It's Done! Power Cord Shoot-Out-- 22 Power Cords Reviewed!

[MilesCirno]

Wait, I'm new to this whole audiophile business.
Can someone explain to me how this all works with the powercords and stuff.
I'm not trying to doubt you guys or anything, I'm just confused.

[gritzcolin]

Originally Posted by MilesCirno

Wait, I'm new to this whole audiophile business.
Can someone explain to me how this all works with the powercords and stuff.
I'm not trying to doubt you guys or anything, I'm just confused.

Well I personally have no experience with power cords other than stock. These supposedly change the coloration of the sound or more accurately get rid of coloration. Again no personal experience but I suppose it could be possible with a thicker better shielded and higher grade wires. It would seem to me that the power signal could be transferred with little or no degradation compared to stock cables.

[IPodPJ]

They do a whole lot more than add or subtract coloration, but yes, they can do that too. They allow your equipment to perform better, lower distortion levels, add depth and increase imaging, blacker backgrounds, overall improvement in dynamics across the entire frequency, etc. As much difference as a good interconnect makes, a good power cord does five fold. Everyone of us is a skeptic until we actually try one, then we regret trying them because we now know why people spend so much money on them.

[dvw]

Originally Posted by IPodPJ

They do a whole lot more than add or subtract coloration, but yes, they can do that too. They allow your equipment to perform better, lower distortion levels, add depth and increase imaging, blacker backgrounds, overall improvement in dynamics across the entire frequency, etc. As much difference as a good interconnect makes, a good power cord does five fold. Everyone of us is a skeptic until we actually try one, then we regret trying them because we now know why people spend so much money on them.

I have no doubt that you believe power cords make a difference and I am not going to debate that. But your claim that it lowers distortion and increased dynamic is misinformation. These are measurable parameter. I have not seen any number or published report on this. If your claim is true, then all medical instruments will be swarming to use these "low distortion" power cord. The impact of this is much greater than an blacker background in audio.

[meat01]

Everyone of us is a skeptic until we actually try one, then we regret trying them because we now know why people spend so much money on them.

I didn't see this to be the case when I tried an aftermarket power cord.

[Acoustic Chef]

Originally Posted by dvw

I have no doubt that you believe power cords make a difference and I am not going to debate that. But your claim that it lowers distortion and increased dynamic is misinformation. These are measurable parameter. I have not seen any number or published report on this. If your claim is true, then all medical instruments will be swarming to use these "low distortion" power cord. The impact of this is much greater than an blacker background in audio.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f97/poor-skeptics-278199/

[dvw]

Originally Posted by Acoustic Chef

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f97/poor-skeptics-278199/

Are you serious? This is not an UofT sanctioned study nor is this guy an EE. The test instrument is a commercial DAC and a PC. The difference measured is 0.5mV that's noise. I can easy show the difference with the same setup with the same cable. The instrument does not have the resolution to measure the difference. No one in the right mind would measure this with a PC as a serious study.

I still don't see where the distortion is reduced. There is no measurement of distortion whatsoever.

Please deal with real fact. I am not trying to judge any belief but I do want to make sure any information cited to be accurate. I am asking for data on distortion and dynamic (in dB please).

[IPodPJ]

Originally Posted by dvw

I have no doubt that you believe power cords make a difference and I am not going to debate that. But your claim that it lowers distortion and increased dynamic is misinformation. These are measurable parameter. I have not seen any number or published report on this. If your claim is true, then all medical instruments will be swarming to use these "low distortion" power cord. The impact of this is much greater than an blacker background in audio.

Let me rephrase. My amp, the Opera, seems to be subject to a high level of distortion. Most all of that distortion is gone when using a good power cord. This does not mean it's the power cord that's lowering the distortion. What it means is that it is providing a cleaner supply of electricity to the amp, and the amp is in turn functioning more efficiently.

No cords or cables will magically alter the sound, unless they are designed that way by using specially manufactured alloys. They just transmit a cleaner signal which allows your equipment to perform at a higher level of efficiency.

[Vul Kuolun]

Originally Posted by Acoustic Chef

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f97/poor-skeptics-278199/

Poor "study"

Long story short:
The "association with the University of Toronto" does in fact mean that the guy VD charged with the "study" had 4 19-yearish Students from the UoT to support him. Probably so they can print "in association with the University of Toronto" on top of it.

[OverlordXenu]

Hey shill, aren't you only allowed to do your shilling in the MoT forum?

Let's see here, a shaky study with results that were edited by a power-cable salesman?

Yep, that sounds reputable to me!

[markl]

This thread is going off-topic. This thread is not about debating the merits of aftermarket power cords, it is a review of many of them.

If you wish to debate, you are invited to do so once Jude opens the new skeptics forum. Thank you.

[pompon]

Could you leave this thread for people who want to discuss and share their experiences with power cables?

Keep this thread positive and clean.

Start another subject if you want do a debate how to do a scientific test ...

[sbulack]

markl,

I was very happy with a Violet Z1 on both my source and amp - by far, yielding the best sound I ever heard through my rig. Finally, a life-sized sound image - neither a miniature version inside my head, nor a larger-than-life overly magnified version. Sounds innocent enough, right?

About a year later, I found a used VD Nite II IC on Audiogon for a price I could afford (to give the VD sound a try) ...... You've really got a great way to describe the sound of gear so that folks who have never heard it can have a good feel for what they'll hear through it. In place of the (vivid and engaging) chalk outline of the sound, the VD filled the sound in with generous dabs of rich and realistic pigment - and filled the sound out into a more convincing spatial arrangement of musical voices than I'd ever heard from a recording.

After hearing the difference that the VD Nite IC made to my rig, I wanted to try a matching PC - so a used VD Nite II from Audiogon later ...... even more of the same, and an added depth to the sound (dynamic and spatial, both stemming from the lowered dynamic floor) that I had imagined recorded sound could contain, but had never experienced through my rig before. Then a used David 1.0 PC through Matt (for my CD player). Finally a pair of VD Nite 3.0 Platinum PC's to bring my main rig to an all-VD-cabled system. The short version is: it's not too much of the same thing. With each VD PC added to a component in the audio path, the SQ improvements I'd heard before kept going in the direction of more lifelike, more realistic, more experientially drenching, putting me increasingly in the presence of all of the human creative energies invested in the music from composition through production.

At this point, VD has shipped a used Master 3.0 1.5m RCA pair of IC's which will replace the Nite II IC in my main rig, freeing the VD Nite II IC for my bedside rig. My bedside rig consists of an imod as source, and a TTVJ Portable Millett Hybrid, so no PC opportunities there. I've already tried the Nite II in the bedside rig, and the sound through that rig supports my music listening with the sonic means to which my main rig has made me accustomed. I'm awaiting the arrival of the Master 3.0 IC's, knowing pretty much what to expect, which only heightens the delicious anticipation of their arrival.

Anyway, this is all to thank you for your writing about your listening experiences with VD cables (IC's and PC's), and with the cables from all of the vendors you've experienced in your rig and described. Your descriptions gave me an excellent sense of what I would hear, but actually hearing my music presented through them in my audio path was (and is, daily) a moving experience - putting me more immersively and intuitively in touch with the perspectives on the many facets of our common Human Condition being expressed in the music.

[markl]

Glad to be of service, sbulack. The VD cables really are something special. I now have Master LEs on my source and coming from the wall to my PS Audio Power Plant Premier. I'm now using the Genesis IC between my source and headphone amp, and it really is the VD sound taken to it's (ridiculous) extreme. Yum! Cheers.

[chesebert]

wrong thread