Ptm, I strongly disagree with your statement "It's all about trial and error" or "all about synergies". It may be a LITTLE BIT about those things, but one can DRASTICALLY REDUCE the field by first taking into account the few immutable laws of physics that govern electrical energy transfer.
First and foremost being resistance -- bigger conductors and shorter cords have less resistance. But that doesn't mean one needs big conductors for everything!
Next is shielding -- mandatory for digital gear, optional for most modern components which almost always have built-in RFI and EMI (hum) filtering.
Beyond those two considerations, there are of course subtle differences among PC's which may or may not affect what you hear out of the speakers. This includes conductor materials, conductor topology (the arrangement, or layout of the conductors within the cord), type of shielding (braid, foil, ferrite choke, or simple twisted conductors).
There can be problems too, that most people don't know about. For instance, did you know that the FCC requires manufactures to supply shielded power cords with their equipment? Great, but unfortunately, UL requires that these cords have their shields connected to ground at BOTH ends. That's just asking for hum pickup! So it's usually best to replace these OEM cords with a PC that has a 'floating shield' if you encounter hum problms due to the PC picking up 60Hz from other cords, transformers, etc.
But I've found most of the variations in PC cord construction have only minor sonic effect compared to the two most important, of choosing adequate gauge, and most appropriate type of shield for the job. YMMV ;--)
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First and foremost being resistance -- bigger conductors and shorter cords have less resistance. But that doesn't mean one needs big conductors for everything!
Next is shielding -- mandatory for digital gear, optional for most modern components which almost always have built-in RFI and EMI (hum) filtering.
Beyond those two considerations, there are of course subtle differences among PC's which may or may not affect what you hear out of the speakers. This includes conductor materials, conductor topology (the arrangement, or layout of the conductors within the cord), type of shielding (braid, foil, ferrite choke, or simple twisted conductors).
There can be problems too, that most people don't know about. For instance, did you know that the FCC requires manufactures to supply shielded power cords with their equipment? Great, but unfortunately, UL requires that these cords have their shields connected to ground at BOTH ends. That's just asking for hum pickup! So it's usually best to replace these OEM cords with a PC that has a 'floating shield' if you encounter hum problms due to the PC picking up 60Hz from other cords, transformers, etc.
But I've found most of the variations in PC cord construction have only minor sonic effect compared to the two most important, of choosing adequate gauge, and most appropriate type of shield for the job. YMMV ;--)
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