Why Power Cables Affect Sound


I just bought a new CD player and was underwhelmed with it compared to my cheaper, lower quality CD player. That’s when it hit me that my cheaper CD player is using an upgraded power cable. When I put an upgraded power cable on my new CD player, the sound was instantly transformed: the treble was tamed, the music was more dynamic and lifelike, and overall more musical. 

This got me thinking as to how in the world a power cable can affect sound. I want to hear all of your ideas. Here’s one of my ideas:

I have heard from many sources that a good power cable is made of multiple gauge conductors from large gauge to small gauge. The electrons in a power cable are like a train with each electron acting as a train car. When a treble note is played, for example, the small gauge wires can react quickly because that “train” has much less mass than a large gauge conductor. If you only had one large gauge conductor, you would need to accelerate a very large train for a small, quick treble note, and this leads to poor dynamics. A similar analogy might be water in a pipe. A small pipe can react much quicker to higher frequencies than a large pipe due to the decreased mass/momentum of the water in the pipe. 

That’s one of my ideas. Now I want to hear your thoughts and have a general discussion of why power cables matter. 

If you don’t think power cables matter at all, please refrain from derailing the conversation with antagonism. There a time and place for that but not in this thread please. 
mkgus

Showing 1 response by kalali

“Now, having no credibility is a problem. But admitting that you have that problem isn't going to help no matter how many steps are in the program.That ship has sailed.”

n80, well said. Its very ignorant to think all high end equipment manufacturers with access to excellent test equipment are stupid and have no clue there’s a huge market for aftermarket power cords. 

rickjamesdj, I see no one responded to your very valid question. As one person mentioned, the contribution to sound quality, if any, is most likely due to lower noise floor by providing better shielding from EMI and RF from companion equipment. In my experience, a dedicate line is a lot more effective than a better power cord. As for using conditioners, many suggest plugging right into the wall especially if a dedicated line is available.