Power Cords - Just Say Yes


I'm the biggest cable skeptic on the planet. I've never been able to tell the difference between one speaker cable over the other. I've never a/b tested because I just can't handle that sort of thing when all I want to do is listen to music. The power cord however is a whole different beast. I know. I just replaced a 18/3 that was powering my Rogue Cronus Magnum for two years with an Audioquest NRG4. I know some people aren't fans of AQ but that's what my local guy sells and I support him 100%. He sold me a broken in demo which is exactly what I wanted. I didn't do an a/b test and I didn't have to. I pulled the old one out and tossed it in the copper recycling pile and replaced it with the AQ. I fired up my amp this morning and let her warm up. I pulled out Sylvain Luc & Bireli Agrene's 'Duet' and hit the play button on the remote. Right off the bat I had to blink my eyes to make sure I was actually in my house. Everything tightened up with a dead silent background. I feel like a fool for waiting so long to come around on this one. I'm still skeptical of whether or not I will notice a difference when I replace the power cord to my CDP, but if you tell me I'll notice I might believe you. Either way, that's my next investment.
donjr

Showing 1 response by jeffreybehr

Lacee: "It's when you add all the little "can't make a difference" tweaks together that you start to notice what's going on."

I argee heartily with that. I'm no Golden-Eared Audiofile, able to hear subtle differences instantly. I can and do hear, fairly quickly, some differences among cables and other components, but I'm more a medium- to long-term listener, able to eventually hear improvements in transparency, smoothness, etc. And lest the protestors write that I'm merely getting used to the new sounds, not all changes to my system have created better sounds, and they get reversed.

I believe that cable, generally, has significant influence on sound quality, and why shouldn't it? Even Measurists understand that, for instance, brass is a measurably better conductor of electricity than cheaply plated steel, and that copper a better conductor than brass. How about the dielectric surrounding the conductors? Who would say that PVC is a better-sounding insulator than, say, Teflon?

If you agree that components--including all cable--of a music-reproduction system can never IMPROVE the music, only add bad stuff and remove good stuff, then probably you'd agree that EVERY time you replace one of these 'sinning' components with one that sins less, the quality of the music improves. IOW, improvements to music-reproduction systems are indeed cumulative.

Lacee: "Good enough is good, but better is better. If you don't have to settle for good enough, why should you? And why should you feel everyone else should?"

WELL said, Lacee.

My system, after about 65 years of being an audiofile/audiofool, has never sounded better and is the BEST-sounding music-reproduction system I've even heard. I'm confident that all those relatively expensive interconnect, speaker, and powercables in it are assisting, not hindering, that excellence.

I also believe that the majority of those who state loudly that powercables (or whatever) CAN'T sound different will NEVER hear a difference, because they don't want to.
.