I heard the same differences.  And again I was wrong.  I preferred the PSA rig on the first two blind tested tracks.

The third recording the rig I chose was the Lumin setup.

My son, sitting off to the side while performing his duties, said that on the first two tests the PSA unit offered a cleaner and more distinct sound in the higher frequencies.  I’m guessing he heard more of a difference with his 16 year old ears vs my 57 year old ones.  I didn’t ask him what he heard on the third test track.

So I’m a bit dumfounded by my experiment.  I came away from that brief test with the idea that the better sounding rig was recording dependent.  This now knocks my desire to upgrade my streaming device into a loop.  

The power cables used were different, however, and I might try this again using PC from the same manufacture.  

Winner winner chicken dinner, we have grammatical perfection side stepping his panties in a knot. Honesty prevailing quite likely buying better equipment.

If you can’t put a sentence together, or your post is full of typo’s, spelling and/or grammatical errors, I tend to pretty much disregard anything you’re trying to say. Especially when you’ve never even tried the equipment or component in question.

It’s always the same "blow-hards" posting in here with zero experience screaming at the top of their lungs that something doesn’t or cannot work. Usually these people don’t have a system listed. Ever notice that?

If you can’t hear a difference in power cables, great.

Save your money and buy some better equipment.

A power cord can absolutely change the sound of a component. To say otherwise just shows complete ignorance and a lack of experience on the subject.

I've been told that the primary objective in cable design is to reduce resistance.

I just purchased a couple of the Waudio cables from Amazon that mceljo recommend earlier in this thread. I installed the on my dac/preamp and amplifier yesterday. I had paused the song from MacBook, installed the new cables, and then pressed play again. Immediately it seemed to be louder and more bright. I cannot speak for other people's systems or what a $1000 cable can do but on my system with these cables over the stock ones, I did notice a difference. 

as prior have alluded to…much of this targets what I would call “mines is bigger and better than yours” male audio insecurity/vanity. I’ll choose two random power cable brands…Elrod and Electraglide. When you strip away all of the ornate decorative network boxes, heavy sheathing, and insulation and jackets, and individual cable path separations that then come back together at the termination…at the end of the day there are still only two ordinary wire metal conductors underneath, despite what perceived external visualizations might suggest….. sorry there just ain’t nuttin fancy happening as you grasp and marvel at that new stiff cord you just paid too much money for.

to add to my rant…why would anyone pay for audio anything labeled “Eros” or “Andros”…??? C’mon the subliminal targeting is anything but that…

Cables are not like pipes or water hoses.  Electrons don't flow thru them like a fluid.  Cable Geometry does matter.  The energy that is transferred is propagated thru the electromagnetic field.   

Unfortunately there's more to power cables than power.

@jayheydt101 : +1 At last a sane response based in Reality! The belief that a meter or two of fancy wire will improve the sound of components belongs to fairy tales! Just as nuts as the belief that copper sounds warm and silver bright.

@cleeds 

Well perhaps a person should look at who I called stupid or dumb…Not ! That  would be personal, I have not done that. Now calling a Gullible belief stupid or dumb that’s an opinion. Perhaps I should clarify what I mean by blind testing. A room full of people listening to A then B or B then A. Final decision better include a C that will be for.. there is no difference ! We can forget science or machines it’s all about hearing isn’t it ? Perhaps a few in that room will feel stupid and that’s also not on me Lol

Cheers

It’s been said that you’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own science.  If a $1K power cable sounds better to you, than a quality standard power cord, so be it, but from a scientific standpoint, there is no difference. 

I say this as a licensed, professional electrical engineer, who has designed hundreds of power supplies over my 40+ year career, many for mission critical applications.  It doesn’t really matter what feeds the power supply of your amplifier, what matters is that the voltage coming out the supply is well regulated, clean direct current. In fact, this is the sole function of a power supply.  If the output of a power supply requires some exotic power cable to function properly, that doesn’t say much for the engineer(s) who designed it.  I’d be looking for a different amp with a higher quality design. 

