GR Research B24 AC Cord Review

[NiagaraPete]

Amir please tell me you’re returning this waste of money for a refund?

 

[BDWoody]

how does it feel, knowing that despite you putting endless effort into debunking all of this snake oil shit, there is probably zero effect.

Based on the increasing number of defensive, near panicked responses from others in the industry, I'd guess the effect is much larger than zero.

Have you checked our membership growth rate lately?

 

[Lambda]

Of course, when used as a power cord, such induction will be beneficial as you would get tiny amount of extra power for free.

only if it is in phase...
And induction in the cable is reciprocally so if current goes trough it you would "loose more "enrgy"" as it is radiated away as magic field.
So no extra induction in the power cable will not give you extra free power and is not generally beneficial

And the most important point neglected here is not the inductive pickup but the emission of the power cable.
No one cares if a powercabel pics up 20db less noise... but if it emits 20dB less noise ( that could be piced up by a phono cabel for example)...

 

[Koeitje]

The pin assembly used by GR seems to be fairly standard and generic.

The two examples below seem to have quite long ground pins and they are both U-shaped, not solid. Copper seems to be in fashion. The first of these costs about $1,000, the shiny one $40. Amazon.com lists plugs like that used by GR for $20.

Copper being one of the softest metals, I can't imagine it scratching anything. That's the problem with copper. For thousands of years mankind did not have "an axe to grind", as they only had soft copper that had to be hammered and easily blunted, they had to wait till the Iron Age before they could grind anything. I'm more curious about these solid copper connectors and how strong and long-lasting they are.

"Beating about the bush" was the preferred method to beating the bush itself, should something big jump out and bite you. It was more medieval Health & Safety than prevarication.

I bought a Furutech unswitched double wall receptacle about 15 years ago. It cost £80 and now is a staggering £226. I would still buy it. "Built like a brick shithouse", as we like to say. Difficult to get the plug in and you know it's not coming out without a lot of persuasion.

I would rather have robust connections. I don't unplug stuff on a daily basis. Almost never. My hifi is on a rack with wheels, so the spring clean does not require taking stuff apart.

My experience is more poorly made receptacles, not the plugs.

View attachment 218064View attachment 218062

I find this really odd, are outlets in the US that bad? I ha e sockets here that are decades old and work perfectly.

 

[Fidji]

Based on the increasing number of defensive, near panicked responses from others in the industry, I'd guess the effect is much larger than zero.

Have you checked our membership growth rate lately?

You mean increasing numbers of "Amir's cultists", that do not listen to the music but only live off graphs?
And do not have "high resolution gear" to be able to hear "day and night difference between 2 ethernet cables"?

You should go outside of our bubble, some subjectivists forums are really like some dystopic dream.

 

[BDWoody]

You should go outside of our bubble, some subjectivists forums are really like some dystopic dream.

I visit sometimes, but I can't stay long in those places or I start to feel my brain exploding.

 

[deniall83]

I'm not a cable believer but I do enjoy a bit of cable porn now and then.

That cable however, looks like ass.

Thanks for the review Amir. I look forward to another whingy video from GR Research defending this garbage.

 

[CapMan]

The previous 15 A and 5 A round-pin plugs also had a longer earth pin. There was no shutter, but doesn't it make obvious sense to connect the earth pin first anyway?

It does to me - much safer .

 

[Dial]

You can have much better for $15-30. Furutech like connectors are available for 10$ both.

 

[CapMan]

Amir’s comment on safety certification is the most important observation in my mind. When people start doing things with their gear that risk fire or electric shock and invalidate their home insurance in the name of a velvety black background and bass slam, it’s a concern .

There was a chap on the Naim forum who was considered the ‘sage ‘when it came to tweaking mains supplies . When he suggested bypassing fuses in the equipment he was rightly banned.

It’s crazy the lengths people will go to.

 

[Dial]

Naim, oh my God !

 

[deniall83]

@amirm , how does it feel, knowing that despite you putting endless effort into debunking all of this snake oil shit, there is probably zero effect. All of those magic cords and magic boxes sellers will still find enough gullible music loving folks.

I go to some local forums here in EU and this is usual first post of a new member "I have bough Denon xx + Monitor Audio yy, which cables do I need to buy to remove bloated bass". I sometimes think, this hobby is beyond redemption.

It really seems, that there are 2 parallel universes with completely different laws of physics, one normal and another one in audiophile's listening room. This includes IT, where for some reason audio files behave completely differently to the rest.

I think the High-End Hi-Fi industry is in big trouble. The vast majority of these hardcore subjectivists (without intending to offend anyone) are old guys who have clearly never been taught the value of critical thinking or being skeptical. The younger Audiophile values objective measurements A LOT more. Just look at /r/Audiophile and /r/Headphones on Reddit and people like Crinacle who are hugely influential in the headphone hobby. They are mostly objectivists and put a lot of value in measurements. This is trickling into Hi-Fi as well. As the headphone crowd move into larger spaces and get into speakers, they'll be searching for better performing gear. I worked in Hi-Fi for some time and cables were a hard sell to pretty much any young person. Most of them didn't value them at all. The older guys would sometimes come in specifically for a type of cable they read about but most weren't interested. I couldn't even imagine trying to convince them to buy an active isolation platform for their DAC or an Audiophile fuse.

