Oh, and Geoff, I see you brought up the photon thing again. Photons are particles of light energy. Light does not propagate through opaque solids like wire; it stops them in their tracks. And yes, photons are always moving. It doesn’t take much displacement of electrons in a wire to create electromotive power to do some real work. But it’s not photons, and if you believe it is, please turn your belief into a peer reviewed reference or two so that I can read and examine the data that supports your theory, otherwise there’s simply no basis from which I or anyone else should believe you. I’m waiting. It’s simply electrons in wire that are the particles of electromotive force, along with the protons, of course, but the protons stay put yet provide the + charge to keep the electrons, that are negatively charged, in their atomic orbitals. And, recall that photons have no net charge.
Citations please? |
Recall that there is no net flow of electons in an altenating current.
Here’s what I think is the fundamental reason why good power cables sound better than less expensive ones, or those with less sophisticated engineering.
Noise.
I think that better power cables have a higher degree of noise rejection from the line and, as a result, are not passing this on to the power transformer, power caps and beyond. That would translate into higher S/N, which the ear is quite sensitive to. |
The propogation of electronic signals through wire happens by way of electric fields, not photons. The electons move relatively slowly while the electric fields propogate at light speed. |
I'll say it again. The differences are due to the level of noise rejection afforded by the power cable. Volts is volts, current is current, cycles is cycles. But noise is not noise. Time to give this a rest. |
Noise rejection in higher quality power cords is the electric field-based reason. |
Why is the word placebo used incorrectly time and again? A placebo is a term used in pharmacology, dead stop. It is inappropriate to use it for audio applications. A drug is efficacious, or not, quantitatively, in clinical trials that use placebos as blinded negative controls so that the effects of the drug under study can be quantified and appropriately documented. Only in that manner can the drug be established, or not, to be efficacious according to its indicated use.
That is NOT what we are talking about here and I would GREATLY appreciate it if thread contributors here would cease its use. Stop it! |
Power cords do make a difference; I have heard those differences repeatedly over many years. And, it wasn’t because I spent money on a cable and was determined to convince my brain that there were differences or improvements or whatever. That’s because I was able to borrow friends’ cables, relax, take my time with a variety of source materials and check them out, at length, in my system. Again, they do make a difference and, as I’ve stated earlier and will state again here, I think the electrical basis for this is that different cables provide different levels of noise attentuation, some being more or less optimal for some systems due to a particular level of noise suppression that synergizes (or doesn’t) with that particular system or component. It need not be a rocket science explanation, it can be simple and reproducible. The key is to LISTEN, although for some here, that would be counterproductive now, wouldn't it? |
@mzkmxcv: Sooo, what is your question now? |
A few quotes from Lord Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), one of my science heroes: "All science is either physics or stamp collecting." "An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid." "When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up we shall have found the greatest secret of all — except life." "I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter." "We're like children who always want to take apart watches to see how they work." |
@jtucker: "If there is an audible difference, there should be a measurable difference ( and yes I agree that it may be possible that we don't know how to measure that difference yet )"
I agree there (eventually) should be electronically measurable differences, however, the human side of this difference engine is fraught with innumerable and uncontrolled psychological and physiologial variables, and that's where the real "measurement" problem lies. |
@elizabeth:
And that happens sometimes, doesn’t it? But note how it still doesn’t get us off the slippery slope of G.A.S. because we are addicted to our own positive reinforcements (adrenalin, endorphins) and will keep trying until we get our "fix." Also, there are times when something is inferior and we do something about it, and that, too, is positive reinforcement. One way or the other, we feed our addictions. We’re hard wired to do so.
I still think the technical reason for some power cables sounding better than others is reduction of noise floor and/or rejection of RF and other EM garbage. |