If the gullible with deep pockets are assured of promised improvements by slick marketing campaigns well let them spend thousands on a power cable that might possibly make a whopping 1/2% improvement.

Have you ever heard top gear and what that, even the small percentage you are referring, is capable off.

Even with that, it would be interesting to know the science behind how that last 6 feet of cord overcomes all the ’ sound’ from the 100 feet of crappy Romex.

Why should not be the first six feet?

The ’size’ or the thickness does not mean a thing (in this case) At the present, I am using AN Kondo power cord in my tube preamp that has the smallest diameter of all I have tried, but it gives me the sensation of the deepest stage, like no other has.

True, especially for Kondo where there is magic in all of his cables (and not only).

With as decent power supply in an amplifier, then there is also a “lake” inside of the amp.

@12many

I would refer to Shunyata… the founder has a good video on the subject. The point is that power is like a lake not a hose. The reality of us that have experience is that a high end power cords are the most effective at improving sound… the second is to replace low quality Romex with a 10 gauge direct line or better. Depending on your power grid, a power conditioner can be at the beginning or end of the list.

One thing to notice is that great sounding audio equipment invariably has a large amount of technology and weight dedicated to power… it is the foundation of high quality sound.

Honest question. Can someone explain how a expensive power cord is going to over come the 50 to 100 feet of Romex (about 1 $ per foot) that runs from the breaker box to the outlet? I can understand if the stock power cable was worse then the Romex, thus creating a bottle neck, but it seems to be the very long run of inexpensive Romex that will be the ’weak link’, were the electrons to care. And, I am all for listening, but it must be a blind test. Even with that, it would be interesting to know the science behind how that last 6 feet of cord overcomes all the ’ sound’ from the 100 feet of crappy Romex.

Hello Audiowebe. Have you ever watched a salesman present one of these thick, not-so-flexible cables to a male, particularly senior, potential customer? It's a psychodrama of the free enterprise kind. I spent an afternoon in a stereo emporium in the early days of big cabbles. He grips it about 18 inches from the end and lets the rest dangle straight down. He hand is about waist high and cable points upward at somewhere around 10 to 40 degrees. Get the picture? The communication is instant and unconcious, but the optic nerve is pulsating with excitement as the man reaches for his wallet. All the while the salesman is talking about maximum power delivery. etc. To a neutral observer over 21, it is a hilarious spectacle.

Like another member (pun intended), I use power cords I found on Amazon for around $50. The improvement was immediate. The wire was 12 gauge. I think it's the shielding that does it. I am  former wire skeptic. So I experimented and discovered that speaker wires make a difference. Then, I discovered HUGE differences in USB cables (the one I use cost $150 and it's made in Canada). Then, I discovered that interconnects matter too. The ones I use are always gong on sale for 40 -60% off. 

I noticed a response from an obvious wire skeptic. Friend, try an experiment. It'll cost you $50 or so and that's a very low price to pay to avoid embarrassing youself in the future. Get one of those $50 Amazon power cables. Put it on your integrated amp or power amp. Listen continuously for two hours at least while the cable breaks in (yes cables break in). Well, I'll be snookered!

If you don't upgrade your cables, they may mask any improvement a new component (costing $1000s!) would make because poor cables prevent you from hearng the improvement the new device gives you. If wire doesn't make a  difference, why do medical devices often use gold wires to couple nerve signals to medical devices? The next time hospital folks put stickers on you chest, just tell 'em, "Good ol' 14 gauge line cord is good enough for me!"  Stop spouting your inexperience and start hearing what yor system would like to do for you. Don't we spend $$ on this stuff so we can hear beautiful music? Your system is better than you think. Keep Smiling1

Thanks for the info, alexatpos.  The cables that came with my Maxim is just slightly larger in diameter than the Crown Jewel.  I think I’ll remove the tape at some point to see what the connectors look like and to see in the manufacturer’s name is on it.

waytoomuchstuff, my system sounds quite nice to me.  But I’ve not swapped the cable to the Maxim with another one.  I do know (now that I’ve thought about it) that I have the generic cable that came with my PurePower 2000 sitting around somewhere.  I upgraded(?) that PC with a shorter run of the Pangea PC.  

