[some young guy]

power cables can make a huge difference in a system. the better the resolution of your system, the more you'll hear. i've spent hours listening to different a/c cables in my set-up, with and without a conditioner and in my personal experience, they defenately make a difference. it's not always a good difference mind you... but after actually hearing a couple dozen cables for myself, that's my opinion.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hembergler Without power conditioning, I don't see how a power cord can make a difference. There are hundreds of miles of plain copper wire in your house and suspended between telephone poles. Changing the last 3' of that wire to something more expensive is not going to do anything. Now, if you do have a power conditioner, I can see a power cord making a very, very, slight difference due to the guage of the wire and the shielding. Whether it is audible is up for debate.

I thought power cords didn't matter without power conditioning until I tried for myself.


xStream Statement has shielding and background was much blacker with it, but music was very slow.

Valhalla had background noise but sounded MUCH faster with almost the same body as Statement.

Vishnu sounded thinner with even more background noise, the fatter Valhalla hides detail and gives colored dynamics, I have modded it and 1 conductor Valhalla sounds more transparent than Vishnu (1 conductor), because of Dual Micro Mono-Filaments instead of Single. But I only compared using a Power Plant.

Stock cable sounded very harsh, edgy and fatiguing. Nordost cables sounded VERY smooth and had the same detail as stock. Statement had worst detail of all, but also the blackest background because of filtering.


Using an Ultimate Outlet makes the background a little blacker. Using a Power Plant gives a MUCH blacker background, and further demagnetizing the system improves it even more. Nordost cables are a match made in heaven with a Power Plant!

 

[Aman]

Notice: Do not take a word that Patrick82 says with more than a grain of salt. He makes ridiculous claims advocating for extremely expensive products, with absolutely no factual claim, stance, or backup. When he "objectively" listens to thousand-dollar cables, he simply MAKES UP sound characteristics. He has no basis to his ideas. He believes prodcts such as the Mighty Pebbles, a $100 "tweak" which you place on top of your audio gear, that supposedly makes the system sound much better, makes a huge difference. I remember a thread where he didn't like the sound of his system, so instead of doing away with the parts which may have made his system sound worse (how could it sound bad? look at his system's specs!), he just got rid of his music and bought new CDs that sounded "better". This guy is the pinnacle of audiophiles who only love the equipment, and not the music. I have never seen a single post by him in the Music section of these forums. I am not saying that cables of any kind don't make a difference, but this guy is not the one to trust if you want a valid reason why they do.

Do not take this the wrong way, man, but I would consider you 'mentally ill' if I didn't know any better. Your opinions are dangerous, as they lead people to spending ridiculous amounts of money on useless crap.

 

[Sleestack]

The mind is capable of just about anything, so if you have the money to burn, by all means go and buy some expensive power cords and let your perceptions direct you to sonic bliss. I bought dozens of $100 power cords from Cobalt, but my reasons were purely aesthetic. On the other hand, if you are on a budget, I highly advise you to spend your money elsewhere first. Furthermore, if you are hearing huge sonic differences between power cords I'd make sure to check the power supplies in your gear or your power source and make sure you don't have any issues.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Do you people realize that for the price of these much vaunted Nordost power cables, I could buy four (4) Klipsch RF-83 speakers which are my dream speakers. Now, does anyone want to guess which is a better value?

There is a point where this hobby turns into a sickness, and unfortunately some do not know this. All of this talk about cables that are more expensive than most headphones, really kinda sickens me. There is nothing healthy about these discussions.

Patrick82: you seem like a very nice person, but seriously, do you really believe everything you say or does Nordost not have a return policy?

What happened to enjoying the music?

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman Notice: Do not take a word that Patrick82 says with more than a grain of salt. He makes ridiculous claims advocating for extremely expensive products, with absolutely no factual claim, stance, or backup. When he "objectively" listens to thousand-dollar cables, he simply MAKES UP sound characteristics. He has no basis to his ideas. He believes prodcts such as the Mighty Pebbles, a $100 "tweak" which you place on top of your audio gear, that supposedly makes the system sound much better, makes a huge difference. I remember a thread where he didn't like the sound of his system, so instead of doing away with the parts which may have made his system sound worse (how could it sound bad? look at his system's specs!), he just got rid of his music and bought new CDs that sounded "better". This guy is the pinnacle of audiophiles who only love the equipment, and not the music. I have never seen a single post by him in the Music section of these forums. I am not saying that cables of any kind don't make a difference, but this guy is not the one to trust if you want a valid reason why they do. Do not take this the wrong way, man, but I would consider you 'mentally ill' if I didn't know any better. Your opinions are dangerous, as they lead people to spending ridiculous amounts of money on useless crap.

1) I can't make up anything, I just listen to how it sounds like.

2) Brilliant Pebbles ($79), didn't make a "huge" difference, it was the opposite. It wasn't worth the $30 I paid for it. http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=196008

3) I haven't got rid of my music and bought new ones. I have stopped listening to Reference classical HDCD recordings because they have bad layering compared to mixed recordings.
For a couple weeks I didn't like my trance albums because I heard clicks and pops sometimes, but then I got used to it.

4) I have made a few posts in the music section a year ago.

Buying all those albums was a mistake, I could have bought cable sooner.


I don't care if everyone says I'm wrong, it happens in every hobby I do, but it eventually gets proven I was right.

