Power Cords Snake Oil ??

Absolutely not and if you read thru the threads, you'll see that I have them hooked up and am using them. I'll keep them as well. For their looks, for their build quality.In the mean time I'll keep searching for a pc that allows me to hear a substantial difference in the presentation.In fact today I had the opportunity to try a Tara labs high dollar cord. No change that I could detect. This cord belongs to a friend and its been more than "burned in".

Jetmek, I just bought a power cord from you and you told me you had two others of the same brand and you loved them. Have you had a change of heart?

Hi Guys:
One of the many things I have discovered on my journey through audio: When you set out to push the envelope, sometimes the envelope pushes back.

Has anyone listened to Corona's Sahuaro cables? I'm curious, is he onto something?

Well, KT_88, what can I say. I threw out a question about pc's and got back dozens of opinions ( yours included )These opinions ,derived from everyday experience to way out there theories probably better left to the people that design equipment. Either way, I now have some knowledge and ideas that I didn't have a week ago.

You're absolutely right. We should just enjoy the music. I think that is exactly what most of us are doing. I suspect that since you posted your opinion on this forum and the fact that you're aware of A/GON tells me you certainly dont use a boombox for your music entertainment. Sure, at some point you started out with that boombox but along the way you wanted to improve your listening experience. Years ago my heathkits sounded good. Now thousands of dollars later my current equipment sounds good as well and if I happen to come across a pc that I feel contributes to that musical enjoyment,I'll buy it.

Hey I got an idea. Why don't we forget about strings, cable, and maybe even circular things. And just listen to our music, and forget about what pc we are running. That is the point of this hobby, isn't it????

Somtimes I read these posts and I want to throw mine equipment out and go buy a Sony boom box. What was that Bob Harley said a few years ago? " You should be able to enjoy the music, no matter what quality your equipment is "

What do you say Jetmek?

"Snake oil"? With all this talk about string theory, corona's product (or at least his ideas) might better be described as a "can of worms".

S23Chang: I believe Nikola Tesla was the first string theorist when he said,” Resonance is the tune the universe is dancing to.”

Z -
I think we're in agreement :-)

Flex, here are some Corona quotes cut and pasted from above (with some minor editing applied by me for clarity):

"There is only one power cable that is truly different and commands the technology that astounds, but you won't go there because the answer sounds too radical."

"The design concepts we are using are really 'off the map'. However, since the recent advent of 'String Theory' as the dominant position in physics, what we are doing does not seem so 'out there' any more."

"Any of you Audiogoners that have not yet investigated 'String Theory', check it out on the 'net'; its implementation is what’s going to divide the past from the future."

"So what does 'String Theory' have to do with my audio system, is that your question? Here is a list of conventional electrical engineering precepts which are employed in almost all cable designs to the detriment of all audio systems. The following would not be supported by String Theory:

1. Building a cable without any consideration of the field that surrounds the conductor.

2. Designing a power cable as an isolated entity as if is has no bearing on the performance of the speaker, amp, etc.

3. Claiming that electrical and mechanical resonances are mutually exclusive phenomena.

4. Claiming inductance, capacitance, and resistance are the central issues in all cable design.

What String Theory is asserting: all revolves around resonance."

Flex, here's a quote from you: "The issue here isn't string theory".

While I happen to agree with that last assessment of yours, Corona, it seems to me, is pretty clearly attempting to imply some sort of linkage or support for his design concepts involving said theory, and I'm not buying it. And neither am I buying into his claims that string theory is now the "dominant position" in physics (not for anything involving practical work, it's not), that the theory is essentially "asserting" that "all revolves around resonance" (maybe, mabye not, but that's too simplistic a reduction - more of a new-agey mantra if you ask me - for general applicability here regardless), nor his blanket characterizations of the 'rules' he suggests all other cable designers are allegedly bound to and their shortcomings (or his corollary that string theory somehow contravenes these). The possible merits of Corona's company and cables aside, this approach strikes me as a sketchy marketing ploy at best, and quite likely disingenuous (meaning he knows better). But, I would really think it deserving of the term 'snake oil' only if they were merely repackaging OEM Belden or something, and that I am willing to take on faith is not the case.

