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. ??
128x128jetmek
For all the hyperbole in this thread, (in particular surrounding much of Mr. Corona's comments, no one has answered Mr. Drubin's question above. Searching previous threads on "Sahuaro", there is a mention in one that an Audiogon member has auditioned (?) some. Maybe, if he is willing, he can at least, give us his opinion. Or anyone else?
Hi all,

Although I have never posted on the forums, I am a veteran of the Audiogon site, having bought and sold several pieces of mid to hi end equipment over the years. I'm also a member of the Audiophile Society in town, and I get to CES every year since 2000. (I say all of that as a point of reference only .) I happen to own Sahuaro Snake Oil, uh, I mean Cables :) in my system, which includes: KR Antares Amp, Joule Electra LA150 preamp, Richard Kern-modified Sony 777-SACD, and a Kuzma Stabi TT, all running through BPT 3.5 Sig. line conditioning (except amp). I haven't tried everything, but I have tried Cardas, JPS, Tice, Nordost etc ....
and for me, there is NOTHING that compares to the resolution, clarity, detail, and pure emotional involvement of my system with this cabling. It's not close.. I have personally been at CES for several "AB" tests between Sahuaro and the "hot cabling du jour", with results being so lopsided that there wasn't even any lively discussion involved.. While I appreciate the apprehension expressed here, it really does come down to the "music" ...
All I can say is try out the Prethrilla or Ampthilla - you get 30 days to check it out. What's there to lose? Call or email Lon at audiolon.com - he can help you. (I am NOT affiliated with anyone btw, but Lon is a pal) Also, there are other opinions at http://hometheatertalk.com/httalk/viewtopic.php?t=3541&highlight=sahuaro from John Beavers, and at audioasylum, there's plenty of discussion also...

FWIW
Alan (not to be confused with Alan Kafton, who is an aquaintance of mine ...:)
Kt 88:
The lab amp, which we built, sits on a 1 ½” thick solid walnut plinth. Its transformer is separated from the electronics; the rectifier bridge is a soft recovery design. We spent 6 months developing the emitters made from resistive copper wire rather than nichrome; the diameter and length were tuned to the amp’s performance. To our knowledge this had never been done before. We recently discovered that YBA’s top of the line $35,000 amp has the emitters removed completely from their transistor design which is even better. Tube designs don’t use emitters but they have to deal with output transformer problems. We used Hovland’s best film and foil capacitors and Vishay’s best resistors. The transformer and power supply were wired with very heavy gage solid core with an isolated symmetrical configuration; the transformer temperature is controlled by constant convection flow. We have compared this amp with CJ’s and many others; bottom line: there is no comparison. CJ will probably tell you if they built an amp like that it would cost a fortune. We have no plans to sell this amp but 6 years ago when we built it the projected price was about $6500; in today’s market it would be a bit more.