I feel a big shift happening and I think a lot of brands know they're in a lot of trouble once their old, faithful clientele die off. I can't see companies like Synergistic Research, Shunyata or Furutech surviving in the future. And the industry will be a lot better for it.

 

[balletboy]

They need to have it explained that their bloated bass is from room modes, and a Umik ($100 US), REW (free) and software or hardware EQ will go a hell of a lot father than fancypants cables.

Even if it seems like an uphill battle, we have to remember that newbies are more susceptible because they want improvements that take minimal time and effort, and that's what snake oil salesmen prey upon.

I use REW with a UMIK microphone and serves its main purpose for the bass and lower midrange. Those who consider power cables beneficial generally suggest greater clarity over the entire frequency range, moreso the midrange upwards. So I agree on REW, but not that it has any relevance to cables.

If there is a marketing thread to cables, it seems to me to be that the high-end industry have promoted cables as components in their own right. It used to be the case that you used the pair of RCA and power cord that came in the box with your new CD player, or you bought a new pair of speakers and bought 5m or 10m of unterminated cable off a loom on the counter in the store and the salesman might do you a favour and strip off the ends or even attach a $1 banana plug.

So I don't agree either that it is newbies or especially susceptible people. I suspect it is more seasoned audiophiles with greater disposable net income, who can spend $1,000 on a cable without noticing or caring too much about the money side of things. The psychology seems to be, if is makes things better - great - if it doesn't then I don't really care. A lot has to do with your relationship with money, and that's a very personal thing, and it is fruitless lecturing people on that subject.

 

[balletboy]

I think the High-End Hi-Fi industry is in big trouble. The vast majority of these hardcore subjectivists (without intending to offend anyone) are old guys who have clearly never been taught the value of critical thinking or being skeptical. The younger Audiophile values objective measurements A LOT more. Just look at /r/Audiophile and /r/Headphones on Reddit and people like Crinacle who are hugely influential in the headphone hobby. They are mostly objectivists and put a lot of value in measurements. This is trickling into Hi-Fi as well. As the headphone crowd move into larger spaces and get into speakers, they'll be searching for better performing gear. I worked in Hi-Fi for some time and cables were a hard sell to pretty much any young person. Most of them didn't value them at all. The older guys would sometimes come in specifically for a type of cable they read about but most weren't interested. I couldn't even imagine trying to convince them to buy an active isolation platform for their DAC or an Audiophile fuse.

I feel a big shift happening and I think a lot of brands know they're in a lot of trouble once their old, faithful clientele die off. I can't see companies like Synergistic Research, Shunyata or Furutech surviving in the future. And the industry will be a lot better for it.

I'm one of those old guys. I do a lot of critical thinking and am very sceptical - as a professional litigator, it goes with the territory. One of my kids is a younger audiophile, he and his girlfriend are massively into music (they met at Glastonbury), they have 4 audio systems, mostly vintage, hand-me-downs and generally stuff searched on google, Amazon reviews or recommended by friends. The sources are vinyl, a mobile phone and an Auralic Aries Mini. I doubt they've ever been on a forum or ever thought about measurements. My experience is therefore the complete opposite of your generalisations. I suspect the interest in measurements is primarily a focus for engineers and techies.

I buy from two highs-end dealers and both have told me the last 2 years have never been so busy. Covid was a big boost for high-end. Also the strong economy, especially for the top 1%. What I find unusual about the audio industry generally is that there are lot of companies that are relatively small, but keep going successfully for many decades, mores than in many industries. They often end when the owner retires and sells out or closes the business. An example was Jelco, a fine and successful business, when they closed they said: “For the past few years, the business has endured a decline in labour productivity due to health issues arising from our ageing skilled engineers. Furthermore, due to our obsolete mechanical equipment, performing maintenance on them has become difficult. I would like to thank everyone for their warm support that was extended to us throughout the years.”

 

[beagleman]

Amir please tell me you’re returning this waste of money for a refund?

I think after he has 200 hours or more on it, he will see the flaw in this rushed review and most likely thank Danny for yet another fantastic, and valuable product.

 

[theREALdotnet]

"Beating about the bush" was the preferred method to beating the bush itself, should something big jump out and bite you.

If you beat the bush with a cable like that there will be nothing left alive to jump out

 

[theREALdotnet]

I'm not a cable believer but I do enjoy a bit of cable porn now and then.

That cable however, looks like ass.

Let’s not judge others by their choice of porn.

 

[57gold]

Would love to see this $9K power cable tested on a couple of amps, a Purifi based one and a high powered class A/B one.

https://www.thecableco.com/omega-qr-power-cord.html

Manufacturer has a long list of patented technologies and decades of research according to his promotional blurb. "In layman’s terms, it acts like a super-charger for amplifiers, pre-amps, DACs and CD players." This should be a measurable characteristic. Had a supercharger in a car, and it worked; the car went fast.

Of course, it will need proper burn in....

 

[Orion76]

Is that a piece of masking tape with a "U" written in Sharpie? Very high end.

Anyway, very nice review. Interesting to see that while it does have very low resistance compared to the thin cable, in the end that just didn't matter.

 

[morpheusX]

Unfortunately, not matter how many of these reviews are done, "true" audiophiles will always burry their heads in the sand, swear they can hear differences with their golden hears, and continue happily ever after with their never ending new rca/speaker/power cables, and dreading DSP as the touch of the devil