Power Cords and Sound

[Spkrdctr]

Markets work without distortion only when the market can make educated and informed choices among competitors. If a charlatan succeeds in hoodwinking a customer into being happy with a snake-oil product, we can hardly say the market spoke with a clear voice.

Of course, some customers seek to hide themselves from education and information so completely that one could argue they are complicit in the deception. But that's like blaming a rape victim on the basis of having been dressed provocatively.

Rick "'thou shalt not bear false witness'" Denney

Sometimes the customer gets what they deserve in their intense ignorance and unwillingness to learn anything. I am amazed almost daily how I guess at 70% of our population does not learn anything new past age 22. They get married, have kids and work all the time. Learning is dead last in their priorities. I was not that way but I see it all the time. They are not bad people, they just stopped learning very early in life. Very sad in a way.

 

[audio2design]

Sometimes the customer gets what they deserve in their intense ignorance and unwillingness to learn anything. I am amazed almost daily how I guess at 70% of our population does not learn anything new past age 22. They get married, have kids and work all the time. Learning is dead last in their priorities. I was not that way but I see it all the time. They are not bad people, they just stopped learning very early in life. Very sad in a way.

That's not a nice thing to say about public school teachers

 

[AdamG]

I am here to once and finally declare that I can absolutely 100% of the time hear the difference between a power cord! I have run multiple blind tests where my Lovely Wife would randomly swap between the OEM provided power cord and various other cords. Cords used in testing were (Bungee Coord, Braided Rope Cord, Heavy duty String, and Several variants of Zip Cord).

I was most certainly able to determine immediately if the OEM power cord was used verse’s the Other cords. With the OEM cord the music was dynamic and had incredible stage depth and presentation. I could hear every instrument clearly and the Voices. Why they sounded like they were singing right in the room with me.

When my very Lovely Wife switched to any other Cord I could not make out any of the above details and it was like the band was on break and no music was audible? I know this was as surprising to me as it probably is to you! But there you have it. A properly designed electrical cord is a absolute must for any person whom thinks oneself an “Audiophile”. (Audio=Music, Phile=Lover).

 

[mhardy6647]

View attachment 179011


JSmith

Is that the Dizzy Gillespie signature version?
so... this is meant to be humourous. Some famous bandleader once quipped, of his own band: "Dis band should disband!" -- but I don't remember who it was, and (gasp!) google's speechless (clueless) on the subject too.
It wasn't Dizzy, I guess... so... who was it? Sir Duke? Count Basie, Xavier Cugat? I dunno!

 

[tomtoo]

I am here to once and finally declare that I can absolutely 100% of the time hear the difference between a power cord! I have run multiple blind tests where my Lovely Wife would randomly swap between the OEM provided power cord and various other cords. Cords used in testing were (Bungee Coord, Braided Rope Cord, Heavy duty String, and Several variants of Zip Cord).

I was most certainly able to determine immediately if the OEM power cord was used verse’s the Other cords. With the OEM cord the music was dynamic and had incredible stage depth and presentation. I could hear every instrument clearly and the Voices. Why they sounded like they were singing right in the room with me.

When my very Lovely Wife switched to any other Cord I could not make out any of the above details and it was like the band was on break and no music was audible? I know this was as surprising to me as it probably is to you! But there you have it. A properly designed electrical cord is a absolute must for any person whom thinks oneself an “Audiophile”. (Audio=Music, Phile=Lover).

That was the great engineering of your equipment manufacturer. They took the time for every detail! Change the cord and it sounds worse! They did understand the synergie between the amp and the powercord!

 

[egellings]

Again, the whole power cord (and every other kind of wire used in audio) sound quality thing is entirely belief based once a cord has the minimum necessary ampacity to handle what it powers. If you think a garden hose-sized cord makes your 7-watt SET amp sound better, then for all intents and purposes, for you, it does. Enjoy your cord!

 

[mhardy6647]

... ampacity...

 

[Puddingbuks]

I just love it when a manufacturer uses names like this one, grand illusion.

 

[More Dynamics Please]

Pattern detected:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/different-transports-with-same-dac.20081/

 

[Spkrdctr]

That's not a nice thing to say about public school teachers

OMG! That was a belly laugh. You got me!

 

[Spkrdctr]

... ampacity...

I have read that term in teaching material for I think it was electricians, but I'm not sure. It gets used quite a bit. I cringe, but then I'm not up on the latest newfangled language terms.

 

[AdamG]

I just love it when a manufacturer uses names like this one, grand illusion.

It even comes with a Matching White Straight Jacket for the Purchaser’s institutional wardrobe. Sweet!

 

[audio2design]

- Want to reduce power supply ripple on a linear supply and injected noise into a piece of equipment -- add series resistance to the AC cord
- Want to reduce power supply ripple and injected noise into a piece of equipment -- add series inductance to the AC cord
- Want to reduce power supply ripple and injected noise into a piece of equipment -- add parallel capacitance to the AC cord

What does every audiophile power cord vendor claim? Lower resistance, lower inductance, lower capacitance.

The only power connection that benefits from the lowest impedance path is the ground connection between two pieces of equipment.

In some equipment, voltage pumping between neutral and ground could induce noise. I would rather it did not, but I know it happens.


Take any linear supply and add some resistance to the line. Will the power supply ripple go up or down? It will go down, even when heavily loaded. What will change when heavily loaded is the average voltage at the output will reduce.

 

[rdenney]

I have read that term in teaching material for I think it was electricians, but I'm not sure. It gets used quite a bit. I cringe, but then I'm not up on the latest newfangled language terms.

Ampacity is simply the rated current-carrying capacity of a given wire gauge. Just a bit of jargon to say in one word what would normally take several.

Rick "Code requires that current be less than ampacity" Denney

 

[egellings]

O-o-oh-h. Maybe I shoulda just said "current carrying ability" and gotten it over with.

 

[mhardy6647]

Naah, I don't abhor abstruse jargon at all.
My disclipline's full of it, too, e.g., metabolome.

Do they say voltacity too, or would that represent too much audacity?

 

[Ken1951]

That's not a nice thing to say about public school teachers

And what are you saying here? The people who stop learning at 22 are the result of public school teachers, or that public school teachers stop learning at 22????

 

[egellings]

Ability to hold off voltage does not seem to have a funny sounding term like that. Voltacity? Never heard of it.

 

[AdamG]

That's not a nice thing to say about public school teachers

We all, every single one of us, at some point in our young lives were influenced in a good way by a Single or possibly multiple Teachers. So let’s not toss them all in the same grouping or stereotype. I am perpetually grateful that a few teachers took note of me and helped guide and shape my future. I did an exercise to identify the 10 most influential people in my life when I was preparing my retirement Speech. I still have the list to this day. 5 of the Top ten were former Teachers. They have a tough job that just keeps getting harder and harder as parents distance themselves from their Childrens development. Our society owes them our respect and gratitude.

 

[mhardy6647]

I am pretty sure that I wouldn't have become a scientist were it not for my high school chemistry & physics teacher, Mr. Ted Henn.
Perhaps paradoxically, I am a biochemist, rather than a chemist or a physicist, but his influence on me was profound.