GR Research B24 AC Cable Review: Does it Make an Audible Difference?

[TrevC]

If anybody working for me had ever designed something mains powered that needed a different mains cable to work properly I would know he/she was an incompetent fool and they would be looking for a new job.

Any mains device which actually needed a different mains lead to work properly is a load of old rubbish and should be recycled.

I had an old Radio that would only work with the correct power lead. Anyone know why?

 

[amirm]

I had an old Radio that would only work with the correct power lead. Anyone know why?

There were radios which used the power cords as antenna.

 

[TrevC]

There were radios which used the power cords as antenna.

Not that. It had a mains dropper resistor for the heater chain in the cable, so it ran hot. I wired in a small lamp with a 60w bulb instead when it went open circuit so the radio could work.

 

[mhardy6647]

Not that. It had a mains dropper resistor for the heater chain in the cable, so it ran hot. I wired in a small lamp with a 60w bulb instead when it went open circuit so the radio could work.

Those were known as "curtain burners" (or something like that). A good thing to mitigate.

Restoring the Curtain Burner Radio of the Early 1930s

Curtain burner resistance line cords create a whole new challenge when it comes to antique radio restoration.

www.nutsvolts.com

 

[DHT 845]

There were radios which used the power cords as antenna.

Amirm, with all due respect, just tell me WHY you did power cord listening comparison on a device with SMPS? I refuse to believe that you did it on purpose.

Could you repeat the comparison with a DAC (like d70s or other with traditional PS) and say honestly that you hear ZERO difference? I know you have traided ear, that you can tell the difference between mp3 and wav. I just do not believe, that you will not notice the difference. And it is not just our "mind focus" that makes it. It is objectively real. I'm sure you could measure it somehow, for ex. 15kHz square wave or some other tests (but not with 1kHz test tone for sure...)

Audiophile power cords stem from the times where switch mode power supplies were VERY rare. Simple, traditional PS were more common. Today expensive power cords become more and more stupid, I agree.

 

[TrevC]

Amirm, with all due respect, just tell me WHY you did power cord listening comparison on a device with SMPS? I refuse to believe that you did it on purpose.

Could you repeat the comparison with a DAC (like d70s or other with traditional PS) and say honestly that you hear ZERO difference? I know you have traided ear, that you can tell the difference between mp3 and wav. I just do not believe, that you will not notice the difference. And it is not just our "mind focus" that makes it. It is objectively real. I'm sure you could measure it somehow, for ex. 15kHz square wave or some other tests (but not with 1kHz test tone for sure...)

Audiophile power cords stem from the times where switch mode power supplies were VERY rare. Simple, traditional PS were more common. Today expensive power cords become more and more stupid, I agree.

Power leads make zero difference on anything. They only have to be adequate for the job.

 

[DHT 845]

Power leads make zero difference on anything. They only have to be adequate for the job.

That is not post for you.

 

[TrevC]

That is not post for you.

 

[Frank Dernie]

for ex. 15kHz square wave

You do realise that the first harmonic of a 15kHz square wave is the third, ie 45kHz?

So there is absolutely zero possibility of a human being able to tell 15kHz square wave from a 15kHz sine wave by ear is there?

 

[BDWoody]

That is not post for you.

This is a public forum actually...

 

[Davide]

I don't want to be offensive, but I think I feel sorry or embarrassed in the belief that a power cord makes audible difference.
Neglecting all the various engineering aspects such as PSRR, etc ... there are kilometers of electrical network before the electrical outlet ... and the last meter of cable should make a difference?
But even the common sense of a person who is completely fasting in physics and engineering suggests that it is absurd.

Strange that no one has yet founded a neighborhood with an audiophile electricity grid, with houses at double the market price ... sure there would be customers.
A suggestion for future pioneers ... there are fewer solar magnetic disturbances on Neptune, and low temperatures favor the flow of current in the cables.

 

[chouca]

I was surprised that no one in this thread made the following observation: sure, even acknowledging that science is incomplete, some engineering methodology must be followed to develop an audio product.

Unless someone is trying to assert that random, uneducated trial and error constitutes a viable product engineering process, then there should be a scientific basis for any product engineering choices that were made. That science should be explicable, as should any questions that acknowledge where scientific understanding ends.

Near as I can tell, people making puffed-up pseudo-intellectual arguments about the limits of scientific understanding seem to mainly want to promote magical thinking in support of irrationally priced audiophile junk.

 

[DonR]

I was surprised that no one in this thread made the following observation: sure, even acknowledging that science is incomplete, some engineering methodology must be followed to develop an audio product.

Unless someone is trying to assert that random, uneducated trial and error constitutes a viable product engineering process, then there should be a scientific basis for any product engineering choices that were made. That science should be explicable, as should any questions that acknowledge where scientific understanding ends.

Near as I can tell, people making puffed-up pseudo-intellectual arguments about the limits of scientific understanding seem to mainly want to promote magical thinking in support of irrationally priced audiophile junk.

This one is always pertinent in such situations:

 

[BDWoody]

Near as I can tell, people making puffed-up pseudo-intellectual arguments about the limits of scientific understanding seem to...

...seem to often be those who gave up on math in middle school.

 

[Great Sun Jester]

...seem to often be those who gave up on math in middle school.

"It's impossible to herd cats"-- GSJ

 

[Palladium]

...seem to often be those who gave up on math in middle school.

what's the color of the Russell's Teapot when placed beside the emperor's new clothes?