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How can power cords make a difference?

I am trying to understand why power cords can make a difference.

It makes sense to me that interconnects and speaker cables make a difference. They are dealing with a complex signal that contains numerous frequencies at various phases and amplitudes. Any change in these parameters should affect the sound.

A power cord is ideally dealing with only a single frequency. If the explanation is RF rejection, then an AC regeneration device like PS Audio’s should make these cords unnecessary. I suppose it could be the capacitance of these cables offering some power factor correction since the transformer is an inductive load.

The purpose of my post is not to start a war between the “I hear what I hear so it must be so” camp and the “you’re crazy and wasting your money,” advocates. I am looking for reasons. I am hoping that someone can offer some valid scientific explanations or point me toward sources of this information. Thanks.
bruce1483
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,927 posts
 
Stevenmj, I think a more accurate analogy would be to say that my car ran better because the fuel line size was increased, and therefore provided less resistance and lag time in supplying the energy source to the engine under high demand.

Your analogy (at best) would only represents the amount of time required to fill the fuel tank. And of course, this has no affect on final performance, unless there was an engine that used energy faster than it could be pumped in.
kjg
171 posts
 
Not to take sides here, but its worth mentioning that current is drawn, not forced as the gasoline hose analogy would imply. All that is required is a cable with sufficiently low resistance that is able to provide the current when demanded. If 18 gauge doesn't adequately fit this bill, then a larger cable will likely be a benefit. However, the amount of current demanded by a DVD player is relatively small, and a 6 foot run of either 18 or 12 gauge copper wire should have very low resistance, so its likely that any differences you hear are probably due some factor other than the ability to carry current. I know that there are many theories about producing high quality power cables, and its possible that something is coming into play other than the absolute size of the wire.

Cheers,
Ken
hdm
971 posts
 
You may well be right, Ken, that there is something at work other than the guage of the wire. I don't really know, and I don't really care. The fact remains that there are a number of people in this forum (myself included) who, through direct experience can hear differences in various power cords with various pieces of equipment. Most of these people do not seem to be delusional based on their writing styles. The key phrase here is "direct experience", something which both Stevemj and the 702 man have none of. Until they get back to us with the results of some meaningful experimentation, it really is pretty meaningless to debate with them, don't you think? What cords have you listened to with what equipment Stevemj and 702?
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jadem6
1,071 posts
 
Hey Albert, I'll talk about my own engine thank-you. I had to quit driving once the consumption exceeded the intake, now I'm trying power cords, same damn problem.
jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,071 posts
 
Trelja, if your buddy can get some stuio time to try something, I was thinking that recording a test disk of three power cords would be interesting. This would be better than the "double blind" in that first we wouldn't know wich or if a cord was switched and all the equipment would be exactly the same. I'd love to hear the results of such a test. I'm sure it wouldn't meet mr. 702's "high" standards but it would meet mine. If 702 really wanted it sounds like he has the same ability, but I'm sure he doesn't know wich cords to try, so I think your a better canadate. J.D.
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