I haven't bothered to read all the posts, becuase if I recall there was a similar psot like this. But I will say Jetmek, if all you did was a quick A/B test I doubt I would notice either. It has been my experience that electronics ( especially power cables ) need to sit stationary, and have AC ran through them continously for about a week to reach a good performance. So did you do this first, before your blind tests?

I will agree that the money some of companies is asking for these cables is ridiculous. I don't think they are worth it, I think if you upgrade to a hospital grade plug, and a 12-10AWG cord you will be fine. You can do this for about $50, $15 in you live in China :) Of course I haven't tried everything out there, but I have tried a few.

just my 2 cents worth.....

Z: "...I'm congenitally allergic to overweening hyperbole."

Alex, you are a treasure!

Zaikesman,
Here is the equation for resonance
The nth harmonic has frequency fn = v/ln = nv/2L = nf1
You need to figure out how to apply it based on the physical property of the material.
It is not snake oil but rather how you derrive your product based on the basic equation. That's each manufacture's secret ( Assuming if they did design the cables themselves and not buying some finished cable and terminated them togather.)
Just look around you and you'll find at least one thing was designed based on the same theory. This not only apply to audio, it also applies to communication technology industries.

Zaikesman, no I wasn't expecting a unification of all cable design based on string theory (aargh). Why is email so difficult?

The point of testbeds is that they can prove and DISPROVE ideas, and they lead in theory to an exchange of ideas. This is the way it would be done if high end ever entered the realm of science/engineering (!) (Maybe we could progress from a proliferation of diy/artisan cable designers and on to something like power supply redesign, for example.) Nah, its more fun to buy $2500 cables.

The issue here isn't string theory, by the way. It is resonance, and how much resonance has to do with cable response. I have my own strong opinions, and so do both Audioengr and Corona, but those two have data and I don't. That is where a testbed fits in.

Corona: "What string theory is asserting is that all revolves around resonance" - that's a cute analogy, but neither you nor anyone else has designed anything based upon employing the equations involved in string theory. (No, I'm not a physicist or EE, just normally endowed with common sense.) This is no knock on your cables (I haven't even bothered to see what company you represent, and whatever it is I assume I haven't heard your product anyway), it's just an observation that if electrical engineering principles were scientifically employed in the design of your cables, then they were the same textbook principles available to be employed by all cable designers. If you've paid more attention to resonance than some, that's great, but as you say you've been doing this for a decade, and I'll take it on faith that you didn't wake up one morning, read something about the emergence of string theory, and go back to the drawing board to radically redesign your cables. Quite the contrary to Flex's hope that some unification theory breakthrough - should it ever come and be verified - might "end the era of snake oil" in cable design, I view this claiming of string theory as a basis or validation for a method of designing and building a cable is just that: the selling of snake oil. Color me unimpressed, and also just that much more unlikely to ever want to check out your product, as I'm congenitally allergic to overweening hyperbole. If your cables sound great, then that'll be my loss, but it still wouldn't convince me that you were somehow operating on a completely different physical plane from all others toiling in the cable field.

My point above is not at all combative.

It would be a real accomplishment in this high end field if a testbed created by one designer could become useful to other designers working on ideas - even radical ideas. It might even end the snake oil era, perish the thought.

So lets take one of Corona's cords and check it out on Audioengr's modified amp and dac. If no audible change, what happens in string theory?

Corona,
I strong agree wtih "all revolves around resonance." and that is exactly how I design my cables. Indeed it is the right way and the only way. You just let the secret out.

?!¼?ion:
Why not have forum sub-categories under "CABLES" (IC or PC.)

ie.
Forum>Cables>for those who "do" hear a difference
Forum>Cables>for those who "don't" hear a difference

I now belong to the former after being a rabid member of the latter for many years.
I have had electrical engineers, physicists, mathematicians, and palm-readers explain to me the laws and characteristics of an electrical current...I've also visited my doctor for an ear exam. My conclusion is that my ears are right and the theories, although not wrong according to present level scientific knowledge, will eventually be deciphered correctly when more facts are available through experimentation.

