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How much does the power cable really do? - Page 5

post #61 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:13pm
Have you shared your results with anyone? What was their impressions?
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post #62 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:15pm
Consider this:there are about 100m "whatever" copper from the AC station to your home.What's the difference if you add 1m silver ?
IMO $ for power cord is no-no
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post #63 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIG POPPA View Post
Have you shared your results with anyone? What was their impressions?
I did a blind test on my uncle. He was so shocked by the difference that he's now legally blind.

Unfortunately, he's also now mute and never learned to type without looking at the keys, so his impressions are lost in the void.
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post #64 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by G.Trenchev View Post
Consider this:there are about 100m "whatever" copper from the AC station to your home.What's the difference if you add 1m silver ?
IMO $ for power cord is no-no
What some audiophiles do is get dedicated thick mains lines for their audio electronics, also power conditioners.
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post #65 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:38pm
+1 to dedicated lines. that way you dont mix your video sources and amps
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post #66 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by G.Trenchev View Post
Consider this:there are about 100m "whatever" copper from the AC station to your home.What's the difference if you add 1m silver ?
IMO $ for power cord is no-no
Not a proponent or silver wire and the like, but the last 1m that does go into your system
does matter. Doesn't need to be fancy shmancy..decent power cords that can be DIYed for
about 20$ can do wonders when you are living in a house/apt that has decade/s old wiring.

Quote:
Originally Posted by haloxt View Post
What some audiophiles do is get dedicated thick mains lines for their audio electronics, also power conditioners.
Dedicated lines are good so long as the earthing is not too close to the earthing for the rest of the house. Power conditioners do their part as well, but then again it might not be all beneficial. Some change to the better some change the sound to be worse depending on your tastes.
View cables as lumped RLC components and being in the immediate signal chain they do impact the sound.
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post #67 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:54pm
Ah yes, here it is.

I love the "why not just stick an inch of wonder-wire at the end of a lamp cord" argument.


OK, in most cases we don't have any control of the power delivery to our components from the wall socket to the power plant. But from the wall socket on, that's where we can begin choosing how exactly our audio components are fed. I'm inclined to think that a heavy-guage length of high-purity copper cable will carry current from the wall to my amp/DAC/source better than a $2 peice of who-knows-what. And I took that inclination and ran with it and found that I was able to detect a difference in my systems sound.

And I guess Markl must be laying the ground work for going into the power cable business, and posting 22 cable reviews so that he'll have credibility with the community enough to rip us all off with his own $3000 lamp cords.
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post #68 of 208
4/11/10 at 7:57pm
I don't think the whole power-cord thing is a mystery. We know that putting capacitors in the signal path can filter out (usually high) frequencies. All cables have a capacitance, so very likely the power cables are simply acting as noise filters of some kind. Indeed you can buy a very expensive power filter which is merely a fancy-looking power board with noise-filtering capacitors across each socket.

The problem with the "it's all in your mind" crowd is, every time, after reading their posts, I think "Maybe I am crazy", switch around some power cords thinking there will be no difference, and there is. So maybe it's not all in my mind, but their belief that it's all nonsense is all in theirs.
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post #69 of 208
4/11/10 at 8:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sachu View Post
Power conditioners do their part as well, but then again it might not be all beneficial. Some change to the better some change the sound to be worse depending on your tastes.
View cables as lumped RLC components and being in the immediate signal chain they do impact the sound.
I noticed my ac-215 gets worse the more power draw it has, like when I decide to put everything including the fluorescent lamp on it. Also it does impart it's own sound signature, or at least changes the sound enough for me to consider it a change in sound signature. I've tried seeing others' opinions on this, and it seems like many who researched this topic also think power conditioners are usually hit and miss.
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post #70 of 208
4/11/10 at 10:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Currawong View Post
The problem with the "it's all in your mind" crowd is, every time, after reading their posts, I think "Maybe I am crazy", switch around some power cords thinking there will be no difference, and there is. So maybe it's not all in my mind, but their belief that it's all nonsense is all in theirs.
Unfortunately for you , that is as fallacious as saying that those who think that the moon illusion is only an illusion also have just a "belief", and that "it's all in their mind." The nonsense always lies in those who believe a rather extraordinary claim without evidence, other than mere anecdotical accounts.

PS. And one other thing worth mentioning: the burden of proof is always on the side of those making the extraordinary claim, not on those disbelieving it.
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post #71 of 208
4/11/10 at 10:33pm
Realistically speaking, it does as much as your ears are capable of perceiving. For some its zero and others its system changing. Just try it out yourself and make your own decision without being tainted by a thread like this with preconceived expectations.
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post #72 of 208
4/11/10 at 10:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by haloxt View Post
What some audiophiles do is get dedicated thick mains lines for their audio electronics, also power conditioners.
Car batteries in my case, I have a combined capacity of 160 ah X 12 v and if I wire up the third battery I have well over 200 ah of capacity. I've also put in a 2 farad capacitor - just in case.

My low ohm Denons seem very tunable to power and I have a myriad of combinations of filters/variacs/batteries that are seem to result in a different sound - I am starting to eradicate the sibilance and reduce bass bloat and impact hence bringing out the midrange. These Denons are coming on nicely.

My best Interconnects remain in place as I tune via different power sources - admittedly I am simply playing a mind game with myself to justify the high purchase price of these imperfect Denons.
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post #73 of 208
4/12/10 at 3:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by theryaner View Post
Thanks for all the responses, guys! I haven't done much research on possible power cords I might buy, because I'm not sure if I'll even buy one.

But I've seen this one:

MagicPower

I'll probably buy an interconnect from these guys or blue jeans... Not sure which is better.

EDIT: off topic but I'll throw it out there anyways.

copper or silver interconnect? matter of preference or is silver simply better?
Try Quail power cords. There hospital grade cords and they will overlook the minimum order. I believe they were about $12 for a 6 ft. cord.
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post #74 of 208
4/12/10 at 3:29pm
What does "hospital-grade" mean?

AFAIK it's a tighter connection with the wall socket, so that the cable doesn't get pulled out by accident.

Does this improve the sound as well?

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post #75 of 208
4/12/10 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by greenhorn View Post
What does "hospital-grade" mean?

AFAIK it's a tighter connection with the wall socket, so that the cable doesn't get pulled out by accident.

Does this improve the sound as well?
To be honest with you I don't know, all I know that's what hospital's use. There made to hospital requirements, whatever that is. All hospital grade cords have a green dot on the end of the cord. You remember the Iron Lung Jellyfish power cord craze a while back? I understand that was a Quail power cord only $15 to $20 more expensive. For what its worth?
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