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. 
128x128mkgus
@sfischer1  I'm not EE but you said kind of make sense to me.

Given the differences are claimed to *audible*, I guess it's reasonable to assume that sth like noise levels, sound distortions etc must show measurable differences after changing power cord. Curious whether anyone has done that. 


Fine, Liz, but don’t make it temporary. Make it permanent, and please remove all my posts.

The complete lack of tolerance for a fair debate would mean this is not a true forum. If that’s the case, fine, make it permanent.
I suspect that I am one of the few if not the only person in this discussion that has actually designed and manufactured electrical power generators used with sophisticated electronics. I have been asked by several people to write a white paper on the subject of power transmission as related to HIFI,  because the misinformation and counterfeit issues in regard to power cords is enormous. If you polled the engineers here, I suspect you would get a different opinion from each one.

Good power cords can make a difference. However, there is another question that needs to be considered. Are you capable of hearing the difference? The only way you can answer this question is with a hearing test and most people will not bother with finding out the truth about there hearing.

The next question is will a better power cord make a difference with your equipment? Not every piece of equipment will benefit from a power cord upgrade.

Many people ask me questions regarding the design of power cords and then I ask if they are engineers or have a really strong electronics background. Usually the answer they don't have the background to understand. So if you don't know what power is, how do I explain power cord and connector design? I usually just tell people I have a can of "pink fairy dust".

Here are some tips:
If you buy used pcs, they may be counterfeit.

Use products from a reputable manufacturer; materials, high purity copper is a start with quality connectors.

Limited bandwidth power cords will help keep the total system noise level down.

Pcs with high surge current capability will improve the power supply surge capability resulting in better system performance.

If you are on the US North East power grid consider a power conditioner.

If you are on the US North East power grid change your receptacles regularly. Consult an electrician, have one changed, then take a hammer to it and check the condition of the contact surfaces on the receptacle. You may find a surprise.
Thank goodness I live in the South West. That tidbit of info on the effects due to location and/or geography goes a long way to explain why some benefit from power conditioning and some don't, and why some don't hear the benefits after hearing of those who do.

Another onion layer removed, only to reveal yet another. 🤔

All the best,
Nonoise
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