I don't own megabuck PCs. All of mine were purchased from Signal Cable. Incredibly well made and the first PC that let me hear the difference between regular equipment cables and after market ones. Although I have auditioned quite a few much-more-expensive cables, the small differences in sound–for me–didn't warrant the expense.

We can go on beating this dead horse until even the flies will refuse to land on it! (However, it was my reading of a few of these combatitive threads that lead me to give other power cables a listen.) So, maybe this carcass still has some meat to pound on.

Zaikesman:
I didn’t say that you did; according to E. Whitten it’s 11 dimensions.
So what does “String Theory” have to do with my audio system; is that your question? Here is a list of conventional electrical engineering precepts which are employed in almost all cable designs to the detriment of all audio systems. The following would not be supported by String Theory.
1. Building a cable without any consideration of the field that surrounds the conductor.
2. Designing a power cable as an isolated entity as if is has no bearing on the performance of the speaker,amp,etc
3. Claiming that electrical and mechanical resonances are mutually exclusive phenomena.
4. Claiming inductance, capacitance, resistance are the central issues in all cable design.
What String Theory is asserting: all revolves around resonance. This has been our position for the past decade.

Corona: Are you implying that your product achieves 'unification' on the sub-atomic, electro-magnetic, and gravitational planes, while operating in 12 looped dimensions so tightly packed into the fabric of space-time that their existence may never be directly revealed to us? (Answer: If the theory's true, than yes - same as for you and me and everything else. But that's the beauty of a marketing plan that invokes untestable hypotheses - you can never disprove it.)

Sean;
No problem, I took your interest as a compliment. What makes copying difficult, on most of the models, the internal structure is bonded together any attempt to disassemble will lead to disaster unless you have sourced the replacement materials. If you would like to see a picture of these wonders: click Browse then Cables [power] scroll to Dealer Demos and click PreThrilla and Ampthrilla, the Prothrilla and Supremium are not yet posted.
Any of you Audiogoners that not yet investigated “String Theory” check it out on the “net”; its implementation is what’s going to divide the past from the future.

Must be all those years of listening to nothing but goth and speed-metal... ;^)

I recommend NRBQ's song "12 Bar Blues" (from Grooves In Orbit) as an antidote. Terry, Joey, Tommy, and Big Al will step you right through it...just like riding a bicycle, it'll all come back to you in a rush. :-)

Z: THAT should tell you something right there. It's been a LONG time : ) Sean
>

Umm...shouldn't that be a twelve-bar blues? Yours sound about seven bars short of a blues... ;^)

Psychic: I think that "Corona" takes his name from the electrical term i.e. a high voltage discharge, not the yellow water & chemicals that someone is trying to pass off as "beer". As far as "beer" made in Mexico goes, Bohemia is far superior to Corona : )

Z: I've recently had the urge to pick up my bass and start playing again. With the holidays coming up, maybe i'll get the time to do so. I sold all of my PA gear and three of my bass cabinets, but i've still got the guitar, the preamp, power amp and two 18's and two 10's. As rusty as i am though, i probably couldn't even play a steady open "E" let alone "Five Bar Blues" : ) Sean
>

Corona: I wasn't trying to insult you or "lowball" the value of your product. The figure that i arrived at was based on having to purchase one of your products, not the amount of R&D and custom fabrication that went into it.

Having said that, sometimes just looking at a product and seeing the way that it is designed and the parts used can be a very worthwhile venture. Obviously, duplicating or improving any design takes identical or better parts with the know how to do such. Much of what i've learned has been done by using such an approach and then following through on those ideas where others seemed to stop short. It always amazes me how someone can come up with a very good circuit yet overlook some very simple yet advantageous changes they could have made, in effect, making the product / circuit even better for sometimes even less money.

While i have no first hand experience with your product or design, it sounds as if it would not be easy to duplicate due to all of the custom manufacturing involved. Then again, how hard can it be to design & build a power cord ??? : )

Audioengr: You are going to have to play with values and placement. Try either a 470 / 560 / 680 ohm with a .1 cap to start off with and go from there. This works best on center-tapped designs but is also applicable to "unbalanced" AC too. Sean
>

You mean TOO MUCH Mexican beer!

