While I have always used different interconnects to tweak sound a bit, I've always been a skeptic on power cords affecting sound. That said I recently purchased Transparent Hardwired 3 Conductor power cords to replace the stock cords on my system. Honestly, I purchased these entry level cords mostly to have a nicer shorter flexible cord, which they are. I replaced the stock cords on a Sennheiser HDV 820 and an Audiolab 6000 CDT with these. When I played a very familiar CD, I was shocked at the change in sound thru my 800S headphones...the sound was very different and not in a good way. There was less detail and clarity...everything sounded a bit dead and muddy. Clapton's sharp acoustic guitar sounded dulled. I replaced the stock cords, and everything brightened up again. No placebo effect here, so what in the world would change overall sound like this? Appreciate your thoughts as always.
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Power Cords and Sound
- Thread starter Pelikanyo
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Placebo effect.
Scientists have fooled themselves with the placebo effect and should have known better. (look up N-ray fiasco if you doubt)
Blind testing is the preventative and cure.
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Nothing and certainly not a powercord.
Placebo's can be pretty strong
Well... first, you should also be skeptical about interconnects tweaking the sound a bit.
That is not up to you to decide. You can't proclaim yourself there is placebo involved or not.
Your imagination.
Wait... You mean blind AB test? Sounds very hard to believe.
DVDdoug
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I can't imagine any cable defect or cable characteristic that could cause that!!!
But, "audiophile terminology" like "detail" or "clarity" or hundreds of other creative colorful-sounding words are not that helpful. Terminology that has a defined meaning like "frequency response" (lack of highs, or too much bass, etc.), "noise", and "distortion" are more useful. If you hear a crackle when you move the cable (noise) or if one side is cutting-out, that's clearly-understood (and more believable).
A flaky connection or solder joint at the connector could cause the sound to crackle or cut-out when wiggled.
Non-defective audio connections rarely cause any audible issues and headphone connections quite-immune to noise or resistance/capacitance variations, etc.
I come here to learn, be entertained.One thing i learned is that placebo is real and the other thing is that sometimes you can smell the b.s. from the first post.
Have fun with the stock ones, i would say.
Have fun with the stock ones, i would say.
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That's a worthwhile goal. I like neat cabling, but what I do is eyeball the installation, and then cut the stock cords to length, and put on a nice-looking plug, maybe 5 bucks from the hardware store. Job done.
The rest of your impressions are not real. Sorry to be dismissive, but it is what it is.
I was a studio person for a long time, and when I'm asked about cable choice, I say, you want to get the maximum magic and nuance and emotion off your CDs, right? Then why don't you use what we used to put it all on there in the first place? Which is stock cables for mains power, and bog-standard mike cable for everything else. That's logical, right? How would fancy wire transmit sounds that you argue couldn't be there without the fancy wire on the other end of the process?
MakeMineVinyl
Major Contributor
The only rationale to go with higher quality interconnects (I just call them RCA cables.....) or AC power cord is for improved reliability over the long term. This is more important in interconnects (uh, RCA cables.....) where high quality gold plated connectors will not become intermittent like cheap ones. Canare and Neutrik connectors come to mind.
Myself, I use BNC connectors in all gear I design for myself. They are dead reliable, crimpable, captive, cheap and easily obtained. And best of all, they sound good.
Myself, I use BNC connectors in all gear I design for myself. They are dead reliable, crimpable, captive, cheap and easily obtained. And best of all, they sound good.
restorer-john
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The BNC connector is just a beautiful thing.
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If you're really old, like me, they're called patch cords.The only rationale to go with higher quality interconnects (I just call them RCA cables.....) or AC power cord is for improved reliability over the long term. This is more important in interconnects (uh, RCA cables.....) where high quality gold plated connectors will not become intermittent like cheap ones. Canare and Neutrik connectors come to mind.
Myself, I use BNC connectors in all gear I design for myself. They are dead reliable, crimpable, captive, cheap and easily obtained. And best of all, they sound good.
For a real sonic improvement replace the power cord on your turntable.
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/does-that-really-work/
Any chance you could have someone else to do a few swaps on you to see if you can continue to tell the difference? Please have them do this 10 times and report to us the results and then we can figure out what is going on.
Well at least you didn't buy the more expensive Transparent power cords.....which of course would sound sooooo much better
mhardy6647
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