Power cord upgrade

tonyb

[QUOTE=grimmace19;1756804 I just realized they are based out of Boulder which is pretty interesting to me.[/QUOTE]

So was Mork and Mindy, thats not sayin' much. :cheesygrin:

heiney9

Use esnipe next time to bid. That way you don;t have to constantly tend to the auction and set your alarm to get up. It does it for you automatically. Specify your max bid and it will bid up to your maximum should that be necessary.

What, are we in the stone age here?

thsmith

polk500 wrote: »

With embarrassment I have to re-tract this statement. I guess it’s like the old saying don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
So this was my first time bidding on an item of off EBay. With 12 hours left I had bid 2 x the current bid. And figure I had won and was winning up to the time I went to bed. I had set my alarm to wake up five minutes before the ending of the auction looked at my Ipad seen I was outbid kept increasing my bid by $20.00 increments ran out of time and was outbid WOW.
So needless to say I learned a couple of lessons.
So not to dwell on that I found a couple of Cords from PS audio on Canuckaudio Mart made an offer to the seller and waiting for his reply.

Cheers Roger

You might have dodged a bullet buying PS Audio on ebay. If you shop around and of all places Amazon you can find some good deals. To many fakes out their for me to trust ebay on some stuff.

Also check audiogon, I picked up a like new condition PS AUdio AC-5 1.5m for a very good price. Dont be afraid to make an offer.

polk500

Yes you might be right about that. Oh well it was probably a good thing.

Cheers Roger

polk500

heiney9 wrote: »

Use esnipe next time to bid. That way you don;t have to constantly tend to the auction and set your alarm to get up. It does it for you automatically. Specify your max bid and it will bid up to your maximum should that be necessary.

What, are we in the stone age here?

Never knew there was such a thing. Will have to check into it.

Thanks for the tip.

Not the stone age but it feels like the ice age up here.

Cheers Roger

heiney9

^^Lol

here's a direct link. I've been using it with great results for about 3 years now. You have to buy bid points, the charge is a penny per dollar so $5 buys you 500 bid points which in turn is enough to pay for $500 worth of bidding. So they charge you a penny per auction dollar. They do charge more if you have them bid in anything other than USD. So for instance if I am bidding in British Pounds for something in the UK they charge more, but nothing crazy. I believe it's double.

There is no charge if you don't win the auction. If you win the auction for $31, they take .31c for their fee or 31 bid points which you have pre-purchased at the cost of 1 penny per bid point.

http://www.esnipe.com/

It's all legit and you can purchase bid points via Paypal if you choose.

DarkHorror

How is a power cord going to make any difference in sound unless it's too small for the power? If you could have the back of the amp plugged directly into the outlet without a power cord would it be better than having these power cord? What does a simple cable do, if it isn't a filter or power conditioner?

heiney9

DarkHorror wrote: »

How is a power cord going to make any difference in sound unless it's too small for the power? If you could have the back of the amp plugged directly into the outlet without a power cord would it be better than having these power cord? What does a simple cable do, if it isn't a filter or power conditioner?

Here's a link to part 4 of an indpeth analysis.

The links to pts 1-3 are in the first post. This will answer your question if you are willing to take the time to read.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?72539-Studies-On-Residential-Power-Line-Noise-Part-4-PS-Audio-Premier-SC-Power-Cord

polk500

Well I've used esnipe a couple of times already.Real slick.

Thanks Heiney9
Cheers Roger

Systems

heiney9 wrote: »

Here's a link to part 4 of an indpeth analysis.

The links to pts 1-3 are in the first post. This will answer your question if you are willing to take the time to read.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?72539-Studies-On-Residential-Power-Line-Noise-Part-4-PS-Audio-Premier-SC-Power-Cord

That was an excellent response Brock.
I really liked DK's write up on those PSA's.

Alot of people would have opened a can of worms the likes of which would still be going months from now!

transmaster

Take a look at 8 audio. I was turned on to this place over at Audio Karma. They are out of Hong Kong with high end stuff but at not a high end price. I am not into the voodoo electrical vaporizing that goes on in this area what I am looking is a very well made cable that will last. The way their power cord is constructed is something that I would want in my Mancave with has high powered Amateur Radio RF transmitters. It runs from $12.50 per meter to $70 dollars per meter Below is a picture of a power plug for a tube amp. Here is a link to the section of the site that features the power cable.

http://www.8audio-mall.com/servlet/the-319/Hi-dsh-end-Audio-Equipment-Power/Detail

DarkHorror

heiney9 wrote: »

Here's a link to part 4 of an indpeth analysis.

The links to pts 1-3 are in the first post. This will answer your question if you are willing to take the time to read.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?72539-Studies-On-Residential-Power-Line-Noise-Part-4-PS-Audio-Premier-SC-Power-Cord

I find the results consistent with what would be expected graph wise. The analysis and sound write up is laugh able.

heiney9

DarkHorror wrote: »

I find the results consistent with what would be expected graph wise. The analysis and sound write up is laugh able.

Well, hope you had a good laugh..............move along then as there are people here including myself that know cables make a difference. That's perfectly fine if you don't, but there's really nothing more to say. If the links I posted don't atleast make you think it's possible then you are probably a very closed minded person or just came here to stir up things. There are literally hundreds of threads on cables, so get your search on if you are seriously interested in this topic. In the hundreds of threads there are posts the run the entire gammit of opinions.

H9

DarqueKnight

DarkHorror wrote: »

The analysis and sound write up is laugh able.

Why?

DarqueKnight

DarkHorror wrote: »

If you could have the back of the amp plugged directly into the outlet without a power cord would it be better than having these power cord?

Yes, that would be much better than using an ordinary grade, unshielded power cord.

DarkHorror wrote: »

What does a simple cable do, if it isn't a filter or power conditioner?