Corona is a Mexican beer...

Sean - I will try the zoebel experiment. What values do you recommend?

Flex wrote:
"Audioengr, have you done a control experiment where you take your amp and dac to a city environment with really dirty power, fluctuating voltage, and rfi. Does the power cord independence hold for these conditions?"

I recently lived in Portland, OR, where the voltage does fluctuate, but it is nearly always on the high side. This is where I did this testing.

RFI has nothing to do with power delivery. The impedances are too low. It has to do with ground-loops that form loop-antennas at the resonant frequency of the RF.

High-frequency spikes on the power can cause problems, but generally these are filtered-out by the transformer banswidth.

Folks attribute all types of noise to RF and HF noise on the power. The reality is that these are often due to ground-loops and other sources.

What is the story on the "Corona Power Cord"?

Sean;

“Hundreds of dollars” to reverse engineer our product? Try thousands of dollars. There are about 45 custom parts that are made by hand and constructed of real exotica. The materials took over a year to source and the few companies that make them have a minimum order would not believe.
Yes it would be fun to compare notes, but you know the problems with that.
The design concepts we are using are really “off the map”. However; since the recent advent of “String Theory” as the dominant position in physics what we are doing does not seem so “out there” any more.

Hey Sean: While you were doing that, my '60's hollow-bodied Vox 'Bill Wyman' bass was running through an equally old flip-top Ampeg Porta-Flex with one 15", and I'm guessing about 40 all-tube watts. No, I couldn't shake any foundations, but it *did* look really cool the way the clear lucite "Ampeg" logo plaque got lit up edgewise from below when the power was switched on...

Audioengr: Glad to see that we are on the same page i.e. my previous comments about deficient design of the gear ( specifically the power supply ) making them more responsive to power cord changes. If you want to take your designs / upgrades to a new level, try installing a Zobel network into the power supply. This will attenuate the ringing that the transformer itself generates. This will make each unit more universally consistent in performance, which in turn would also deal with Flex's question that he posed to you. If using such an approach, you'll find that proper AC polarity is critical.

Corona: While you've never been one to give away any of your design concepts, i'd really love to pick your brain / compare notes. Too bad doing so will cost me hundreds of dollars i.e. having to buy one of your products and reverse engineer it : )

Slappy: I think that people look at AC cords in the wrong manner, much as i used to a few years back. Rather than thinking of them as an extension of the wall outlet, think of them as an extension of the unit's power supply. Since one can design different aspects of filtering and / or reduce the susceptability to picking up / re-radiating noise on the line or noise generated within the equipment itself, what stops one from doing the same with a power cord ? After all, filters are comprised of inductance, capacitance and resistance and all of these electrical characteristics can easily be manipulated in a power cord.

Once you understand this concept, you'll realize that it does not matter how far or long the AC has to travel to get to your outlet or how dirty that AC is. What does matter is what a filter is trying to accomplish, how effective that filter is in achieving those goals, where it is placed within the circuit and if there are any noticeable drawbacks to such an approach.

As far as most commercial designs / designers go, they only look at a very small portion of what an AC cord should and shouldn't do. As such, they typically only look at the "good things" that they want to see and forget about what the side effects are to the approach that they used to achieve those goals.

A perfect example of this is "shielding" While shielding is beneficial in ALL cases, the way that most designers impliment shielding is typically loaded with drawbacks. This creates other problems all their own. Having said that, the drawbacks of poorly implimented shielding may not be as noticeable with some specific types of equipment as it is with others. Sharp audiophiles with resolving systems have noticed this using nothing more than their ears, but test equipment can / will / does verify what and why they were able to discern the suitability of some cords over others with specific pieces of gear. Obviously, there are different methods and materials used for shielding purposes, so take these comments with a grain of salt and an open mind.

JD: I don't remember what specific thread it was in, but it might have had something to do with a Philips SACD 1000. That was the player that i did the testing with. I explain how / why i did that specific testing in that thread. As mentioned in that thread, the really "weird" thing was that the only difference between the two cords used / measured was in how the cable was grounded. While the SACD 1000 has NO ground at the IEC jack on its' own chassis, altering the ground on the AC cord itself changed the impedance of the cord enough to effect the units performance into the system as a whole.

