2. cables
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What are 6 feet going to do for me?

After doing my homework, and listening to many line, power, and regenerator conditioners I went with the Audio Magic Stealth. I love it. Now here's the deal. The person I bought it from said that I may want to, one day, consider an Elrod ac. He said the difference is amazing. PS Audio suggests their expensive ac for added greatness to their stuff, What is going to happen in 6 feet, (from hospital grade outlet to Stealth), that my Stealth, or any of these conditioners, can't do? All my electronics are fed into the Stealth using Lat International cords. Should I get all Elrods for $6000? Where do I stop? I would think that the electric that comes out of my Stealth is ready for my components. What else needs to be done? Are the power cords overkill at this point? If I didn't have my Stealth, would hooking up all my components with Elrods be the thing to do? Would I still need my Steath or any of the other possibilites?
warrenh

Showing 2 responses by drubin

drubin
3,281 posts
 
It's maddening, really. If the power conditioners clean things up (or, in the case of the PS Audio, regenerate the power altogether), how can that six feet make any meaningful difference? In my experience, it does make a difference, but it beats the Hell out of me why.
drubin
3,281 posts
 
Audioengr, you say that "like all cables in audio, shorter is always better." I speak with no engineering authority, but I want to suggest that this may not be true with power cords.

If shorter were better, than no cord at all would be best. Why not just continue the Romex out from the wall and hardwire it into the component? (Has anyone tried this?) This would be the equivalent of no power cord since the PC's function is simply to handle that last six feet anyway.

I think our collective experience would predict that hardwiring in this way would not be better, at least not better that what some of the great PCs do for our systems. This is because these cords are not merely supplying the last six feet but are also doing *something* to the power--filtering or whatever--to improve what gets to our components. If this is the case, it could be reasonable to conclude that longer might in fact be better because it will provide more of that whatever-it-is it's doing.

As someone once put it to me: If you like what your power cord does to the sound of your system, why wouldn't you want more of that?
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