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power cable upgrade

post #1 of 60
10/4/03 at 8:52pm
Thread Starter 
Is it really worth it? For amps that already have built in psu's like the PREHEAD.. Would a better power cable really make any difference?
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post #2 of 60
10/4/03 at 10:14pm
My personal opinion on this is that expensive power cords are mostly snake oil. If you look at the wiring inside the walls carrying the power to the wall socket, it's all cheap material and construction. It's hard for me to see how a pricey power cord will deliver power to a component better than a well-constructed inexpensive power cord... this is ~115VAC we're talking about, and it's not an audio signal.

That said, some people hear differences between power cords. I'm not here to argue with them, just present my opinion on the matter. To me, it makes no sense either in the "common sense" sort of way or electrically to spend big on a power cord -- a well built and inexpensive cord should do the job just fine of delivering AC voltage to the equipment. Just my 2c worth.
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post #3 of 60
10/4/03 at 10:18pm
I would recommend contacting the manufacturer of your amp. There are amps where the expensive cords actually degrade the performance.
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post #4 of 60
10/4/03 at 11:13pm
I find they do. But you dont have to spend insane amount to get a good cord. Check out www.signalcable.com they make a really nice 10 gauge power cord thats reasonably priced. Also go to www.hcmaudio.com and check out the audioquest power cord closeout deals they have. The ac15 h/w is another nice inexpensive cord. As for what these better cords do, I find the signalcables (as an example) give a more powerful bass, better dynamics and a quieter background. I use a signalcable cord with all my amps. I like the audioquest on my sources. You have an excelent amp and for not that much you can get the most out of it.
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post #5 of 60
10/4/03 at 11:26pm
I have a DIY power cable (some thick belden cable) on my mg head and I notice no glaring differences between it and a stock cord. However I do get to swap the polarity, which removes a nasty hum in the amp.

I doubt it really is worth it...
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post #6 of 60
10/4/03 at 11:46pm
My only recommendation is to try it yourself. If you don't notice anything, your system can't resolve enough resolution or it maybe something in it's design that makes a cord change negligible. A power cord should be amongst the last of cable tweaks.

I decided to make my own powercords because it's really easy. Experimenting with different variables (topology, gauge, material, shielded vs. not ,I found there are some differences.
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post #7 of 60
10/5/03 at 1:47am
I personally do not believe in power cables (audio are different, they are inside the signal path) and unfortunately I have to agree with fewtch on that....LOL...snake oil mainly....
If you believe that the last meter of the power cable will improve the sound on your amp, go ahead and get it, the best you could afford, IMO they will not, and they can't, unless you have a dedicated power line for audio only, and super conditioned for that purpose only, in this case IMO you do not need the cable neither, any thick cable hospital grade or the like will work fine, I have some Quail hospital grade, they sell for about 10.00 or so, very good quality and well done, that BTW Jude forgot to review them, he got some of those also.......but to hook it at the cheap outlet of your home?...gimme a break!!! What about the thousands of Kms, from there to the power plant, mainly cheap bare copper and mostly all rusted, are you going to improve also those?
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post #8 of 60
10/5/03 at 1:49am
BTW Gopher is selling two of them on the for sale forum....
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post #9 of 60
10/5/03 at 2:31am
Quote:
My personal opinion on this is that expensive power cords are mostly snake oil. If you look at the wiring inside the walls carrying the power to the wall socket, it's all cheap material and construction. It's hard for me to see how a pricey power cord will deliver power to a component better than a well-constructed inexpensive power cor
I've heard that the real advantage of these fancy power cords is that they stop noise generated by your equipment from eminating back into the wall and thus into your other equipment. The concept has never made much sense to me. If this were the case, wouldn't you be better off running your fridge and water heater on expensive cord? But I bought some of the xStream Prelude cords from PS Audio for my rig and couldn't be happier with them.
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post #10 of 60
10/5/03 at 9:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by john_jcb
I would recommend contacting the manufacturer of your amp. There are amps where the expensive cords actually degrade the performance.
Really? I contacted Jan of Meier-Audio and he wasn't sure if there would be any difference since he used a cheap-grade power cord himself. But he never mentioned that it actually might degrade any performance.

Ok, so I got a little more expensive cable from a audio store near where I live.. They told me there should be some difference specially in headphone equipment.. since you pay attention to all the small details in such a system. If I don't like it or don't think the "upgrade" is worth it, I can get my money back.

I'm not sure if I hear any difference though.. But Imho, the sound feels a little bit different between the cables. But it's such a small difference so it might just be in my head. I'm not sure which I like the better though . Feels like this upgrade is something you do if you really don't have anything else to spend your money on.

The cable wasn't that expensive anyway.. About $85, I might keep it.. You get this screwdriver that glows with the cable... Your suppose to test if you inserted the cable the right way(in the wall socket), if not it doesn't glow.. Pretty simple, but I don't get why this should make any difference. I used it on my old $5 cable and I noticed that it was inserted the wrong way .. Hehe, some good might have come out of this purchase, even if I return the cable
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post #11 of 60
10/5/03 at 12:45pm
Quote:
Originally posted by zool
I used it on my old $5 cable and I noticed that it was inserted the wrong way .. Hehe, some good might have come out of this purchase, even if I return the cable
What kind of cable was this? You can't plug 3 prong IEC ones wrong.
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post #12 of 60
10/5/03 at 1:06pm
Quote:
My personal opinion on this is that expensive power cords are mostly snake oil.
I suppose this conclusion and advice is based on years of power cord swapping on numerous components to see the effect. Yea right. How many have you tried fewtch? My bet is zero.

I didn't believe it either, til I tried one. Now I know.

Mark
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post #13 of 60
10/5/03 at 1:22pm
Quote:
Originally posted by markl
I suppose this conclusion and advice is based on years of power cord swapping on numerous components to see the effect. Yea right. How many have you tried fewtch? My bet is zero.
I don't know why you chose my statement to pick on here and not Sovkiller's agreement... imo, he states very clearly why expensive power cords are snake oil for the most part.

If you hear differences, more power to you. But there's absolutely no basis in electronics (at least that I'm aware of) for why an expensive power cord would "sound" better than an inexpensive but properly designed one -- that is, designed to deliver the wattage the equipment requires without interfering with anything else. If you have a problem with me basing some of my opinions on science rather than hearing (which seems to be the case), well... then I'll post a response to that.
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post #14 of 60
10/5/03 at 1:32pm
I dont have any experience with powercords, heck I dont even have a decent source!

But I think fewtch has a point when he says that changing the last 2 meters of your power line (the pc) will not make that much difference if it is plugged into those cheap powerwires found inside the walls which run more than 20 meters out...

Im not speaking from experience here (cause I admit I dont have any), but it think its logical.
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post #15 of 60
10/5/03 at 1:58pm
fewtch, what happen is that I think that mostly the people who states that hear the differences, and maybe in fact "hear" the differences, all of them maybe have power conditioners, and a very good and clean power at the outlet, in that case, maybe is possible to hear any difference, between a crappy cable and a very expensive one, (even when IMO, I doubt that) otherwise, there is not logical base neither, on a polluted crappy line, the last meter of cable won't make any difference....

BTW as members of the CD3KLF, we have strict rules regarding the way our members post against each other in public...
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