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

@atdavid,

My point is simple:

You have "mains feed" into your breaker or fuse box at your listening location.

From there, you have a breaker or fuse that protects the circuit.  That breaker or circuit is sized according to the amperage of the circuit you will run off that breaker.

The AWG wire sizes I listed are the minimum electrical code standards for circuits of the listed amperage.  There is potentially a very LONG run of Romex that goes from that breaker / fuse box to your AC outlet.  Then you have the outlet itself. (I recommend a hospital grade outlet simply because they are robust and grip your cord tightly.)

Thinking that the last six feet of wiring after the outlet makes a difference after all of that...and thinking you can hear a difference...is crazy - unless the cable is doing something other than just transmitting the power (such as a choke / filter or power conditioning system).

Things like a Furman, PanaMax or Monster cable power conditioner DO make a difference...because they have filters and chokes that CLEAN the power.  An Emotiva CMX-2 DOES make a difference because it filters and eliminates DC offset.

Silver cords, braided cords, excessively oversized cords, etc. don't do a darn thing that is audible unless they have a choke or filter in the cable. 

A cord that is too small for the current draw will actually get hot and be a safety hazard.  

Imagine if I made two cords to prove my point that have the following construction:

• 3 feet of 12AWG Romex that plugs into your wall outlet with a Marinco or Wattgate  plug...or even wired directly to your mains box.

• The other end of that Romex would go into a junction box.  Inside that junction box will be a Marinco or Wattgate 3 prong plug that plugs into a hospital grade outlet (which is wired to the Romex) and coming out of that box would be 3 feet of a fancy twisted pair, cryo treated silver conductor, blah blah blah cord that terminates in an IEC plug that goes into your gear.

• The second box would be Romex all-the way.  Same junction box.  Same plugs.  Same outlet.  Just 6 total feet 12AWG Romex all the way to your gear.

Are any of you willing to tell me you could hear a difference?  Because that is how your house is wired.

I am confident nobody could not pass an A:B comparison noticing any difference with any consistency.

JS:  Unearned money can be from a number of sources...inheritance for instance.

MAM says:

I began with the CD (OPPO-105) connected to my power conditioner using the stock cord. The sound was unlistenable.

I have an OPPO-105 and I use the stork cord.  I have never, not even once, thought it put out audio that was unlistenable.  At one time the 105 was the most popular disc player on the market...tested with a stock cord.  My, your ears must be very picky....or a fan of high dollar accessories.  Confirmation bias?

The entire setup with the Pass XS gear feeding the GT Audioworks speakers were all Triode Wire Labs obsession power chords on the amps and TWL speaker cables and interconnects - this resulted in the best sound at show- don’t believe me read Herb Reichert’s review on Stereophile  where he said that this system can go toe to toe with cost no object systems. Thanks Pete great product at an unbeatable value in all of high-end audio.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gt-audioworks-loudspeakers-pass-laboratories-eletronics-basis-au...

Of course, that had nothing to do with the GT audioworks speakers working reasonably well in typically awful trade-show rooms, nor the designer undertstanding how to get the most out of his speakers in that situation .. nor all the other good quality components? 

Best of show is like having a least ugly dog show. You have different grades of awful and best sound is far more indicative of a particular speakers interaction with a room, and/or how much effort the exhibitor is willing to put into ad-hoc room treatments. I have heard $250K+ systems sound awful at shows, and $20K systems sound stunning.