An electrical engineer on how power cables can impact sound quality


Sharing an fascinating discussion of how the design of power cables can impact sound quality of an audio system from an electrical engineer that does analog design for audio equipment.

The HiFi Podcast with Darren and Duncan / Radio Frequency: The 800MHz Gorilla

The discussion of how power cables can impact sound quality starts at 80 minutes into the podcast

From the Podcast:

"If you have an engineering degree and you’re hearing this and you’re shaking your head and you’re saying this is nonsense, my response to you is that you’re logical. Based on what you have learned, I completely understand your response, but unfortunately, the way that power cables operate is not the way that we were taught in electrical engineering necessarily."

"Power cables were always thought of as series devices. If we add this 2 meter power cable to 2 miles of powerline, why does this 2 meter power cable make a difference?"

An intro into the theory behind why power cables work from the podcast:

"The power cable is not necessarily a series element of a system. The parallel elements [of a power cable] and way they interact with RF in the room in a common mode sense to ground is incredibly important." [Meaning in parallel to ground]

My paraphrase of the rest of the discussion. They get into far more detail: The configuration and materials used in a power cable matter because they affect a cable’s capacitance which in turn changes the cable’s impedance. Most importantly, the change in impedance impacts electrical signal differently across the frequency spectrum.

Two ways to get more details on this:

  1. Listen to the podcast starting at 80 minutes into the podcast. The discussion of how a cable's design impacts its ability to shunt RF to ground starts right there.
  2. Send a question to the hosts of The Hi Fi Podcast. You can find their email on their website.

Credentials of the creators of The Hi Fi Podcast:

Darren:
Darren is the designer of many products for Boulder’s PS Audio brand, most recently known for Stereophile’s choice as the 2020 “Analog Component of the Year,” the PS Audio Stellar Phono preamplifier, and the incredibly well-reviewed new Stellar M1200 tube hybrid mono amplifiers.


With a career as an analog and digital circuit designer spanning two countries and several of the most well-known brands, Darren brings much experience to the table. He earned his EE and worked for both Bowers & Wilkins and Classe Audio before coming to Colorado, and also, before turning 30.

He is the designer of the PS Audio Stellar Phono phono preamp

Duncan:
Duncan has recorded 150+ bands, has published 450+ articles, columns and blogs and is an experienced DIYer when it comes to audio equipment and speakers. He met Darren when working as the Retail Sales Manager of Boulder’s PS Audio, and the two collaborated on an audiophile recording and concert series called “Invisible Audience,” not to mention the weekly hikes in the mountains. He is a mastering engineer, cable designer and musician, avid fly fisherman, bike polo enthusiast, husband and dad in his “free time.”


But what truly gives him a useful perspective for the podcast is his day job as a testing technician for the world’s largest online re-seller of high end audio, The Music Room. Over years in this role, he has listened to and evaluated thousands of the finest products from all over the industry and throughout high end audio’s extensive history.

calvinandhobbes

Geez! I have about maybe a $50k system, good ears, and have experimented with cable upgrades and other tweaks for years. Here’s my take:

If you have ample, good, clean power feeding your components upgrading the power cables makes essentially no difference. If you have to listen really really hard, until you think you’re hearing a difference-- you are, but it’s in your head, not the cable-- so long as your cables are not damaged or set wrong.

Interconnects will make some small but occasionally important differences-- however, this will not equate to spending more money equals better fidelity. Beyond a certain level of build and materials they don’t improve per se, you cannot rank their sound quality by price, you choose what you think sounds best -- but remember confirmation bias will often induce you to believe that paying more for a thing means it must be better, whether or not the difference is real or in your head.

Contact enhancers -- these can help if your connections are poor, oxidized, dirty, etc. This is what I think some people hear after spending a lot for some contact enhancer tweak-- what they are really hearing is that they have cleaned up and reset all of their connections-- and likely NOT the fluid they have just applied. Same thing with fuses. Beyond that it’s almost certainly placebo.

Designer fuses -- among the biggest scams out there IMO -- but sometimes replacing an old fuse set in a heavily oxidized holder-- with a new (and correct) fuse-- will make a bit of difference-- but more because the contacts have been reset just by changing the fuse, NOT because that fuse you spent $100 or more on has some special audio magic.

Why do I say this? Experience, and, that (for decades now) when A-B testing is done with these sorts of items on a good sounding, well connected system, no one is able to quantify the cost of the tweak with the quality of the audio. No one.

So look, if you have the money and prefer an interconnect cable that costs thousands of dollars per meter, then why not?

But many people have a decent system and not a lot of money. They’re looking for upgrades that they can do to make it sound better, but really don’t have the money to do major equipment upgrades. They might have to put that mega-expensive power cable on a charge card and pay a ton of interest on it before it’s paid off for example.

Some may not have been in the hobby long enough to learn some of these lessons and are attracted by the "amazing claims" that many but not all of these sorts of companies are prone to make. I do feel like this is kind of taking advantage of people.

If you have decent components and cables, and can’t or don’t want to replace some or all of them, but also feel that your system is lacking that certain something, as boring as this sounds, look to the room, not the gear.

Start by getting your speaker placement right, try some minimal room sound treatment to absorb reflections, clean up your wiring behind the system to avoid interconnects and power cables running parallel to each other, and then live with those changes for a while. You will almost certainly hear a profound and obvious improvement in sound quality that goes far far beyond what you will ever get out of a bottle of quantum contact cleaner, stupid expensive power cables, or interconnects that site some completely goof-ball physics theories that have informed their design and construction.

More than anything else-- keep your mind open, live with the changes for a while, and don’t try really hard to hear a difference. If there is any improvement you will come to that conclusion naturally over time as your ears acclimate to the changes that you have made. Good? Worse? Nothing? Only time will tell.

Now go play some music!

 

 

Gene mentioned the Romex behind the wall in the video. I don’t see how that come into play. The Romex and the miles of cables before the wall outlet do not matter. There is no physical flow of matter from one end to the other end of the cable. The electrons vibrates at 60 Hz from the same point. Take care of this vibration and you take care of the problem. After all, our energies are derived from these vibrations.