Do You Find Power Cord Upgrades Make A Difference?

shack

I would be willing to bet the majority that have voted NO have never even used an non-stock power cord. But of course they know it can't possibly make a difference.

BTW...have I ever mentioned that I don't care if anyone else can hear a difference or not?

amulford

I hear you, but there ain't alot of room to mess with in them. I'll have to take a look...

ND13

killerb wrote:

spend your hard earned money on magic beans, at least you can eat them.

That's alright...I don't need a giant beanstalk sticking out my ****.

F1nut

RuSsMaN wrote:

There's a guy here named John K you should talk to.

That's cruel......LOL

RuSsMaN wrote:

Just for the record, what have you tried, in your rig?

The $60,000 question!

MacLeod

I dont accept the idea that if youve never tried a $500 extension cord then you cant comment on whether or not it makes a difference.

I have never seen Ernest Saves Christmas but Im 100% sure it sucked.

Ive never jumped off a building using a garbage bag as a parachute but Im 100% sure Id splatter all over the sidewalk.

There are some things that good old fashioned common sense will tell you are worthless without having to try them and an expensive 3' power cord coming after 50 miles of plane old wires aint gonna matter.

Its like a water hose. Will using an Ace Hardware water hose to wash your car get it cleaner than using a Home Depot hose?

RuSsMaN

So I take you use generic, 14 guage power cord on your amps in your car install, right? Everything in your install is generic, short of the speakers, amps and headunit?

Right?

RuSsMaN

By the way, the earth was once thought to be flat.

Man, fly? Yeah, like that will ever happen.

Meat in a can? Are you kidding me?

Music on a thin disc, read by a laser? Get outta here.

disneyjoe7

I tell you there is a difference something to the positive, something I can hear. Being an Electronic Technician, of various devices (Mr. Fix it some call me) I can't explain the noise reduction myself when you consider the 50 miles of plain old electric wires feeding it. I can see myself buying a Magic Power Cord just to break / take about to find the mystery first hand.

wallstreet

shack wrote:

I would be willing to bet the majority that have voted NO have never even used an non-stock power cord. But of course they know it can't possibly make a difference.

BTW...have I ever mentioned that I don't care if anyone else can hear a difference or not?

Bingo! But they didn't give me that option. And just how the hell do you A/B power cords?

TheReaper

shack wrote:

I would be willing to bet the majority that have voted NO have never even used an non-stock power cord. But of course they know it can't possibly make a difference.

Hehe, I only have a $500 receiver, so I am not about to spend $500 on a power cord. I have tried different power strips, and have not noticed a difference.

VR3

You know...

I think cables matter so much - I am going to invest 5 grand in them and 1,000 on all the components...

Then I am going to wrap my gear is special paper

univera

shack wrote:

I would be willing to bet the majority that have voted NO have never even used an non-stock power cord. But of course they know it can't possibly make a difference.

BTW...have I ever mentioned that I don't care if anyone else can hear a difference or not?

Shack, I agree with you on this. I meant to make this public knowledge of how everyone voted. That's the only way to go, IMO. The no votes came in fast and furious. I didnt want John K to be anonymous...

MacLeod

RuSsMaN wrote:

So I take you use generic, 14 guage power cord on your amps in your car install, right? Everything in your install is generic, short of the speakers, amps and headunit?

Right?

I dont use 14 guage power wire because Im drawing 80 amps and that would melt a 14 guage wire pretty quick. I use 4 guage.

As for generic? No, I use name brands. I buy quality wire so it doesnt deteriorate in the weather. Ive used several different brands of power wire and they all sound the same.

So let me ask you this. If that super fancy 3' extension cord makes such a difference, then why dont you re-wire your entire house with fancy wire? Wouldnt it sound so much better instead of that cheap, generic copper wire you have running thru your walls now?

MacLeod

RuSsMaN wrote:

By the way, the earth was once thought to be flat.

Man, fly? Yeah, like that will ever happen.