As far as amplifiers designed for musical instruments go, most of them are SO poor that changing power cords might / might not make a difference at all. This is especially true of bass guitar equipment, as the speakers / cabinets that they are using are HORRIBLE to say the least. If you doubt this, you should try feeding a frequency sweep into a bass amp & cabinet and see what you get. The open "E" will be so low in output compared to the other strings that you don't experience the impact or extension that an electric bass is capable of.

Suffice it to say that most all commercially available bass and PA cabinets are utter crap. Once again though, cheap and sloppy vented cabinets dominate the market and sound quality / performance has taken a back seat to efficiency / reduced production costs. I could go off on a tangent about this subject alone, but i won't. If you want further info about this, email me directly. Sean
>

PS... About 15 - 20 years ago, i used to run a limited edition neck through body Ibanez Musician 944 with active Bartolini's into a Crate preamp electronically crossed into an SAE 2600 ( 600+ wpc ) feeding eight 18's and eight 10's. Yes, i could shake the foundation of the Earth. No, i haven't touched it in a long time as i went into doing sound rather than playing.

For what it's worth, my experience is that, yes, an upgraded power cable offers performance advantages over the stock cord. Better constructed connectors, quality wire, a tighter design factor; I guess all these things do make sense. I do have my doubts, however, about any PC over, say, $200.

What amazes me is how heated these power cord discussions are.

Want to see a fight on A'gon? Ask about power cords and thier validity.

As for now, im with Jetmek, i think they look burly as hell and i like the way it looks. I will probably buy them for appearance reasons alone.

Who knows, maybe i will hear a big difference. :)

Samuel (Grant), thanks for one of the most well-written posts. Your points about power cords are actually less important than your point about people having different hobbies: some of us are into audio, while others are into Internet arguments.

Audioengr, have you done a control experiment where you take your amp and dac to a city environment with really dirty power, fluctuating voltage, and rfi. Does the power cord independence hold for these conditions? Your result sounds like a very good first step in separating out the elements of the power cleanup issue.

Nrchy, I (and I'm sure many others) had an experience similar to yours. Several years ago, I bought an amp (which shall remain nameless for this discussion) used from a local guy. I auditioned it at his house and was satisfied, but when I got it home I wasn't quite as happy after the first couple of weeks or so. I called him about it to see if he had any suggestions, and he told me that when I had auditioned it, he had been using an aftermarket PC (also to go nameless here) which he found indispensable for getting best sound from this particular amp. He wanted about 1/3 of the price I had paid for the amp for the PC (neither was very expensive), but was willing to let me take it home for an audition first before buying. Back then, I had no experience with aftermarket PC's (not to mention a much less revealing setup than I do today), and though I had read some positive opinions about them, I was quite skeptical about the whole concept, for the usual reasons (read: I had no actual listening experience with PC's). So I got this cord back home, and damned if he wasn't 100% correct ; going back to the stock cord seemed to make the amp only half as good as it could be. So I bought the cord and used that amp for the next two or so years, and to this day that was still the biggest difference I've heard in my system concerning power cords (of course, I also had no power conditioner back then as I have had since).*

Eldartford: I'm glad you corrected the post regarding line frequency variations - this is what I thought, but I also thought it better to let someone technically qualified question the assertion. But about your "one of the more ridiculous ideas in audio": I'll grant you that on the $2,000 figure (no cable of mine remotely approaches that price level, though I'm content to let the market figure this stuff out, and understand that a premium cord could be better in absolute terms than the ones I'm using). But if what you meant was merely the cord idea itself, at any price level, I've got to ask you: Have you ever comprehensively auditioned one at home?

*[As a footnote to that experience, a dealer I had bought from in the past, and who's electronics brand lineup included the manufacturer of that amp of mine, immediately poo-pooed the entire possibility out-of-hand when I told him about my test results, based solely on 'principle' from what I could tell. I never returned to his shop again - not because I was insulted, but because I decided he must either be closed-minded or just couldn't hear. I sympathized with him, and understood where he was coming from, but for a guy in his business I couldn't trust his judgement anymore.]

