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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 2 responses by teo_audio

teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
Yeah see, a bit of reason. 

My issue is with those who cry "placebo!" (and let loose the hounds of internet beatings!).... and then most, who have no idea, go along with it.....

And they pick it up and use it too....as it curve fit their desires and expectations so darned well....
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
Not sure that some truly understand the palcebo effect.

The placebo effect can cause real actual measurable change or alterations in the human body. immune response, Herxheimer response, inflammation response, chemical balance response, and more.

So it is impossible to do medical studies and just say ’placebo’. It is far far too complex for that simplicity to exist as most people think it does.

It also means it is not proper or even remotely real to name drop ’palcebo’ into an audio discussion... and consider the case solved in one’s favor...... so that it can be ’justifiably’ used as an axe to attack the understandings and opinions of others. With full clouds of feverish spinning righteousness attached.

To the informed, which sadly, number a frightening few....it shows a notable amount of ignorance of the subject at hand.

Human hearing, for example, is a half in half out consciousness and unconscious affair... that is a variable and hand built..and alterable, shiftable, tunable, in that half-in half-out kind of way.

Which the complexities of placebo, which is directly indicated but misapplied... play in that field and area.

And that's just a minimal (very incomplete) descriptor of the one component of a very complex scenario.
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