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audiphile power cords

Do upgraded power cords really make a significant difference in sound quality? I have a Jolida 502p that I think sounds pretty good. What do you recommend for a power cord that would make a significant improvement?
al2214
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,621 posts
 
Ralph's explanation makes sense in teh case of power cords for amplifiers in general where efficient current delivery and bandwidth are very important.

Some vendors focus more on noise reduction and positive effect of that on distortion for power cords designed for line level gear, especially those that are digital.

I tend to agree that the problem to address is different for noise sensitive line level gear versus current hungry power amps, so best to tackle each problem uniquely when designing a suitable power cord.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hello Abrew19,
You are spot on regarding Climate change and science. It has become corrupted by political agendas unfortunately.Listen to NPR for a while and you can't help but notice the bias.Opposing viewpoints aren't tolerated. Sad, as science should be open to all perspectives not just the politically chosen ones.
Charles,
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
It always amazed me when I hear a pseudo-engineer say "cords can't make a difference if they are adequately sized". No engineer would argue that the following things can indeed make a difference, and are measurable:

- different gauges
- different dielectric materials
- different configuration (twisted, braided, side-by-side, etc.)
- different metals
- stranded vs solid
- shielded vs unshielded

So of course cords make a difference. But the art is in figuring out how a particular type of cord will interact with any given component, let alone why, and what effect is to be expected in the resulting sound. That is not so straightforward.
rockadanny
1,226 posts
 
So Ralph, it sounds to me (and please correct me if I am wrong) that you are saying the connections are by far the most important factor at play. Wire, insulation, etc., is not as important. Correct?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,074 posts
 
^^ They are all important. I have to say I have not studied the matter enough to know how they all weigh out. I do know though that its harder to build the cable to have good HF response and also keep it flexible, which is required by law (you can't use ROMEX in a power cord for example).

I have seen the conductors heat up too. So its pretty obvious that every part of the cable has to work correctly!
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