The effect of a power cord depends entirely on the power supply design in your components. For instance, before modding my amp and DAC, they both improved significantly with low-inductance power cords. After modding I can use a wall-wart ppower supply on the DAC and a cheapo cord on the amp - makes no difference. This is because these components are no longer demanding high-frequency transient currents from the cord/AC supply.

Elizabeth, You're missing the point as well. While I say I cant detect any sonic improvement or difference, I have a BMI pc hooked up right now!

The question is: Is there theoretical evidence that supports the pc. Why should anyone hear a difference ?

At the end of the day its the music that matters. It's just a topic to ponder and maybe people can learn from it.

Sugarbrie, Whats the point of your comment. Im simply asking(wondering) what contribution the pc gives the system and inquiring as to what different peoples real world experiences are and possibly somebody with some measurements to share. I still remain firm(IMHO) that the pc does little if anything to improve. Im buying them cause they look cool.In the mean time I'll still be searching for a pc that may offer a sonic improvement.

There is still 30 or so feet of garbage before my equipment sees the power. The average hi end pc is nothing more than a well made conductor. Some are shielded to ground, but that ground these cords are shielded to is chock full of noise. Its the same ground that the 59 cent outlet socket uses. Now of course there are actively shielded cords. That configuration I'd be willing to try and would not be surprised if it made a difference.

I enjoy reading the different approaches and ideas.

I'll qualify my post, as I am a former consumer, reviewer and now marketing and sales person for a company that manufacturers, among other things, power cords.

From within the audio/video trade industry and in professional audio, the "power cords are snake oil" issue is entirely moot. For any that have experiemented, ALL that I know, have purchased and continue to use and endorse some type of specialty power cords, whether in film studios, mastering labs, recording studios, trade-show or electronics design systems.

These professionals didn't purchase aftermarket power cords on a whim or because of a "buzz" or a media review. They purchased them after thorough testing within controlled environments, and within electronics systems that are among the most highly calibrated systems in the world.

Of course, consumers will have varying experiences because of the wide range of systems and contexts power cords are applied in. Forget power cords for a moment, as there are still some that believe most SS amps sound the same and that CD replay stops improving at the $1000 price point. These threads also pop up on the talk boards from time to time and they are equally, er, profound. There are different points of experience across the spectrum, and arguing individual experiences on-line is an extremely complex and non-productive pursuit-- imo.

Because power cords are largely available for personal testing with no cash outlay for anyone that wants to listen for themselves, that would seem the logical course for the curious. On-line argument is for those who will hold their untested beliefs and theory above all evidence and explanation, measurements, graphs etc. For them, the argument IS the point and the hobby, not what may or may not be true. If truth were the target, then these raging debates would be a lot more collegial and less polarized or pointed.

The technical reasons power cords can improve the sound or visual displays from systems of electronics have been explicated here and on AA countless times. 5 minutes spent serching will illuminate many legitimate reasons why power cords or conditioners have the capability to affect sound. I include conditioners because they often incorporate similar design impetus and material constituents as power cords. The big difference in many cases is that they are a "box" and specialty power cords are not. Capacitors and inductors can be put into power cords, and there are some companies that use these. Obviously, these products now have reactive elements in them that at the very least will have a strong and empirically well grounded "chance" to effect a noticeable change in the performance of the applied device.

The most obvious element in this non-issue is that by far the vast majority of consumers who have tried a decent variety of power cords know that some make a noticeable, repeatable difference in performance. For example, they know that a power cord using silver, or ribbon conductors will often "sound" very different from one that uses solid core or stranded copper.

The VAST majority of those that rail against the possibility of a power cord effecting a positive difference are those with NO experiential evidence to back up the claims they make. Jetmek above is the first person I've seen who rattled off some names of power cords and claimed to hear no difference, although there wasn't any specific context offered to butress his stated experience.

