Cable Costs Relative to System

Joeyboynj, pray tell us how you specify your PCs if you don't know how or why they change the sound.

Hi Carl.

..."I spent $1000 on a power cord and Wow!", it sounds like "I spent $1000 on a power cord and it sounds no different but I don't want to admit I got conned by the HiFi shop."

You're right, it does sound just like that! Some enthusiasts are so ashamed of being so duped they won't even exercise the money back policy many manufacturers and I assume some retailers offer.

We had one poor soul buy four line cords from us and after some time called us to say how awesome his system was sounding. I knew what he was really saying and I felt really bad for him so I apologized. He bought two more. Poor guy must have a real victim mentality that he thrives on.

I apologize to you too. I lied with my brief explanation. Even though a "cable" possesses resistance, inductance, capacitance, has a reactance, carries a voltage and current within a closed loop system, can have a mechanical and electrical resonance, etc., ect. an AC cord cannot be a circuit.

Therefore....

I'm sorry: there is no "evidence" that line cords can make a difference so, of course they don't. Whether by measurement or by ear, such methods of evaluation are completely useless.

Having said all that, I'm just having fun with you. Hope you're having fun too.

Kindly,
Robert
RSAD

I'm afraid I'll just have to wait for someone who does have the time to post some evidence. It must be nice to have endless funds to experiment with many different power cords "no matter how much they cost" and "custom made to my specs" as Joeyboynj does, but many of us need a little more than faith to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a power cord that may or may not do anything to an audio system.

Once again, if anyone can direct me to any research/evidence on this topic, I'll happily be educated and corrected.

Carl...

Sorry friend - no one is likely going to spend time trying to convince you. Judging the content of your responses, you already have your mind made up.

If you really and honestly wanted to know, it seems you would do what others have done to become convinced or not: Listen. If you want "Evidence", it will be in your taking the time to listen. Research or documentation is not evidence. It only predicts or explains something. Research and documentation is readily available if you took some time to search it out but I bet you'd dismiss it as some type of hype.

I said "If you consider a line cord as a type of circuit rather than wire, there lies the answer." This is true but instead of "considering" it to maybe lead to some discover for yourself, you dismissed it.

Between all the different price points of after market AC cords of good reputation and the return policies many of them come with, using your ears to provide evidence seems like a "no brainer" with no risk.

If you've listened to a few well regarded after market cords and heard no difference, then be content with your experience and go enjoy your music. Be kind to remember this though:

The universe does not revolve around your experience or only what you're willing or able to grasp.

Liver and Onions tastes bad. I can't taste anything good about it. I hear there's reports that say it's an American favorite and it's got some nutrition in it. I tastes bad. My Wife loves Liver and Onions. So I punched her in the boob and divorced her.

Best to you,
Robert
RSAD

To Ridgestreetaudio, I appreciate all your replies, and I take on board the fact that many audiophiles genuinely hear a difference with every tweak they make to their system; I recently upgraded my speaker cables and can hear a definite improvement to my system's dynamics and a crisper top end. My argument doesn't apply to speaker cables and interconnects.

I guess my issue with power cords is this:
If you look at speaker cables, these form the entire link between amplifier and speaker, and therefore their impact on the signal can be profound. A PC, on the other hand, constitutes only a fraction of the AC power "loop" that extends all the way from the power generator to your components - an extension cord, in effect - and I therefore can't see how it can possibly impact on a system's sound. Not to mention the fact that the power supplies within high end gear should be able to have a greater smoothing and calming effect on the power supply than a few feet of power cord.

However, I will endeavour to listen and compare PC's when I can and trust my ears, which is I guess all any of us can do.

Thanks for an interesting debate.