A stupid question(s) about power cords


As the title indicates, I admit that this is probably a stupid question. But since I don’t know (for sure) the answer, I am asking it anyway.

The recent power cord thread got me interested in a power cord upgrade (from the stock cord) on my Maranzt SA10 (SACDP). The power cord receptacle on that particular component does not have a male equipment ground pin--only the neutral and hot pins. Therefore the cord supplied by Maranzt is a two pole (if that is the right terminology) cord. But because I have done it this way before, I do know that it will accept a power cord with an equipment ground as well as a neutral and hot.

Question 1: I went to musicdirect and looked at some power cords and I saw one (an open box Audioquest NRG Z2) that they were calling a two pole cord. The end that plugs in to the component only has a neutral and a hot, but the other end, the end that plugs into the outlet in the wall, does have an equipment ground blade (so that end has three blades). Why would that be?

Question 2: (and this is the stupid one) if a power cord has an equipment ground pin plugged into the wall, even if it is not plugged into an eqipment ground in the component itself, that cord is still connected to the neutral bus bar in the panel, right? So that being the case, since the equipment ground wire in the cord is right next to the hot wire, is there a way unwanted stuff (rf or whatever, my understanding of this is quite limited) can that dirty up the power that is traveling on the hot wire  in the power cord?

I think that the answer to the last question is probably going to be ’no’? And if the answer is ’no’, that means that I really don’t need to shop for only two pole cords, right? And I see this as sort of important because if I buy a two pole cord, the ONLY component I can use it on/try it out on will be my SACDP--there will be no playing around with a two pole cord on my preamp or my amp.

And ALSO, if I don’t feel constrained to shopping ONLY for two pole cords, I would probably have more options to consider.

TIA for legitimate insight to this, and to all others, feel free to ridicule me and my question--I don’t mind.

 

 

 

immatthewj

@immatthewj as far as know, humor is not a widely understood concept here. Ridiculing, belittling are almost inevitable, given the vast differences in knowledge and the anonymous nature of the forum. Unfortunately that leaves me little to make fun of, but I still try :)

Ridiculing, belittling are almost inevitable, given the vast differences in knowledge

Unfortunately that leaves me little to make fun of, but I still try :)

@grislybutter , that should make me fair game for you. But not to worry--I actually do have a sense of humor.

humor is not a widely understood concept here.

 

OP, if you have not purchased a power cable yet....do this. Amazon/Ebay : Preffair Audio : Power Cable :  Amazing for the money < $50. Have questions about these, let me know. I have recommended these to many of my colleagues and all claim they are clearly superior to the stock cables. I concur.

Yes, Preffair, but a 10 gauge cable. Can get it with plastic shells or aluminum shells. Google : Amazon - Preffair Audio. You should be at their main page. Down on the right side, top right power cable. The one I am recommending has aluminum barrels/shells on the plugs, is a 10 gauge cable, and is grey cloth with a spiral line. Sorry, I am a laptop dummy.