The Truth About Power Cords and there "Real" Price to Performance
I learned something by experience recently that may add to the conversation--that the price-performance ratio in part depends on what you are connecting the power cord to. I recently had the opportunity to try several different power cords at different price points in my system. I used the power cords between: The wall and my Ayre L-5xe power conditioner (to which was connected my preamp (Herron VTSP-3A R03), phono stage (Herron VTPH-2A), turntable motor and cd/sacd player (Esoteric K-03xs); AND The wall and my power amp (LTA Ultralinear) I discovered that each power cord sounded very different going into the Ayre L-5xe but totally the same going into the LTA. So I reached out to Mark Schneider at LTA to report what I found. He told me that David Berning, who designs the LTA gear, is a power supply specialist above all else and, because of the integrity and quality of the power supply in my LTA amplifier the sonic differences between power cord were negligible. In fact, the stock power cord from LTA sounded just as good as a $1500 cable I compared it to. So, I purchased one of the better performing (and more expensive) cords for my Ayre and another inexpensive cord for the LTA, saving myself several hundred dollars in the process. So, what I learned from this experience is that the price-performance ratio depends on more than the cable alone--that the design of what you are plugging into (and probably the quality of the power coming out of your outlet) can alter the performance considerably, skewing the ratio depending on the application. |
I am sure that most people reading this thread will want to hear more about The Master Coupler power cable. Can you share its characteristics from your experiences with us, Well, the Master Coupler is Synergistic Research. What that means, it shares the classic SR sonic signature- big, bold, detailed, dynamic, and above all else beautifully balanced. There's simply more there there. That's what turned me onto SR way back in the 90's, and why I continue to prefer them to this day. They just present everything beautifully, never anything hyped or out of balance. They make sacrifices and trade offs of course and these get smaller and smaller as you move up the line in price and time, with the newest/best being almost unbelievably close to perfect. Their newer/ better cables are definitely worth the money. But cables are kind of like wine. You can't really expect the cheap stuff to taste really good. At some level you should just be happy it doesn't have anything really awful going on. The Master Coupler is like that. You won't be blown away by how good it is- except in comparison with everything else that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. at what point does the cost of a power cord outweigh the cost of building your own power generation facility, $75k for a power cord ? I could build my own dedicated power generation system for that kind of money. This is one of those comments that sounds all smart-assey, until you stop and think about it and realize hey a battery is a dedicated power generation system and people really do that and so its a serious subject after all. Its also a pretty easy one to answer. Compare even a few power cords with any kind of off-line power and its pretty easy to figure out the even an inexpensive Master Coupler can give you way more. Micro-hydro using a bank of batteries and the venerable Fisher-Paykel washer turned into a generator to keep things nice and economical might run you as little as $1500 to maybe $3k. Assuming you have a stream nearby to keep the plumbing and wire costs low. (Yeah, I've looked into it. You really need to start paying me more for this.) But again, however the power is generated it ultimately winds up coming from a battery and battery power just ain't all that compared to a really good power cord. Which since a really good power cord begins with the Master Coupler at under $300, is a pretty low price point. |
Hi glennewdick, it's not a 75k power cord it is a ground unit. Look it up! https://tripointaudio.us/tripoint-products |
Hi millercarbon, Thanks for jumping right into the meat of the matter and shedding some light on the subject! To clarify, this is not new to me but I like many others out there are not like geoffkait or I hope not at least in this regard lol. The purpose of the thread is more for awareness vs marketing for those not wanting 3 basement levels of bad accidents. Sorry man but that was hilarious!!! I am sure that most people reading this thread will want to hear more about The Master Coupler power cable. Can you share its characteristics from your experiences with us, Thanks! |
