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. 
128x128mkgus
geoffkait13,241 posts12-19-2018 4:25pm

mkgus
13. Cable constructions of multiple gauge wires that influence the way high, medium and low frequencies propagate through the power cable.

>>>>Whoa! What? I did not know there were high, medium and low frequencies traveling through the power cord. I was under the impression it was current and voltage, alternating at 60 Hz. 😳

>>>>Whoa! What? I did not know there were high, medium and low frequencies traveling through the power cord. I was under the impression it was current and voltage, alternating at 60 Hz. 😳
@ geoffkait

60Hz, yeah, if all you have connected to the AC power mains in your home are incandescent light bulbs.
Any electronics in your home? Audio system? TVs? Computer/s? Appliances with a micro processor? How about CFL and LED lights? Any fixtures with electronic ballasts? Gas furnace with a blower fan controlled by a VFD? Here in the USA our homes are stuffed full of equipment and appliances that are spewing harmonics back out onto the AC mains. Maybe a lot of it from our audio equipment.
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/accircuits/harmonics.html

Mkgus wrote, in response to my list of desirable power cord characteristics, 

13. Cable constructions of multiple gauge wires that influence the way high, medium and low frequencies propagate through the power cable.

>>>>He was thinking that multiple gauge wires would help the propagation of high, medium and low frequencies so he was thinking they were audio frequencies, obviously. Not noise harmonics. Cut me some slack, Jack.
I got into upgraded power cables mostly for aesthetics. It didn’t make sense to me to have a rack-full of equipment using stock 6- to 8-foot power cords, when the dedicated lines that serve the system are located directly behind the rack. So I bought upgraded cables in custom lengths, and the installation looks a lot cleaner for it. I also think it sounds better. Is that because there’s no longer excess cable stuffed behind the rack? Is it because of the better quality AC connectors? Is it the geometry of the cables themselves? I honestly don’t know. And I don’t care. And this being a hobbyist’s group, I’m not required to satisfy anyone’s demands for technical proof of any kind.
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