Meat in a can? Are you kidding me?

Music on a thin disc, read by a laser? Get outta here.

And the moon was once thought to be made out of cheese.

And all the gods lived on Mount Olympus and threw down thunderbolts.

And vampires and werewolves exist.

And bigfoot roams the forests.

And the a magic fairy would fly into your room and give you money for the tooth under your pillow.

univera

MacLeod wrote:

I dont accept the idea that if youve never tried a $500 extension cord then you cant comment on whether or not it makes a difference.

I have never seen Ernest Saves Christmas but Im 100% sure it sucked.

Ive never jumped off a building using a garbage bag as a parachute but Im 100% sure Id splatter all over the sidewalk.

There are some things that good old fashioned common sense will tell you are worthless without having to try them and an expensive 3' power cord coming after 50 miles of plane old wires aint gonna matter.

Its like a water hose. Will using an Ace Hardware water hose to wash your car get it cleaner than using a Home Depot hose?

MC, I know we've had our difference of late, but I must point out that IMO, your comment about water hoses holds no water....That isn't an equal analogy. Nor are the movie analogies....I can't figure out why so many people are so adament about cables/cords not making a difference. Wouldn't common sense tell you that if you at least use a heavy duty cord, with really good sheilding, that in theory, it should keep interference from other cables, etc? That alone would seem to give you a shot at a quieter signal. Or do I know not what I am talking about?

VR3

*Straps on the flame suit*

If you *honestly* cant hear a difference in cables... I would start pointing fingers at your gear. Something somewhere is hiding something...

I would say thats 90% the case and 10% cant actually hear it...

Cable Swap Program proved this, over and over and over...

Infact, I had several friends who are inept to audio in the worst of ways and swapped out my plain janes for the Nordost for the program and they noted differences in the high frequencies and clarity...

MacLeod

univera wrote:

MC, I know we've had our difference of late, but I must point out that IMO, your comment about water hoses holds no water....That isn't an equal analogy. Nor are the movie analogies....I can't figure out why so many people are so adament about cables/cords not making a difference. Wouldn't common sense tell you that if you at least use a heavy duty cord, with really good sheilding, that in theory, it should keep interference from other cables, etc? That alone would seem to give you a shot at a quieter signal. Or do I know not what I am talking about?

It depends. For RCA's, youre absoultely right that noise can be induced into the cables and into your system. However, shielding usually acts like an antena and will pick up noise that normally wouldnt be induced into the system.

Power cords tho, are different. Your amp isnt using the power coming in thru the wall and turning it into sound. Its simply using SOME of the power and using it to operate its devices. Now if your amp required 100% of the power from the wall to reproduce the sound then you would notice little voltage drops here and there but since its not using that much, a voltage drop big enough for you to hear aint gonna happen.

If your amps are regulated then power cords REALLY dont make a difference. Regulated amps can take huge voltage swings and still make the same power.

But again, the thing that hangs me up the most is that out of 100% of the wires the power travels over, these fancy cords make up about .001%. How can that possible make a difference?!?!

F1nut

Why bother with different amps, I mean a watt is a watt, right? Of course not and for that very same reason a cable is not a cable.

Bottom line, if you haven't tried an aftermarket cable/power cord you really have no opinion on the matter.

BTW, not all water hoses are the same either. Mine stays flexible in freezing weather, therefore I can wash my car while others can't.

MacLeod

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote:

*Straps on the flame suit*

If you *honestly* cant hear a difference in cables... I would start pointing fingers at your gear. Something somewhere is hiding something...

I would say thats 90% the case and 10% cant actually hear it...

Cable Swap Program proved this, over and over and over...

Infact, I had several friends who are inept to audio in the worst of ways and swapped out my plain janes for the Nordost for the program and they noted differences in the high frequencies and clarity...

But actual, scientific, double BLIND tests have proven there is no audible differnece.


And by the way:

RuSsMaN

DBT's are flawed, and simply don't work. Pepsi Challenge anyone?