blumartini- Sorry man your thread has been hijacked. In the museum of What is wrong with Audiophiles geoffkait has a whole wing, three basement levels, and a Raider's of the Lost Ark warehouse. Like a bad accident, best just look the other way. Everyone has your same ideas about power cords, and cables in general, as being mere conductors of electricity. As you now know from listening your ears are telling you there has to be a lot more to it than that. Which I am not about to tell you what that is. Because unlike everyone else I know that I don't know. Truth is no one knows. That's why there's so many different ones. That's why they all sound so different. If it was all just transmitting electricity they'd all have been commoditized long ago, and they'd all be cheap as dirt. Like the wall outlets at Home Depot. So you're excited because you just discovered this which is crazy but true for a lot of audiophiles. What makes it crazy is this is something that has been known for upwards of 30 years, and probably more like 50. Fifty if you go back to J Gordon Holt who founded Stereophile and the whole "the ears are the arbiters of sound" movement, 30 if you go back to Ted Denney who founded Synergistic Research and came out with the first really commercially successful Master Coupler power cord. Now there's been a zillion power cords before and since, but the reason I say the Master Coupler was the first really commercially successful power cord is both because it came out early in the 1990's AND is still widely considered a quality power cord that retains its value in the used market even to this day. The Master Coupler is in effect the Gold Standard of power cords and at about $150-300 is hard to beat especially for someone with upgrades in mind. As the hijackers have pointed out you can very easily spend a whole lot more. What I am saying is it is nowhere near as easy to do a whole lot better. Or as someone else said last time I recommended the Master Coupler, "A thousand dollar cable for $250. What's not to like?" Now understand I am not putting it out there as the best or even the only. I am putting it out there as a benchmark or standard. Because you asked about value. Which value is what I am all about. So yes of course you can do better. But if you want to do better AND keep the budget reasonable then you need a solid standard of value. And this is it. |
Oh, I don’t know, I think this high cost for certain audiophile products is a little bit irrelevant. There are $650,000 speakers, $16,000 cartridges, $120,000 turntables. So what? It doesn’t necessarily advance the science OR the performance to go all out on money. And who can do it? 1/2 of 1%? As I said somewhere earlier even One Million Dollar systems can oft go awry. I would say it’s hard to prove the value of things, generally, but especially when the cost is astronomical. Money can’t buy me love. |
Hi There geoffkait, Don’t know that anyone said that there was a line. Why stop at $35000.00? I had the opportunity to audition a $75,000.00 TROY ELITE NG ground conditioning unit. https://tripointaudio.us/tripoint-products Guess the real question is does the dollar amount spent = "Price for Performance" and why you think it does in your system? |
@blumartini My system can be seen here: https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/4100 |
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@blumartini Can't hep you with the above question, but an A’phile friend of mine brought over some of the inexpensive Ching Cheng pc’s last night. We listened to them against a number of other pc’s --from Zen Wave, Black Cat, Synergistic, Cardas, Nordost and Audience. Interestingly...the Ching Chengs were basically junk in my system. Resolution dropped like a stone, frequency extension was non-existent, imaging diffuse, plus it was quite obvious that these inexpensive cables were no different than the stock ones supplied by all manufacturers’ to at least give you the ability to hook up power! My friend left the Ching Chengs with me...to throw into the bin. Even the entry level Cardas cables had it all over them..Moral of the story, at least in this case, is you get what you pay for. |
Anybody out there able to give me some feed back on the below listed cables price to performance? Odin 2 Power Cords 1.25 Meters 16,999.99 Shunyata Research Sigma NR 1.75 Meter $3000.00 WireWorld Platinum Electra 7 1.5 Meter $2,350.00 Snake River Audio Signature Cottonmouth 1.0 Meter $1,875.00 NRG Custom Cables The 5 Power Cord 1.5 Meter $300.00 |
Ok so let me kick this off since we are off to a interesting start! This is less than a 2-minute read, and I promise you it's worth it.
A power cord has two jobs – get electrical current from your outlet to your gear (using conductors and plugs), and keep the signal as clean as possible (using shielding). You could distill it further and simply say, despite what some companies may tell you in their marketing, a power cord conducts electricity. And when it comes to conducting electricity, there are two simple and steadfast rules:
1. Larger Gauge = Lower Voltage Drop and Resistance (more/better current flow – the garden hose vs. fire hose analogy) & 2. More Insulation/Shielding = Less Interference (a cleaner signal) I believe that a well designed cable simply maintains more of the original signal, allowing the sound of your gear to come through better. Now the real question is what company do you believe really gives the best value to performance? I believe in Math and Science and what I hear not marketing! |