In this industry, I know from personal experience that the priciples of many electronics and speaker companies have experimented with a variety of power cords--extensively, and have chosen to use them in their reference, development and trade show systems. Why would any electronics company want anyone to think that their electronics could be improved by a power cord? Because they no them to work. These are all companies who arguably, make some of the most recognized and better designed electronics in our industry.

Audio Research
Balanced Audio Technology
Halcro
Classe'
Jeff Rowland Design
Pass Labs
ART Audio
SIM Audio
Edge Electronics
Musical Fidelity(US)
Wilson Audio
Verity

There are many, many others, but this short list will suffice to make the point.

What about pro-audio? The empiricists? Mastering engineers? Recording engineers, Record producers, recording studios, film studios? What motivates these people are results.

All of the following well know pro's and studios have chosen to use aftermarket power cords in their systems after extensive testing revealed obvious performance improvements, and repeatable results.

Sont Music (Mastering systems--Japan)
Philips (US Crest National Film studio and SACD production plant)
Memory Tech ($100 mil. Japanese CD/SACD corp)
Astoria Studio (Dave Gilmour's studio UK)
Doug Sax (Mastering engineer)
James Guthrie (Mastering engineer)
Rick Rubin (Record producer)

There are many more, but these electronics manufacturers, studios and engineers are invested solely in the bottom-line of achieving enhanced performance. They develop their testing and recording systems with products that let them hear/see what is going on within the recording, or the electronics/speaker design.

Aftermarket power cords will not work in all systems or for all people as contexts and individual differences vary so widely. That is why most companies and dealers offer trials so each person can determine the efficacy and value of a a specific PC design for themselves.

I see two hobbies evlolving on-line. One is the enthusiast high-end hobby where shared experience is the point of the thread. The other is the endless debate and argument hobby. I suggest leaving argument to the "pro's", and finding ones own experience to share with others.

Best,

Grant

I can share my experience, but I can't verify anything with measurements.

I was a longtime subcriber to Stereophile till about ten years ago. I did not cancel because of the number of ultra-highend reviews, but because of all the discussion about powercords. I just could not buy into the theory that they could make such a big difference, and besides I was happy with my system.

About five or six years later I got a card from someone saying I could resubscribe for about $10.00 a year, and I thought, what the heck...

They were still talking about powercords!!! I decided to take a chance and see if there was anything to all this hype. I went down to the local audio emporium and snake oil dealer and bought one Transparent Audio powercord. It cost about $120 which I did not consider to be too outrageous.

I did not know what to expect in my system with the new cord so I didn't really have any expectations. From the time I plugged it into my amp I heard a very noticeable difference. The mid to low bass was much more pronounced and the soundstage seemed to come from a more quiet background. I was so surprised that the next time I got paid I ran back to the snake oil dealer and bought another powercord. I used this one on my pre-amp and heard more of the same thing as I did with the first cord.

Since then I have replaced all of my PCs with DIY versions of the old Chris VenHaus PCs with great satisfaction.

I certainly am not suggesting that anyone who did not experience the same thing as I, is wrong in their conclusion. I just want to point out that I was extremely skeptical about the virtues of aftermarket PCs, but based on experience have become a believer.

Eldartford:
You are correct the power cord does not change the 60 HZ frequency. However, the PC has its own resonance frequency and the conflict between the two creates a harmonic structure that is passed into the system producing distortion.

If you don't think they matter, than don't buy one.

My Dad likes his Bose headphones. He thinks they are top of the line. I won't waste my time telling him otherwise.

He also thinks a Honda Accord EX is a technologically superior car over an Accord LX; when in fact all Accords are exactly the same; the EX just has more gadgets on it.

Sync to grid that is, Eldart!

The only thing that matters is what YOU hear.
If you try one and notice a difference with high-end power cords, then you might want to buy some. In my system different cables make a difference- some for the better, some not.

This notion that people can't hear the differences rendered when changing cables has always puzzled me. I can clearly hear differences when swapping interconnects, and often power cables as well. Am I a "Golden Ear"? No. I'm just very familiar with my particular system. That intimate knowledge, I believe, is the key to hearing any improvement or degradation in sound quality when experimenting with cables.