Did I notice a difference when I did that?  Nope.  But then I didn’t really do an A/B test since the PurePower has a few large batteries it cleans and stores the power into.  With no power coming into it it’ll still provide juice to the components for about ten minutes or so.

But I’ll be honest here:  99% of the time I interact with my stereo I’m not wearing my audiophile hat.  I just listen to and enjoy the music.  That also oftentimes happens when I change cables or or even components.  I seldom A/B test listening for the differences.  My motto is if the new item doesn’t immediately make me want to remove it, or I notice I’m not enjoying the music as much as before the swap, I normally just leave it in place.

I have lots of tubed gear, both for 2-channel stereo and headphone listening.  And whenever I buy a new (to me) piece of tubed gear I always buy extra, and in some cases, many extra sets of tubes for “tube rolling”.  When I’m buying all the extra tubes I’m normally wearing my audiophile hat.

My tube rolling goes like this:  I’ll listen to a few minutes of my test tracks a couple of times so that the sound is fresh in my memory.  I’ll swap out the tubes and will notice a difference.  Then after a few minutes my ears have adjusted to the difference and I’m right back to just listening to, and enjoying the music again.

It might just be that I take my audiophile hat off too quickly.  Or maybe my hearing just sucks.  Or I don’t focus hard enough.  Or most likely, I’m a Lazy Audiophile (if there is such a thing).

So many times I’ve danced with my speakers an inch here, a half-inch there, a quarter-inch over yonder and even an eighth-inch movements all over the place going from my chair to the speakers back to my chair over and over and over…

After many hours or days of this madness is when I’d get tired of it and throw in my Bose 901s!  Because with the Bose, they sound pretty good no matter where I put them and I listen to them differently than my other gear that I dance with.

@audiodwebe thanks for the info on who recommended the cable to you.

Next questions: How does it sound? Are you happy with the package (power cable and power conditioner)?

Methinks what’s really missing in this thread is a reflection on litz vs. solid core.

When navel gazing on cables, I usually find lints.

Methinks what’s really missing in this thread is a reflection on litz vs. solid core. To my ears solid core (Acoustic Revive, Nordost et al) wins out every time in direct comparison with location accuracy, transparency and impulse response. Those who believe that cables don’t matter should get their ears checked or check into another hobby.

@audiodwebe Few years ago I had RS Dmitri with its https://sigsound.com/running-springs-audio-mongoose/ 20A power cord and I have also tried its other, more expensive https://sigsound.com/running-springs-audio-crown-jewel/ power cord that my friend had with its RS (Jaco?) conditioner. The moongoose power cord is in fact Cardas Golden Reference cord and at the time I remember reading that internal wiring in RS is all from Cardas copper.

The reason I am writing this is because manufacturers have their house sound, not only with Ic and speaker cables, but with their power cables as well (at least few that I have tried extensively, like Cardas, Nordost, Shunyata and many others) and that ’first’ cable going from wall to conditioner will have a major influence on the ’flavour’ of your system.

The 'size' or the thickness does not mean a thing (in this case) At the present, I am using AN Kondo power cord in my tube preamp that has the smallest diameter of all I have tried, but it gives me the sensation of the deepest stage, like no other has.

Do not know what other power cables and gear you have, but the cable that previous owner had with RS might be great with his system, but you need to understand is it best for yours too.

There are some gear brands that are known for ’liking’ certain cable brands, in broad sense,like Spectral and Mit, Ayre and Cardas, or Burmester and Nordost, and so on, but there is not an clear advise that anybody could give you, which cables to use, since there are many factors (choice and combinations of gear you have and your individual taste)

I believe that power cords, or even better, the combination of your gear and their power cords have a major impact on the type of the sound you will end up with and in my case, choosing ones that are ’best’ is something that takes time and patience...and best advice I can give you is to try any one you can get to understand their ’flavour’...and than pick the ones you like best...

