Some observations from a former skeptic - and a question
I had been firmly in the camp that power cables made little difference. A few years ago, I purchased an AQ Niagara 5000 (very nice improvement by itself BTW) and had auditioned various power cables with it. Nothing too fancy but I found differences difficult to perceive so I just used AQ Monsoon cables. However, I continued to read how others felt power cables had the most impact which I found curious.
I recently decided to move the Niagara to a system in another home and was planning on getting another Niagara 5000. My local dealer (who carries both AQ and Nordost) suggested I try the Nordost QB 8 MK III which he claimed to be a notable improvement over the MK II variant.
I compared the Nordost and Niagara in home and found them different but not dramatically so. The Nordost I thought a bit more dynamic, the Niagara a bit “blacker” in background.
The same dealer was surprised and suggested we do an In-store demo of power cables going into the QB 8 (great move by the local dealer!).
And there it was. The benefit was clearly there in improved spatial cues - the better cables were more “open”. I tried the same thing in my system - and same result. Unfortunately, power cables do matter. I will note that the AQ Niagara - as much as I liked it (and it was the first conditioner that I heard that made a big difference) - was somewhat negating the impact of the higher end power cables (a nice benefit in hindsight).
Power cables don’t make as much a difference as interconnects or high quality digital cables (to my ears, in my system) but the benefits are there depending on your budget and appetite for going down the proverbial rabbit hole.
As an aside, despite Nordost’s claim otherwise, the dealer and I both found the cable from the wall to the QB8 the least impactful and the cable(s) from the QB8 to the amp and source most impactful.
My system now is mostly Valhalla 2s (interconnects and A/C from QB 8 to components. I never expected to get here given my previous experiences.
I need one more A/C cable to complete my loom - for my processor (part of my digital stack). I auditioned a Tyr 2 and it made a notable difference. Unfortunately.
My total expenditure in cables is now equal to the cost of the rest of my system which seems crazy on the surface, but the results have been really rewarding - and more audible than most component upgrades.
Which leads me to a question:
How does this group think an Odin 1 (several available on this website) would match with my Valhalla 2 loom? I’m gathering many users feel that Valhalla 2s are > Odin 1s.
I could just stick w/ Tyr 2 on that unit though the cost differentials are not that great between new Tyr 2 and used Odin 1, but Valhalla 2s are up there.
Thoughts?
Yes measurements are maybe half useful and more useless, but expectation bias, placebo effect and when the beer happens to kick in are all things. They are both a thing. As for power cords where does it stop? Certainly outlets should be changed to commercial duty gold plated of course, and then that horrible solid core Romex wire from the circuit breaker to the outlet needs replacing with single crystal copper. Don't even get me going on the circuit breaker itself and the meter. Pretty soon we are out the street hanging new power lines. I have an electrician's license but I don't want to do that. Honestly, my system's outlet is pretty bad. Probably the first thing most should change including me to a heavy duty commercial type. Where it takes effort to plug it in. But yeah I can see how the crappy zip cords feeding my amps may be a weak point. And where they plug into the amps.
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Raging? His post has more substance in one sentence than your usual sniper pot shot useless troll posts. You are really good at them. Anything substantive to add? What's wrong with what he said? It's light years more than what I have seen you say. I could have written the same post. He spoke my feelings exactly.
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@mgrif104
Yes I read your post and I do believe you. You heard a difference.
And I admitted that I should get a better outlet and power supply cords for my amps. The wall sockets are weak and also the socket on the amp itself where the cord plugs into the amp is probably corroded and also a weak point. I should solder a direct connection there and eliminate the socket connection. Even just plugging in and unplugging can make a difference as a new more solid copper to copper connection is made.
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It’s so easy to set up a double pole double throw manual knife switch with the two cables being compared. If I was an honest non-snake oil cable manufacturer and wanted to get super wealthy from selling a great cable I would set up some good blind studies with audiophiles at an audio show or wherever. The results would be clear and everyone would buy my cables and I would be rich. I guess cable makers don’t want to do that. They don’t have to. And if they did it might be like shooting themselves in the foot. |
@ahuvia ossicle2brain writes that I am “not open to doing the work.”
I didn’t write that. Just to set the record straight. I can only speak about how lazy I am, which is very. :)
****************** The flip switch concept is interesting as a aid in this - I never thought of that. Of course, there would still be a sizable pause between cables as equipment should be shut off to avoid the big pulse. Further, my digital gear reboots after losing power.
It could be made so there is no pause. Briefly both would be in use before the changeover. It’s so easy to do that one wonders why they don’t and get super wealthy. What I would do if I had a super great cable: Set up a room at an audio show. Switch the cables every say 20 seconds or so and flash a light when changing. The golden ears walking around would pop in to the room and vote on which sounded better. They would just hit a button whenever that happened. Eventually the super great cable would have the vast majority of votes and the CEO would get super rich from selling this great cable.
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