The Truth About Power Cords and there "Real" Price to Performance

Miller and glennewdick you have me wondering if anyone has ever used a gas generator to power their system.Just curious...

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.

Nelson Pass recommends the stock power cord that ships with his amps. Plain, simple, stock power cord.

I won’t argue with him.

Power cords matter, but they’re no magic potion. Best way to convince yourself of their worth isn’t to try out a superexpensive one, it’s to try out a really cheap and shoddy one. The falloff in SQ between it and the decently good cord you’re used to will show you  they make a difference. 

Everything you try, components, cables, room treatments, is going to be system or room dependent. Money doesn’t buy top performance. Top performance comes mainly from correct speaker placement and competent sound engineering. Cables can advance things a little, the  same way anything else can, but if you don’t have a lot of money to spend, you’re not missing much from pasing on Odins.

I am always wondering what my system’s’ weak link is. How can one know? That question is worth a thread in itself. If the weak link is your power cords, you’ll think that the mid priced cord you just tried, and that helped a lot, is wildly underpriced. If it isn’t your power cords, you’ll tell yourself the Odin you just tried out is wildly overpriced"

I use unshielded cables from a Lithuanian company (my entire loom). Mid priced. I am delighted with them, though they need some nursing along (de-mag them every second day, and never touch them or move them once you installed them). 

Last point — no point chasing high end, high cost power cord or a power conditioner unless you’ve already spent a couple of hundred dollars on a hospital grade receptacle (Wattgate or Furutech). You would be throwing your money away. Quality of the wall outlet matters huge.