Why Power Cables Affect Sound

Manufacturers are in a tough position caught between cost, anal audiophiles and not turning off the denialists any more than they already are.

100% agree!

+1 mkgus well said

100% disagree. Manufacturers aren’t caught between anything. Give me a break! They are blissfully ignorant of aftermarket power cords. Besides, even if they were aware of them, which they’re not, they could buy Analysis Plus Power Oval power cords, for example, at wholesale for 50 bucks and be miles ahead of whatever cheap crap they currently use. Same goes for fuses. It’s not about cost, it’s about knowing what in the wide world of sports is going on.

@Geoffkait - Actually, no.  Don't forget, you have markups involved as well.   Distribution, reps, dealers, freight, warranty, UL codes, all that adds a percentage.  That 50 dollar cable will add an easy 250 to 300 bucks to the retail price before the customer sees it on the shelf at his favorite dealer or spiffy catalog. 

Is that Model HPSPC High Performance Spiffy Power Cord you want to use UL/CSA approved?  No? So a fire, which may have nothing to do with the amplifier but is related to the outlet on the wall, gets the manufacturer sued.   They chose to put a non UL approved cord in their product and they will most certainly lose in court.  Of course if you do replace their UL/CSA cord with the HPSPC and the place burns, the manufacturer is safe.

Don't underestimate audiophiles, you might consider the Analysis Plus Oval to be awesome, but I'd bet my next paycheck there are others on this board who would disagree and prefer a different power cord.  Do you seriously expect them to fork over 250 bucks for a cable they won't use and then go out and buy another $XXXX audiophile power cord?  Or, "Why should I spend that much when I can go buy Brand A power cable for only $99 and it sounds better to boot?" 

I do agree that the power cord should be of quality and heft, but that is less than a dollar in quantity, if that.   One audio company for which I consulted some years back, purposely tossed in a cheap RCA interconnect, even though their power amplifier was well reviewed in the press numerous times and most of the reviewers mentioned getting better interconnects to bring out the full potential.  Their reasoning was "An audiophile is going to buy better cables anyway and we have no idea what they prefer.   At least they get something to plug it in while the figure out what they want to do." 

Noise and AC power.. Here is  bit I wrote about a few days ago, after testing my AC wit ha noise sniffer:                
Ok did all the baseline measurements.                 At wall, nothing plugged in a 20amp single on a separate breaker: Noise "724" .That line is one phase sharing common neutral with other phase 20 amp for refrigerator. I wondered how much of a problem that ’common neutral’ made. Well almost zero!          
The stereo line at wall with frig ’on’ noise "724" (frig off ’710’ frig break off noise "711" so the frig is a non starter of a problem. VERY good to know.)            
Plugging in the two lines made up of 12 gauge MilSpec silver plated quad twist Teflon 600V wire. grounds run between the two quads. 34 feet and 44 feet to stereo area. From the noise readings, it is clear the quad twist all by itself is removing a good amount of the hash from the line.            
At the 34’ line end Furutech duplex (no Noise Harvesters) noise "432" With two PS Audio Noise Harvesters in line a few feet ahead of duplex measured at, noise "006"        
The other line for the amp at 44’ (With two Noise Harvesters in a duplex four feet from the measured duplex) the noise level "001"(amp not plugged in. for those tests nothing was plugged into any outlests except the Noise Harvesters.          
So outstanding noise reduction from the wall ("724") down to ("006") and ("001") on my dedicated line from the wall to the stereo.              
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++          Plugging in the PS Audio P-600 power regenerator to the 34’ line changed the measurement at the Furutech outlet to "036" with P-600 ’on’ (nothing in use via P-600) With TWO CD changers also ON via the P-600 the noise at the Furutech 34’ outlet changed to "040" So I consider that wonderful performance. None (well ,very little to me is as good as none) of the considerable previously measured noise from the CD players is getting BACK to the outlet via the PA Audio P-600 regenerator.              
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++          Adding the Furman power conditioner OFF nothing plugged into the Furman noise measured at the same 34’ line Duplex "063" PLUS AM radio noise on the test instrument. (the PS Audio was also already plugged in and ON for this test. so the Furman alone added only ((023)) on it’s own to the noise level. When I turned ON the Furman REF 20 the noise dropped to "035" No AM radio noise anymore. (again, this is with the PS Audio plugged in too, so the Furman ON lowered the noise floor below what the PS Audio added. plus the Furman ON removed the AM radio noise on the line.)            
With Furman all electronics plugged on but those not turned on, only Furman turned on. At the 34" duplex noise measured "042"        
With all normal stereo equipment turned on the 34’ duplex measurement was noise "036" The items on included several preamps, and the Mrantz SA-10. (not turned on two Denon DVD players, The plasma TV. the Kuzma TT motor power supply I did not measure for those)            
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++          
Small Adcom conditioner used for little stuff plugged in (with both big conditioners on at the 34’ duplex noise "060" plus AM radio noise.I removed the Adcom and substituted a Monster 5600 I own in it’s place, The Monster on with nothing plugged in gave at 34’ duplex "045" ... With all stuff plugged in in use (including the cable co boxes) measured at 34’ duplex "054" So I am leaving the Monster in           use.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++          
Finally my Audio Research SP-15 I had left plugged in at the 34’ box mainly due to the short cord. With it plugged in at the 34’ box at the 34’ box both conditioners in and on measured noise with Sp-15 in not ON "082" plus AM radio noise. ARC SP-15 ON measured "081" no AM radio noise. I removed the ARC SP-15 from that location and put back with extension cord to Furman. I did not measure anything when I did this.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
as of now, my Rega turntable power supply wall wart sits with no place to plugin. Orphaned when I decided to plug the two PS Audio Noise Harvesters into that spot it had used...  
Also I do not notice the downside of using the additional Noise Harvesters in the 34’ line. Previously I had them AT the two duplex on the end of the line. This time I moved them to the single duplex at the 31’ point.on the 34' line.. similar to the amplifier line. Why this matters??? seems to.  
I have no magic comments on this stuff at this time. I just wanted to report the number