@ossicle2brain : I am sorry I hurt your feelings. How old are you?
Some observations from a former skeptic - and a question
I had been firmly in the camp that power cables made little difference. A few years ago, I purchased an AQ Niagara 5000 (very nice improvement by itself BTW) and had auditioned various power cables with it. Nothing too fancy but I found differences difficult to perceive so I just used AQ Monsoon cables. However, I continued to read how others felt power cables had the most impact which I found curious.
I recently decided to move the Niagara to a system in another home and was planning on getting another Niagara 5000. My local dealer (who carries both AQ and Nordost) suggested I try the Nordost QB 8 MK III which he claimed to be a notable improvement over the MK II variant.
I compared the Nordost and Niagara in home and found them different but not dramatically so. The Nordost I thought a bit more dynamic, the Niagara a bit “blacker” in background.
The same dealer was surprised and suggested we do an In-store demo of power cables going into the QB 8 (great move by the local dealer!).
And there it was. The benefit was clearly there in improved spatial cues - the better cables were more “open”. I tried the same thing in my system - and same result. Unfortunately, power cables do matter. I will note that the AQ Niagara - as much as I liked it (and it was the first conditioner that I heard that made a big difference) - was somewhat negating the impact of the higher end power cables (a nice benefit in hindsight).
Power cables don’t make as much a difference as interconnects or high quality digital cables (to my ears, in my system) but the benefits are there depending on your budget and appetite for going down the proverbial rabbit hole.
As an aside, despite Nordost’s claim otherwise, the dealer and I both found the cable from the wall to the QB8 the least impactful and the cable(s) from the QB8 to the amp and source most impactful.
My system now is mostly Valhalla 2s (interconnects and A/C from QB 8 to components. I never expected to get here given my previous experiences.
I need one more A/C cable to complete my loom - for my processor (part of my digital stack). I auditioned a Tyr 2 and it made a notable difference. Unfortunately.
My total expenditure in cables is now equal to the cost of the rest of my system which seems crazy on the surface, but the results have been really rewarding - and more audible than most component upgrades.
Which leads me to a question:
How does this group think an Odin 1 (several available on this website) would match with my Valhalla 2 loom? I’m gathering many users feel that Valhalla 2s are > Odin 1s.
I could just stick w/ Tyr 2 on that unit though the cost differentials are not that great between new Tyr 2 and used Odin 1, but Valhalla 2s are up there.
Thoughts?
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What on earth are you researching that led you to this absolute belief that is so rigid you italicized it and put it in bold face? Remember the "Pepsi Challenge" and "New Coke"? That was the product of blind testing. |
@mgrif104 I have the Nordost QB8 v2 and Nordost power cables and had the exact same experience as you. Dont be put off that your cables now cost x multiples more than the rest of the system. Cable ancillaries have the highest markup so they tend to cost so much, but it’s needed to get the performance. If you did not discover this you could be on the usual speaker/amp merry go round, where an audiophile keeps chasing an elusive sound not realising the veil and lack of clarity/realism is caused by lack of power filtering and poor signal transfer. No new speaker or amp is going to give you what you want in this situation. But once done, even a modest priced system can go to the moon on performance when it’s fed a clear signal. Also dismiss the expectation bias nonsense. I cannot tell you how many time I have purchased a new more expensive audio item and WANTED it to be better and had to finally admit it was not. Shouldn’t the brain bias fool me into liking the new toy better? Similarly I have purchased what I hoped were GIANT KILLER items, hoping at 1/5th the cost they would be better or at least compete with the higher priced item so I could sell it off. But no, again had to admit sometimes the higher priced was better. Trust your ears, do the a/b swaps in quick time, like a few minutes, so your audio memory is fresh. And last advice, get a Nordost QKore 1 to connect to the ground post of the QB8. It’s such an important upgrade, huge, more so than any particular power cable upgrade I did. |
@thyname - if you really wanted to have an adult conversation, you might want to avoid quoting out of context when what I said was:
Misquoting just to make me look unreasonable doesn't shine a very good light on you. My request is for respect and an open minded discussion. That's apparently not what you want. I guess I'd rather run into you in a forum than on a highway...
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Just as a side comment, I am not as much of a proponent of blind testing as many of the science-side guys. I believe that one might be able to detect and prove a difference with blind testing, but I don't believe it always or even usually works to determine which is "better." The sample size is necessarily small for blind testing so that A-B works. But that small sample size thus doesn't take into account the fatigue that over-bright sound, for example, can create, or many other audio gremlins that only become apparent with longer term listening. Long-term listening is a better gauge of what sounds good. But of course that let's out A-B or any blind testing. Thus, the slippery nature of this debate. I don't mind the ardent opinions, but the lack of respect and civility is just depressing. I guess we need to be invaded by audio aliens before we come together.
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