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Power Cords Snake Oil ??

Having been a long time audiophile living with countless high end compnents I have to wonder about the theory and practicality of high end power cords.

I have yet to hear the difference a power cord makes. Ive owned, synergistic, Shunyata, BMI and cardas. I in no way can detect any sonic signature or change. Give me a pair of interconnects and I imeadiately notice a difference somewhere in the sonic spectrum. Not the PC though. I have accomplished 4 blind tests with my friends. 3 out of the 4 they did not know their cord was replaced. All 4 were using a stock factory supplied cord. Each of the 4 tests were done on different components. Amp, CDP, Preamp & dac.

My electrical backround tells me that provided you supply the component with its required voltage bet 110vac or 220/240vac its happy. Now, change the incoming frequency from 60hz to say 53hz and watch how quickly your soundstage collapses.! This is often the case during the summer months when home air conditioners are in use and the utility company power output is taxed to the max. A really good power conditioner should however take care of the frequency fluctuations. But 110vac is still 110vac regardless of the conductor it passes through as long as its remains 110vac when it reaches the intended circuit. Does your 8k amp or preamp know the difference of the path the voltage took to reach it ? Many an audiophile will use a dedicated 20amp circut for their equipment.That is a good idea as voltage & frequency fluctuations will occur in the home circuit to to other loads on the main breaker panel but again, A power cord simply is the means of transporting the voltage from the wall to the component. IF there is a clean 110vac @ 60hz at the wall socket, no matter what the medium is to go from the socket to the component, it will still be 110vac @60hz.

Could somebody expand on this a bit more. I just dont understand it. ??
jetmek

Showing 3 responses by loonytunz

loonytunz's avatar
loonytunz
164 posts
 
Absolute snake oil. There is nothing in this world short of making it out of platinum that could possibly justify an IEC cable costing $1500 or more. Or any cable, for that matter. If you have money to throw away on such things, hats off to you. As long as you're happy.

Personally, I'd rather apply that money to the acoustics in my listening room (one of the most overlooked, but 'hearable' tweaks you will ever apply), or more media.

The notion that you can 'hear' an AC cable flys in the face of common sense. There have been too many failed 'blind' tests, convincing test data (please don't tell me your hearing is more acute than electronic test equipment!) and not to mention the laws of physics . Those reasons alone should be enough to explain away any desire to purchase this stuff. Couple that with the complete lack of eveidence supplied by the manufacturers (if they actually DO manufacture their own cable. Most DO NOT!) to back up their claims and there you have a good old fashined bottle of Doctor Bob's cure-all tonic!

Ok guys, go ahead and shoot me ;) Just expressing my opinion (which is based upon my education, background and some reasonable research into the subject, not on rituals involving chicken blood or anything like that.)
loonytunz's avatar
loonytunz
164 posts
 
I do try to keep an open mind. Truly, there are any number of phenomena on this Earth that science cannot explain, I just don't believe that basic electron theory is one of them. That said, I have 'auditioned', for lack of a better word, a number of cables of various uses and price points, to no avail. I heard nothing that would make me want to open my wallet.

I don't completely discount the possibility that cabling in the signal chain, or even an AC supply cable can make a sonic difference, whether for better or worse. The caveat is: there MUST be a measurable difference in electrical parameters to explain it, else we're searching for bigfoot or the loch ness monster(they might exist, there's just no proof.)

Otherwise, I stand by my (outspoken?) opinion. At least we agree on outrageous prices!
loonytunz's avatar
loonytunz
164 posts
 
For the record, I certainly stated that cables possessing variations in electrical measurement could sound different from one another. I'm also no more predisposed to psychological bias than someone who just spent a bundle on a cable and expects or anticipates an improvement in their system. Who would spend the money hoping NOT to hear an improvement? Additionally, I attempted to speak for no one else here. What others hear or don't hear is their own business; just sharing an opinion.

P.S. This thread has been civil so far, but this topic often degrades quickly into 'you're an idiot', 'you're deaf', or 'your system sucks', etc, so let's just agree to disagree and stuff all those nasty little worms back into the can.
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