The person tested knows they are being tested - there is no 'control' group to form a baseline. The gear is unfamilar, the room is unfamilar, and I'd bet 9 times out of 10 the music selection is unfamilar.

How's I get sucked into another cable hoo-haa? I'm going to get my listen on.

MacLeod

F1nut wrote:

Why bother with different amps, I mean a watt is a watt, right? Of course not and for that very same reason a cable is not a cable.

True, a watt is a watt. However not all amps are made equal. Some amps have intenal noise. Some have turn on or turn off pops. Some have great crossovers. Some have bulletproof buid quality. Some double their rated power.

Bottom line, if you haven't tried an aftermarket cable/power cord you really have no opinion on the matter.

Well Im ok then. Because Ive spent waaaaaay more money than I shouldve on aftermarket cables, wires, cords and anything else you can imagine! Way too much. God I dont want to even start thinking about it!

BTW, not all water hoses are the same either. Mine stays flexible in freezing weather, therefore I can wash my car while others can't.

Touche!

MacLeod

RuSsMaN wrote:

DBT's are flawed, and simply don't work. Pepsi Challenge anyone?

The person test knows they are being tested - there is no 'control' group to form a baseline. The gear is unfamilar, the room is unfamilar, and I'd bet 9 times out of 10 the music selection is unfamilar.

How's I get sucked into another cable hoo-haa? I'm going to get my listen on.

An ABX test is the only scientific way to prove these things. If there is a notiecable difference between Brand X and Brand Y then you should be able to pick it out blindfolded. Yet this is NEVER the case!

RuSsMaN

:rolleyes: You're right, there is a multi-million dollar industry made up of strictly snowed audiophiles, such as myself. Now if they only had a bridge made out of cables to sell me.....

MacLeod

Believe what you want brother. Its your money and your ears. I aint passing judgement. Just giving the facts as I understand em.

TheReaper

RuSsMaN wrote:

:rolleyes: You're right, there is a multi-million dollar industry made up of strictly snowed audiophiles, such as myself. Now if they only had a bridge made out of cables to sell me.....

I just happen to know of a bridge for sale, that was made using cable from the famous "John A. Roebling's Sons Company".

PM me if you are interested

shack

There are those that say we never landed on the moon. They say it can't actually be proved. They say it was a huge hoax perpetuated by NASA and we should not take it as fact. Some of them post on this forum.

ND13

I've also heard that the moon is hollow and when the capsule landed on the moon, it rang like a bell for hours.:rolleyes:

I think I saw that on some sci-fi show....Odyssey 5, maybe.

TroyD

Power cables do, indeed, make a difference.

Case in point was PF '04 when we replaced the stock power cord on the Jolida CD player with a SC power cord. EVERYONE heard the difference and it wasn't terribly subtle.

If you don't want to believe, fine.

BDT

PolkThug

People swear that Bose speakers are the best, I hear it all the time, it must be true.

BobMcG

I'm fine with the cables I made myself out of AudioQuest cable, hospital grade Hubblle connectors and AudioQuest RF stoppers I got from The Parts Connection. However, they're introduction into my main 2ch system was only part of a much bigger project.

At the time they were part of a large scale upgrade or tweak of the system which also involved running a dedicated 20amp line (just for my main 2ch rig) which terminated at a hospital grade Michael Green receptacle. The power cables were made to fit lengths and connected to two API power conditioners (one dedicated just to amps) and in turn the conditioners had their custom power cables connected to the M.G. receptacle. This was at least tens years ago and hasn't changed but my impression at the time remains. The sound became much clearer. How can one describe... the dark passages became darker. When it is supposed to be quiet, it is stone cold quiet, the deepest dark and black quiet, no hint of noise. The bass became deeper, richer, tighter than ever.

I don't do the swapping back and forth with things like I was more inclined to do years ago. When I try something that gives me satisfactory improvements they remain in place and in use until or unless I feel they can be bettered at a justifiable cost.