Why not try for yourself before you buy?

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08 Do you people realize that for the price of these much vaunted Nordost power cables, I could buy four (4) Klipsch RF-83 speakers which are my dream speakers. Now, does anyone want to guess which is a better value?

I take Valhalla any day.


Quote:

Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08 There is a point where this hobby turns into a sickness, and unfortunately some do not know this. All of this talk about cables that are more expensive than most headphones, really kinda sickens me. There is nothing healthy about these discussions. Patrick82: you seem like a very nice person, but seriously, do you really believe everything you say or does Nordost not have a return policy?

I'm still a skeptic even though my impressions have been consistent after 18 months. If you become a believer you quickly become delusional and take the improvements for granted. Ever wonder why old "golden eared" audiophiles fail blind tests? Because eventually they get sick and tired of being skeptics and then they just let go of all their doubts and start enjoying the ride instead. It's perfectly normal!

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08 What happened to enjoying the music?

I can't enjoy music if I don't hear it properly.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 I take Valhalla any day.

I knew you'd say that. There is not a cable on earth that I would choose over those speakers... unless they did my taxes.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 I'm still a skeptic even though my impressions have been consistent after 18 months. If you become a believer you quickly become delusional and take the improvements for granted. Ever wonder why old "golden eared" audiophiles fail blind tests? Because eventually they get sick and tired of being skeptics and then they just let go of all their doubts and start enjoying the ride instead. It's perfectly normal!

They fail blind tests, because they can't tell the difference. That should make them even more skeptical, yes? Perhaps they just give into the hype, justify the cost, and become their own hype machines.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 I can't enjoy music if I don't hear it properly.

Then you should be only using Mogami

 

[Thaddy]

Wow Patrick, if your room isn't a fire hazard, then I don't know what is.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thaddy Wow Patrick, if your room isn't a fire hazard, then I don't know what is.

Formula 1 driver driving 100 mph in city street is safer than old woman driving 20 mph.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08 They fail blind tests, because they can't tell the difference. That should make them even more skeptical, yes? Perhaps they just give into the hype, justify the cost, and become their own hype machines.

That's what I said. They start looking at the cables and only remember the differences between each cable instead of hear them. That's why they don't hear a real difference anymore. But that doesn't mean they didn't a hear a difference many years before that.

 

[Thaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 Formula 1 driver driving 100 mph in city street is safer than old woman driving 20 mph.

Because, yeah...you know what you're talking about.

 

[peelax]

Headfi is dangerous

I'm not sure why people who say power cables make a difference get slated more than people who say, for instance, op-amp rolling makes a difference.

Seemingly, there are a lot of purely subjective opinions around here that just get accepted as fact after a while - I would like to consider myself a logical man but then I have still paid extra money for better caps, op-amps, psus etc. In my heart of hearts I really don't think I could ever hope to hear the difference these modifications make, but yet I still enjoy this hobby and spending the money is part of it, and to some extent I "think" I can tell the difference. Also it is always cool to have a new toy

I would, in fact, say that patriks expression of hifi fetishism is no more ridiculous than someone who spends thousands on amps, dacs etc etc etc, constantly seeking something that arguably does not exist.

The fact that he peruses his passion at the expense of feeding himself is rather more worrying though.

The reason headfi is so bad is when you read 100 people all saying this is better than that you eventually believe it (it just so happens that because there is really such little non-subjective evidence that power cables make a difference they seem to have fallen out of favor?), it is human nature, and in some way this is what drives the hobby, at least for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_ray

 

[hYdrociTy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hembergler Without power conditioning, I don't see how a power cord can make a difference. There are hundreds of miles of plain copper wire in your house and suspended between telephone poles. Changing the last 3' of that wire to something more expensive is not going to do anything. Now, if you do have a power conditioner, I can see a power cord making a very, very, slight difference due to the guage of the wire and the shielding. Whether it is audible is up for debate.

Exactly! There might be more coloration by plugging some 2guage different metal wire into a copper 14~whatever awg thats standard for homes...
Maybe some people prefer the coloration?

What I picture in my mind is that :
Home Current----> Power cable---> power supply of amp----->audio stuff

With a $3000 cable it will be like this:
Ugly-------------> Pretty--------> Ugly-----(componets)----> sound

With a 5 dollar decently constructed cable:
Ugly-------------> Ugly----------> Ugly-----(componets)----> sound

No matter what you replace the cable with, eventually it will all come out as the same exact crap your power supply pumps out to the rest of the components... I can see if you compare 14awg cable vs a 40guage corroded wire but all those "advanced silver litz strand" bull is nonsense..

I can justify spending 5000USD on one of those Power Regenerators, but not thousands on a cable..IMO Id rather have a 5 dollar cable and a 200 buck ac->batt->ac buck power conditioner than some elite hunk of wire...

Oh and BTW this is coming from a cable enthusiast too. Interconnect and headphone DO make a teeny difference albeit for ME its just cosmetic and fun/cute thing....

 

[Riboge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 I can't enjoy music if I don't hear it properly.

Whether or not costly power cables make a difference and with apologies to Patrick, everyone should take note: the quoted statement is the defining symptom of audiophilia crossing the line into obsessive illness. It is one thing to enjoy music and seek to make it better and more enjoyable. It is quite another not to enjoy music unless a stringent ritual is observed and/or objects, which therby qualify as fetishes, are not involved.