[Hershon2000]

Do power cords affect CD sound particularly if one has a moderate system like mine: Pioneer CD player, Denon 3801 Receiver & Orb Mod 1 Speakers & Sub? If so, how do they affect sound quality & are they worth the additional expense?

 

[Uncle Erik]

I've listened to a few different power cords and heard no difference.

If you're unhappy with the sound of your system, money is better spent on better components.

But if your setup already sounds good to you, there's really no reason to spend additional money on it. Try some new music instead.

 

[lan]

They do make a difference to my ears and system but only you can decide this for you. A cheap initial investment is the Volex cord. Search for it. It's <$10.

 

[Welly Wu]

Audiophile wires produce different sounds that are all discolored and they are highly highly extremely dependent upon system matching and most of all the audiophile's sonic preferences. Inexpensive A/C cords that come stock are neutral, transparent, and they are uncolored. They will sound the same in all reference systems. I would not advise you to go shopping for boutique audiophile power cords simply because I can not guarantee that you will hear any sonic improvements and if they will work well within your existing system. Furthermore, I can absolutely guarantee that if you change components, then the audiophile power cord you are using at the moment may not synergize with the other components as well. Plus, these cords can cost upwards of $4,000 USD or more.

Do not make the same mistakes that I have made. All audiophile cables are snake oil and they are all ********. They rarely produce a neutral, transparent, and uncolored sound because they all strive to produce their own house sounds to differentiate manufacturer's wires from others and to give audio writers something to write about and earn a paycheck...at your expense.

Stick with your regular power cord and stop reading all of those high fidelity reviews of different power cords. They are written with the full fledged support of advertisers who want to instill a seed of dissatisfaction with your current power cord and thus you will be "encouraged" to "upgrade." Audiophile wires, especially power cords, have become the biggest rip off in high end audio which is also full of ******** beyond belief. They prey on unsuspecting, foolish, and uneducated people who have not the time or the effort to research basic electric theory and design and they sucker them into buying a glorified heavy ass cable that doesn't sound like real music but sound on "stereo-oids."

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Welly Wu Audiophile wires produce different sounds that are all discolored and they are highly highly extremely dependent upon system matching and most of all the audiophile's sonic preferences. Inexpensive A/C cords that come stock are neutral, transparent, and they are uncolored. They will sound the same in all reference systems. I would not advise you to go shopping for boutique audiophile power cords simply because I can not guarantee that you will hear any sonic improvements and if they will work well within your existing system. Furthermore, I can absolutely guarantee that if you change components, then the audiophile power cord you are using at the moment may not synergize with the other components as well. Plus, these cords can cost upwards of $4,000 USD or more. Do not make the same mistakes that I have made. All audiophile cables are snake oil and they are all ********. They rarely produce a neutral, transparent, and uncolored sound because they all strive to produce their own house sounds to differentiate manufacturer's wires from others and to give audio writers something to write about and earn a paycheck...at your expense. Stick with your regular power cord and stop reading all of those high fidelity reviews of different power cords. They are written with the full fledged support of advertisers who want to instill a seed of dissatisfaction with your current power cord and thus you will be "encouraged" to "upgrade." Audiophile wires, especially power cords, have become the biggest rip off in high end audio which is also full of ******** beyond belief. They prey on unsuspecting, foolish, and uneducated people who have not the time or the effort to research basic electric theory and design and they sucker them into buying a glorified heavy ass cable that doesn't sound like real music but sound on "stereo-oids."

Um...so tell us how you really feel

 

[Sovkiller]

IMO the power cable is another of the audio myths, and IMO is a bunch of BS.

In some opinions, engineers, experts, etc, that, of course, will be crucified by the power cable manufacturers, and the believers, after you reach a proper gauge of wire that let you feed the needed current that you PSU needs to give the adequate DC to the amp, it doesn't matter...All what matters to a very well designed PSU, inside your amp, is the DC that will feed the audio circuit, I do not recall of any amp that works with AC yet...Again if you have a well designed PSU...and most of the times you does...There should be no problems...

This is just my personal opinion, I have Quail, $14.00 and nobody will convince me of getting any other....And I got it, mainly because of that it is well done, cheap, and mechanical superior in comparison to an stock cable, but even an stock one, 18AWG or bigger, will be more than enough to satisfy the more extreme demands of any audio amplifier for normal listening levels...