Not to add more to possible confusion, but sometimes the single ’best’ one is not the ’best’ one in grand scheme of things....its like cooking....sometimes some ’great’ flavour could become too dominant...but, that is a ’next level’ story...

I didn’t buy from a dealer, but from another music lover either here, on the ‘gon, or US Audio Mart.

From what he told me, the dealer had three different cables available for audition and the previous owner went with what sounded best to him.

By the way, I am not the dealer, and have no idea who the dealer is.

@audiodwebe

Have you considered that your dealer knows what he is doing and actually recommended a good power cable choice based on the price/performance of your power conditioner?

+1@1971gto455ho, I agree pure conjecture.

Mike

Great speech but it adds up to nothing… pure conjecture. There are volumes Written on this topic by many engineers and scientists. The best that can be said for most of this wire if you will, is Super fat casings on some form of 12 Gauge wire with pretty ends. The hope of noise suppression to some degree ? Of course what dummy wouldn’t believe that the cable at the very end of your electrical circuit will correct all that’s negative…. Add to that adjust your specific sound values ? 

Cheers 
 

@1971gto455ho

Just so happens that I was a practicing scientist when I began my pursuit of high end audio… before graduate school. Within a year I realized that the published technical parameters were grossly insufficient to account for most of what we hear in electronically reproduced music. It isn’t that this is beyond the realm, companies use science and engineering as a foundation to producing good sounding equipment. It is that the number of variables become overwhelming quickly. So, many variables quickly send designers to experimentation quickly… basic material science.

This is something I know something about. I worked as an inventor (electrical mechanical engineer) after college. I was given the task of designing a new system. The first few days I used physical and chemical properties to design. Then, realized how I would need computer simulation. I just went out and bought dozens of materials and used them in a prototype to see how they functioned. Hundreds of time more efficient.

Basic science is fantastic when using a few variables… but throw in dozens or hundreds for the sake of creating audio components and it become too time consuming.

Let me suggest you forget your vendetta against all of us stupid gullible people that will spend $5K on speaker cables or interconnects. Just go out and listen to some insanely expensive systems. Forget the price. Just listen. If they don’t sound fantastic to you. Great, go home and enjoy your system. If they do sound amazing… like they did to me… start investigating why.

I did. What I found is that they are systems and every component matters. You can find a good sounding system with just great components, but you will not find great sounding systems without every aspect carefully chosen and optimized. If you simply put together “good measuring” equipment like ASR is likely to recommend you will have yourself a very poor sounding system.

Power cords make a big difference in sound… that is the why. It is best to think about plugging into your outlet as plugging lake, as opposed to plugging into a 14 gauge “hose”. I think the founder of Shunyata uses this analogy. Power does not work like a hose.

But there is a lake at the power plant.
The amp has capacitors in it that also creates a lake inside of the amp.

Unless the internal capacitors are drooping, then how would the cord affect them?

I read all the posts here and it talks about the same subject as a post I started last week.  I will add this to it as well.

I now have two high end sound systems now, over 100 K invested, of which 10 K in cables.  In Montreal I have mostly Transparent speaker and interconnects with a Simaudio amp and recently Q concept 500 speakers.   In the chalet, now our main home, I have new Raidho X3 with Devialet amp and Luna Red usb and speaker cables. 

My problem here is with power cords. Here are my findings:

The Audioquest Blizzard with the Raidhos make them sound less lively than a cheaper power cord.  The same setup with the Q concept worked fine ( I had them at the chalet for a month)

The Q concepts back in Montreal  replace Wilsons Sophia 3 . Now the sound is too bright. No distortion, but too bright nevertheless.  So I took out the DR Acoustics Red fire ( 5 K) and swapped home made Furutech heavy gauge. ( 200 $). And guess what: the balance of the speakers was back to normal. Could have more separation in instruments, but at least you can listen to the music and not the equipment.