A simple power cable with ordinary grade copper and no shielding actually adds noise to the power signal.

DarkHorror wrote: »

How is a power cord going to make any difference in sound unless it's too small for the power?

Magnetic ferrite power or ferrite beads in the jacket of a power cord can filter some of the noise in the power signal. Shielding can significantly reduce environmental (EFI, RFI) noise in the power signal. The electric field surrounding the wires can induce noise (cross talk noise) in adjacent cables. Twist geometry and conductor cross-sectional shape can significantly reduce cross talk noise.

BlueFox

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Why?

Probably because the data does not match his fantasy. Therefore, the data is wrong, and once again, the fantasy is correct.

DarqueKnight

Be nice, now.

pietro944

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Yes, that would be much better than using an ordinary grade, unshielded power cord.



A simple power cable with ordinary grade copper and no shielding actually adds noise to the power signal.



Magnetic ferrite power or ferrite beads in the jacket of a power cord can filter some of the noise in the power signal. Shielding can significantly reduce environmental (EFI, RFI) noise in the power signal. The electric field surrounding the wires can induce noise (cross talk noise) in adjacent cables. Twist geometry and conductor cross-sectional shape can significantly reduce cross talk noise.

LOL....unfortunately,my tinfoil hat did not work as well as I expected:eek:

DarqueKnight

KoolestQ wrote: »

Does the power cord make a huge difference in sound quality?

No, not a huge difference and it varied by component.

DarqueKnight

pietro944 wrote: »

LOL....unfortunately,my tinfoil hat did not work as well as I expected:eek:

Try it on the other head.

pietro944

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Try it on the other head.

yea....but....that would make me a D-ckhead,like you

tonyb

pietro944 wrote: »

yea....but....that would make me a D-ckhead,like you

You like Aretha Franklin ? Maybe listen to some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

C'mon man, don't start the name calling junk. Put your adult panties on and be cool.

transmaster

A power cord can do all that is promised but you are plugging it into a home wiring system wired with simple romex wire. I strikes me in order to do things right you need to plug this power cord into a line conditioner. The one I have cleans up line noise, maintains 110VAC and keeps the line frequency at 60Hz, and it has a battery to back thing up.

pietro944

tonyb wrote: »

You like Aretha Franklin ? Maybe listen to some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

C'mon man, don't start the name calling junk. Put your adult panties on and be cool.

Yea,you're right...my apologies......He's an internet bully and THAT always gets my italian blood,up

BlueFox

pietro944 wrote: »

Yea,you're right...my apologies......He's an internet bully and THAT always gets my italian blood,up

Really. I never had that impression. Are you equating bully with somebody who knows what he is talking about? That sounds like a certain ex-presidential candidate saying somebody is a snob because they suggest people go to college.

cstmar01

DK is a bully? Really?

maximillian

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Magnetic ferrite power or ferrite beads in the jacket of a power cord can filter some of the noise in the power signal. Shielding can significantly reduce environmental (EFI, RFI) noise in the power signal. The electric field surrounding the wires can induce noise (cross talk noise) in adjacent cables. Twist geometry and conductor cross-sectional shape can significantly reduce cross talk noise.

This is an important point... not only are you trying to stop noise going in, you also don't want EMI coming out from your equipment and tarnishing the power input of other equipment. Whether or not this makes an audible difference really depends on how good your gear is and how well tuned you are to understanding what good recorded music should sound like. This is where I am currently in my audio journey. It's fun, but costly playing in this area.

For work I have had to deal with EMI (noise) to pass EMC tests for a variety of my company's products. This is only for industrial equipment and not anything audio related, but it holed for anything electronic. Passing EMC tests is a regulatory requirement. In one case we have two similar products (one has slightly more electronics) where one passes EMI but the other one doesn't unless a shielded power cord is used. Redesigning to take care of the problem with the use of a regular cord would have been too costly. So we carry two different power cords for both products. The shielded power cord is $1 more so we don't ship it with the other cheaper product. For other products I have also at times played with ferrites on power cords and interconnects to reduce EMI (both radiated and conducted emissions) to ensure the products pass.

I have equipment at work to do pre-testing before I submit products for official testing. This includes an RF antenna, spectrum analyzer, near-field probes, and an LISN (for measuring conducted noise). At times I waste hours fidgeting around with different cabling, ferrites (board and cable), better filter caps on my PCB's, etc. trying to reduce the noise to a level I think would pass the agency tests.

Again, EMI is real. Any company selling electronic equipment worldwide or consumer equipment in the US is required to ensure their product spews a minimal amount of EMI (note how I didn't say "no" EMI). Most electronics put out some bit of EMI both radiated (in air) and conducted (over power cords). And again, whether or not this noise makes a difference in your system depends on your stuff and on you. So don't criticize people who are able to hear a difference when you can't.

Face

pietro944 wrote: »

Yea,you're right...my apologies......He's an internet bully and THAT always gets my italian blood,up

Hey paisan, DK is the biggest gentleman here. Time to ease up on the espresso.

DarkHorror

The problem is that your brain and ears are very easy to fool. You end up hearing what you want to hear or what you expect to hear. You will hear differences even if they aren't there, you may hear a difference on a track using the exact same setup listening to the same track twice in a row. Sometimes you will hear an obvious difference, but then if you go back to what you had before and listen again that obvious difference will still be there in the old gear thus there was really no difference at all.

The only way you can tell if the difference is real or imagined is if you are able to compare them quickly, over the same part of music, changing them so you don't know which you are listening to, and at the same spl.

The measurements are fine and as expected, it's the difference in sound that unless tested correctly you will be unable to tell if it's real or not. You may say it was obvious, but considering how your brain and ears work you will never know until tested in the right conditions.

heiney9

^^Wrong