 

[citywithoutmetal]

stop. think. research.
or you'll end up like this guy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...8447-2001Jun12

 

[nikongod]

a more interesting (at least equally intersting to the whole power cable debate) is when will the various people building these power cords start to offer replacement transformers wound with the same "very high quality" wires? i would also like to have the ENTIRE length of wire from my home to the power station rewired in wire made of the same material, and in the same fashiopn as these power wires.

with a ****USD power cable, you STILL have a *likely cheap* power transformer hard up in the path of the electricty. i mean that this transformer is likely wound with standard cheap coper wire not terribly unlike the kind which runs who knows how far (probably a mile or more) from wherever your power is "made" to the various more local "substation transformers" which are not the quietest transfromers in their own rights through a bit more cable outside of yoru house into your house. it then goes through at least 2 fuses or circuit breakers. then it may even go through a switch to get to the outlet. And you make up for these miles of coper wire with 3 ft of sterling silver in 30 individually insulated strands of 30ga wire woven in a 30-strand litz braid by virgin faries... virgin faries are hard to find because they are naturally attracted to the guys who string the various high power lines, local power lines, and wire peoples homes for electricity.

the stock cable is probably not the final word in cable, but rember the miles of cable that power comes in from the power plant to you on when you buy a cable.

 

[Welly Wu]

ok, perhaps I had a bad day at work at BN today and I am not listening to any music right now, so that must mean I am pissed off.

:mucho-evil:

 

[Captain]

I have a question regarding the advertising of power cords, which has been on my mind for a while. In the UK as I am sure in the US, if you false advertise it is illegal. How come no body has ever taken these company's to court in regards to all the false claims they make about their products?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Captain- there are a couple of good reasons.

First, for a private party purchasing the cable, your damages (in most jurisdictions) would be limited to what you paid for the cable. The price of a $1,000 cable would be eaten up pretty fast in legal fees. Hell, the filing fee alone would probably take most of it. And if you were to hire an expert to testify for you? Well, those usually start around $500 an hour. Good ones are considerably more, and you'll probably have to cough up 20-30 hours of payment for a retainer. And I'm just talking about the expert. Not the lawyer. That's more. Economically, it's unfeasable.

Secondly, it'd be incredibly difficult to try. The claims are very, very vague. Just what is "warmth" or "blackness between notes?" You might think you know what it means, but try getting 12 people (or even two) to agree on that. Further, most cable companies claim their results defy scientific explanation. How are you going to present ANY evidence?

This gets back to proving a negative. We all know that's a logical fallacy, right? You can't really prove that the claimed "improvement" isn't there. What would be much more interesting would be if the burden of proof were on the manufacturers... please note that they never offer any quantifiable scientific proof. That should tell you a lot about their products.

 

[proglife]

It's always nice to see "audiophiles" with their feet on the ground.

Hershon2000, you're looking in the wrong place if you're not happy with your sound. Personally, I'd replace your speakers and then look at your amp. New speakers will make the most significant change in your sound...and you'd probably be better served by something from NAD/Rotel/Cambridge than you would that Denon home theater box.

 

[Hershon2000]

I never said I was unhappy with my sound. I am always looking, like that great article the guy posted, to improve my sound, that is a difference. Unfortunately my budget is somewhat limited & I'm always exploring new ideas & concepts & evaluating is this worth the trouble & risk of trying. It is far easier for me to go to a store & buy a $400 power cord if that is going to potentially improve my sound then spend $4000 or so on a new speaker system, especially because I don't drive anyway & returning the power cord would be effortless. However if people here say its wasting money in the first place then I wouldn't buy one. People on this forum seem to be more advanced audiophiles then any other forum I've seen & if I can pick their brains & get recommendations & learn about things I'm not aware of, I will which is the reason I read other posts & post threads of my own.

 

[boodi]

Power (quality) definitely affects high end audio gears sound

 

[nikongod]

the key to improvements is identifying the weak link.

if you have $400 to spend i would probably start by rebuilding your speaker crossovers with film caps, or at least film bypassed better quality electrolytics. that will be a BIG improvement to sound, and depending on your speakers and how absurdly expensive you want to go for the caps possibly not tooo teribly expensive. it is suprising how totally worthless most speaker crossover caps are.

after that i would say look around some more. interconects? cables from amp to speakers? would a better cd player benefit your system? if you are a diy'er do you want to tear your power amp apart and start upgrading the signal caps? maybe jsut pay someone else to do it.

cap upgrades are not terribly expensive, and in many cases offer substantial improvements.