I am not an engeneer, bus I said to myself: if the DR are more revealing, why noy try them with the Raidhos.  Well, I just did and ....   it works !!  The Raidhos are now as good as they were in the store.

In tis swap, the impact of the power cord was as big as one qurter turn in the old treble knobs. Much bigger impact than interconnects , digital and even speaker cables.

Finally, I want to point out that I went to a lot of live concerts in my life: Pink Floyd, ELP, Police, Sade etc, as weel as many symphonies in Montreal, Paris, Vienna, Milano, Carenigie hall etc.  

My criteria for any music, live or reproduced is: does it make my hair raise on my arms and the top: on my neck.

My exprience with 4 power cables fron 50 to 5000 $ made that happen in both systems.  

Conclusion: experiment with power cords. If your hair stays down, do not buy.

Have fun.

I don’t see the relevance of 10 people not aware of the equipment or the process or the cables to me that doesn’t matter it’s strictly the hearing, do you hear a difference yes or no!  There’s much made of science, bean counters, nonbelievers , that sort of thing. So with heavy emphasis on hearing let’s do it, is there a difference or not ?
Have an average system, and alternately a very revealing system same process same questioning, is it different or not ? 
One doesn’t have to be open-minded… let a jury decide.

"The electricity is carried through my house probably using 14 gauge wire."

This is the key.  Same with streaming.  If your bandwidth from the curb to the house is bad, a 1000$ router is not going to make it any better.   If the source is bad, it will not get better with a different cable to the streamer.  You don't want the power cable to make the sound be any worse, but hard to understand how it going to fix the 50 feet of Romex in the wall, and Romex don't cost much per foot.  

I think it’s hard to throw 10 strangers in a room and try cables on a system they are not familiar with. I understand the folks stating show me the science, I also understand some hold their ground so tight they are not even remotely open to the idea.

I made another thread about some decade old Kimber 1126 cables I paid a fortune for a decade ago. Over the years new mono amps and things and they just wouldn’t reach. I boxed them up and to be honest I never really thought about them much anymore. Well as I said I moved my amps again. Into a rack/cabinet and those cables now reach. I’ve really been working my system and figured wow, I can use these cables now. This should really take it a little further. As I stated in the other thread it was awful, congested, over warmish. In that thread I was told I should let them run in again as new. It’s been a decade. They got a little better but I just don’t care for the system synergy. I do think that is a real thing.

I’m trying an Audioquest Water but I can tell the warmish sound is gone. I’m going to let it go for a while longer but I honestly feel the Kimber, no matter what the hell they cost, and how stupid I might of been for spending that amount back then, that these cables are not a match in my system. And I don’t think they are going to stay. So no case of it cost more, it’s better. It’s a case that I really know most aspects of my system. Better than anybody. Better than 9 others stepping in my room for a blind test.

Somebody said in another forum if you took all these things that might just be adding just the slightest improvement, enough to matter but maybe not measurable, and you apply that thought to all the little things the doubters call snake oil, that these slight improvements will all add up to truly make a difference. I sort of agree, it’s the sum of all and maybe not one standalone item. System synergy’s.

I don’t have golden ears but I have a complete understanding of how my system sounds. I know it pretty well. I can’t prove it but I know those Kimber 1126 do not belong in my current system.

Cables may be like fine tuning. I’m not sure 10 blind in a test could really pick these things out without all ten being very familiar with the before test sound. We are not swapping speakers here. We are fine tuning the existing. Those in a cable blind test are looking for some sort of change in sound like a speaker change and that will never happen.

I think it’s kind of rude to say someone’s system may not be at a level to notice but there may be a little substance there. Not all but many higher up the chain pieces have more money in caps focus on the analog section, Greater insulation from the power supply etc. Again, it’s a thing to me. Some of these pieces of gear maybe more on par where tuning maybe noticed.

So I don’t know all but for me I’ve had moments I can really tell something changed by something I did. As with the Kimber 1126 that doesn’t mean more expensive better.

Do what’s right for you and maybe be open minded.