New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Will I benefit from a power cord?

post #1 of 17
8/27/02 at 10:59pm
Thread Starter 
I'm reading about all of these fantastic power cords, and how they changed your life, did your shopping, and made your children straight A students. Now, I have a questino about them, specifically, the $50 VD Power 3s. I'm currently using a denon 370. It doesn't have a detachable power cord. Would I benefit from the cord at all? Could I plug my denon into the VD cord? I'd probably use it on a future source as well. So, will they make a difference?
Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #2 of 17
8/28/02 at 12:25am
While I have not experimented w/different power cords, I really don't think plugging in your existing power cord into the VD power cord is going to make any difference at all. The signal is still going to be running through your existing power cord, and that's the link that you are trying to get rid of.
Reply
post #3 of 17
8/28/02 at 12:50am
I think you would get more out of a power conditioner than a power cord.
Reply
post #4 of 17
8/28/02 at 8:35am
The difference a power conditioner makes can be pretty amazing. I can easily hear the difference between my system plugged into dirty apartment building power or my UPS.
Reply
post #5 of 17
8/28/02 at 9:57am
Tweaks are ofter referred to as providing the 'last 5%' of upgrading to your sound. IMO, power cords only provide the last .05%, if that. If you have a very high end, high resolution system, then an improved power cable MIGHT make that last .05% difference. But with a Denon 370, which is at best mid-fi, I don't think the expense would be worth it, since I doubt you could hear a difference.

The comments about power conditioning are right on.
Reply
post #6 of 17
8/28/02 at 10:01am
andrzejpw, you know very well that one could not know beforehand if you will benefit from it or not. Many here think that they have benefited (me included) from power cords and others not, for example Tuberoller but he has a balanced power supply that probably makes more than powercords.
A solution for components with non-detatchable power cords is to cut off the cord except a few inches and then attach a female IEC connector and plug in the powercord. Hardwiring into the component is also possible but may break the guarantee.
Reply
post #7 of 17
8/28/02 at 9:21pm
I think that you should forget about the power cord for now, as there are probably other tweaks you can make. As one person has mentioned, a power conditioner will do more for you.
Check out www.brickwall.com .
Reply
post #8 of 17
8/28/02 at 11:22pm
If I understood andrzejpw's question correctly, he was not asking whether a power cord was theoretically a good upgrade, or whether other power-related tweaks were better. I understood that he was asking whether he could get whatever benefit was attainable by means of a power cord upgrade while keeping his old cord in the loop (because he can't detach it).

Since the old cord has to be the last link in the system, I'd say the answer is probably no.
Reply
post #9 of 17
8/29/02 at 4:17am
Quote:
Originally posted by Calanctus
If I understood andrzejpw's question correctly, he was not asking whether a power cord was theoretically a good upgrade, or whether other power-related tweaks were better. I understood that he was asking whether he could get whatever benefit was attainable by means of a power cord upgrade while keeping his old cord in the loop (because he can't detach it).

Since the old cord has to be the last link in the system, I'd say the answer is probably no.
Yeah, I see that about the daisychaining of cords now.

My answer is stronger now......don't worry about the power cord, it would be a waste of money.

I am open minded about audio. If I could go to a shop and listen to a similar system to mine with and without custom cords I might.
But to me, unless the power cord is defective, it won't make a difference....it has to be the right gage too.

For instance, my Acurus A100 amp says 100 rms watts, but it is conseratively rated. It is more like 150wrms/channel. Current drawn as stated on back panel of it is FIVE amps. That is probably peak current. I am sure a 15a or 20a line can handle it, even through a standard power cord.


Forget about the power cord.
Reply
post #10 of 17
8/29/02 at 4:24pm
Quote:
Originally posted by fredpb

I am open minded about audio. If I could go to a shop and listen to a similar system to mine with and without custom cords I might.
But to me, unless the power cord is defective, it won't make a difference....it has to be the right gage too.
fredpb, have you read THE THREAD ?
Reply
post #11 of 17
8/29/02 at 9:55pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Calanctus


fredpb, have you read THE THREAD ?
THE THREAD? <chuckle>


Sorry, I believe it when I hear it.

What difference will that 3 feet of copper make? Now when I can put that fancy cable in the walls between my ac outlet and circuit breaker box, and from the circuit breaker box to the transformer, and from the transformer to the power substations, and from the power substation to the transmission lines, and from the transmission lines to the generator source, well..........
Reply
post #12 of 17
8/29/02 at 10:10pm
fredpb,
Why not listen to power cables first with reasonably good equipment, and then make statements on them? However, I don't doubt that you feel shure.
Reply
post #13 of 17
9/1/02 at 2:23pm
fredb
I am a skeptic by nature. If I opened my mouth every time I was skeptical about something some "audiophile" said, my post count would be 50000 instead of 2500. Instead, my approach is to debunk them by trying whatever it is they say and then either posting to admit I'm wrong or posting my experience to "show them all" (and take over the world).

I was wrong about the Sennheiser HD600 replacement cable. I was wrong about expensive interconnects. I was wrong about power cables.

A lot of stuff simply falls out of the range of what I'm willing to try or make and effort toward. For that stuff, I just try to commit it to my "no opinion" jar and stay out of it when someone else thinks its a good idea. I think in the end, that's your choice -- to either be willing to try it or to stave off your opinion of it. Otherwise you end up becoming some obsessive freak hermit going from forum to forum and asking people to download your WAV files.
Reply
post #14 of 17
9/1/02 at 8:53pm
Well, I may not have been right to say that andrzejpw cannot benefit from an addon AC cord. Here's a quotation from "THE THREAD" which I'm currently re-reading more carefully, posted by bkelly:

Quote:
I should add some technical info I got from Rick so you can better evaluate my comments. As I explained in an earlier thread I built an adapter to hook my CDP cable to my VD power cables since the CDP's cable is non-removeable. Rick says that because there is still five feet of stock power cable in my system the Reference would still work but would not operate at 100% efficiency. However, Ricks says the Nite Power would be much less affected by this setup and that would also explain why in my system the leap from Reference to Nite seemes almost unbelevable.
Here's the page from the thread where it was posted.

andrzejpw there's hope yet!
Reply
post #15 of 17
9/2/02 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally posted by kelly
fredb
I am a skeptic by nature. If I opened my mouth every time I was skeptical about something some "audiophile" said, my post count would be 50000 instead of 2500. Instead, my approach is to debunk them by trying whatever it is they say and then either posting to admit I'm wrong or posting my experience to "show them all" (and take over the world).

I was wrong about the Sennheiser HD600 replacement cable. I was wrong about expensive interconnects. I was wrong about power cables.

A lot of stuff simply falls out of the range of what I'm willing to try or make and effort toward. For that stuff, I just try to commit it to my "no opinion" jar and stay out of it when someone else thinks its a good idea. I think in the end, that's your choice -- to either be willing to try it or to stave off your opinion of it. Otherwise you end up becoming some obsessive freak hermit going from forum to forum and asking people to download your WAV files.

Since my posts are not rejected by moderators, they are ok.

Except for perhaps this one...

poo poo on you.....

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

Head-Fi's Best Sellers