Power cables are all about EMI.
Why Power Cables Affect Sound
I just bought a new CD player and was underwhelmed with it compared to my cheaper, lower quality CD player. That’s when it hit me that my cheaper CD player is using an upgraded power cable. When I put an upgraded power cable on my new CD player, the sound was instantly transformed: the treble was tamed, the music was more dynamic and lifelike, and overall more musical.
This got me thinking as to how in the world a power cable can affect sound. I want to hear all of your ideas. Here’s one of my ideas:
I have heard from many sources that a good power cable is made of multiple gauge conductors from large gauge to small gauge. The electrons in a power cable are like a train with each electron acting as a train car. When a treble note is played, for example, the small gauge wires can react quickly because that “train” has much less mass than a large gauge conductor. If you only had one large gauge conductor, you would need to accelerate a very large train for a small, quick treble note, and this leads to poor dynamics. A similar analogy might be water in a pipe. A small pipe can react much quicker to higher frequencies than a large pipe due to the decreased mass/momentum of the water in the pipe.
That’s one of my ideas. Now I want to hear your thoughts and have a general discussion of why power cables matter.
If you don’t think power cables matter at all, please refrain from derailing the conversation with antagonism. There a time and place for that but not in this thread please.
This got me thinking as to how in the world a power cable can affect sound. I want to hear all of your ideas. Here’s one of my ideas:
I have heard from many sources that a good power cable is made of multiple gauge conductors from large gauge to small gauge. The electrons in a power cable are like a train with each electron acting as a train car. When a treble note is played, for example, the small gauge wires can react quickly because that “train” has much less mass than a large gauge conductor. If you only had one large gauge conductor, you would need to accelerate a very large train for a small, quick treble note, and this leads to poor dynamics. A similar analogy might be water in a pipe. A small pipe can react much quicker to higher frequencies than a large pipe due to the decreased mass/momentum of the water in the pipe.
That’s one of my ideas. Now I want to hear your thoughts and have a general discussion of why power cables matter.
If you don’t think power cables matter at all, please refrain from derailing the conversation with antagonism. There a time and place for that but not in this thread please.
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- 845 posts total
nonoise4,189 posts12-19-2018 11:36am And that is the reason many members no longer post on threads like this one anymore. They are tired of hearing the same naysayers BS. The OP last sentence of his posted message. If you don’t think power cables matter at all, please refrain from derailing the conversation with antagonism. There a time and place for that but not in this thread please.The OP was clear he could hear differences. He was just asking why? He wasn’t asking for an intervention to change his mind.... Do any of you non believers think you have changed the minds of the believers? Have you changed the mind of the OP? I wish Agon would adopt a mission statement similar to that of the Cable Asylum. The Cable Asylum is for those who have decided that audio cables make a sonic difference. If you do not feel that audio cables do sound different, then do not post here. Posts that state that audio cables sound the same, or that all one needs is zip cord and/or dimestore coax, may be deleted, re-directed or other actions taken at the sole discretion of the moderators or the Bored. If you post more than one such post, you may be banned from the Cable Asylum. For you non believes start your own thread about cables in another Agon forum. Heck, maybe Agon could give you a forum with a mission state for non believers only. If you believe cables can sound different post elsewhere on an Agon forum. Example, The Cable Forum. . |
markalarsen345 posts12-19-2018 12:56pm Power cables are all about EMI. >>>Not sure how they can be “all about EMI” since they are generally shielded from EMI. Am I missing something? 😳 If you’re thinking of EMI coming in through the wall outlet no power cord can prevent that. Shielding is not equivalent to absorption. A reasonable approach to deciding what is important for power cords would be to list all their desired attributes/characteristics and arrange them by priority and cost. It’s not rocket science. 🚀 |
markalarsen345 posts12-19-2018 11:56am Not entirely. There are other factors that go into the making of power cables. The type of male and female connectors used. Type of metal used. Plating? Type of plating used. How well the female IEC connectors grips the male inlet connector of the equipment. Wire gauge size. Stranded wire or solid core conductors. Type of Insulation dialectic material used. The geometry of how the cable is made. How is the equipment grounding conductor incorporated in the design of the cable? The type and method of the shielding used in the cable. |
jea48. All those naysayers need a place to vent too! Audio Asylum has banned then for years on the cable asylum, and Audio Circle is getting back to doing so again. So where exactly IS a non believer able to vent? Why HERE on Audiogon! I know it is annoying to listen to the drivel they spout. Always the same drivel and arguments too! But I say let them. Eventually they will get tire of their own endless tantrums, like four year olds... And by them hanging around, maybe a few will get it through their thick skull that maybe they should try a different cable.. As is well known, plenty of audio cable believers were long time naysayers... Until they actually heard a difference! |
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