The fallacy of ac treatment

Snowgoblin: The sign remark was merely rhetorical and was in poor taste - I apologize. Your comments remind me of the white paper trolls that exist at "another" audio site, just go there and click on the SET forum and you will see similarities to posts by people who critique products that they have never owned let alone listened to. Have you ever tried an upgraded power cord yourself? Do you own a stereo or HT system? Do you listen to music other than when in a car/elevator or when placed on hold on the phone? Other than your employment with an electric utility what have been your personal experiences on the subject that you have such an interesting opinion on? If you want to hear what I have to say on the subject I then think that is only fair that I know where you are really coming from. I will start my personal experience off with that, yes I have found that cords do make a difference. I have only tried three cords in my system and they have only been used on the source which is a CD player. Each cord sounded different, and one (a Harmonic Technology Pro 11) sounded better to my ears than the others. Different is not always an improvement, but I will point out again that they all had different sounds that even my wife (who knows nothing about any of this) could easily distinguish. Why they sounded different, I do not know as I only understand the basic principals of the (to me) big word theories that I mentioned above and not the exact science of how they all work. I have also not yet tried the more expensive PC's that are in the talk now. I started out with the stock cord, which was loose fitting and had oxidized contacts. I cleaned the contacts and it sounded better but it was still a pain because it needed the use of a support to maintain good contact (the support that I used interfered with the isolation devices that I use on my CD player). Next I used a generic cord off of another piece of equipment (that I cleaned before installing) and it sounded more muted than the CAL stock cord, I did not like this sound as my player is already pretty laid back in its tonal character. I then purchased the Harmonic Tech, cord which sounded completely different and better. It seemed to increase the amount of detail that I was hearing by no less than 20% and my whole system just sounded better and more musical with increased dynamics (it sounded like I had doubled the power output of my amp). Their were also a few Wow's by friends that stopped by that are both musicians but not into this hobby. If I had better equipment or a different source I do not know if the change would have been as drastic as system synergy is always a big part of the equation, but the comments from the people that I see at this site that do own better equipment and that do actually try upgraded cords make me think that there is a difference or improvement to be had as well and that it may be even more more noticeable in their systems than with my midfi equipment. It does make sense in theory though I doubt if I will ever own such equipment to test it myself. The HT cord was $130.00 used FYI. I also have a very bad power supply to deal with in the area (LA) that I live in. It isn't just the building that I live in it is every building/house that I have lived in for the past 23 years within this local grid system, I have had better juice when I have lived outside of this area. Light bulbs have a tendency to last no longer than 30-40 days. The voltage checks fine per an electrician that installed a new breaker box in my apartment so I assume that the amperage must drop to very low levels (even Halogen lights burn out in 3-4 months). Though I do not believe that my inexpensive Monster power conditioner boosts the amperage it does make an improvement in the sound of my system that is very noticeable during the day when playing light spacious music. I would guess from this that my power is not very clean. So what do you have to say? What walk have you walked?

Joe_coherent: What simple and relatively inexpensive products are you referring to? Are these from personal experience and/or from a technical website? Please share them with us. I am not against DIY or cheap tweaks at all though I don't think that I will be designing my own electronics any time soon.

One comment from a manufacturer of power cords that makes sense to me is that the equipment is not at "the end of the line" but should be looked at from, say, the amp's point of view. The power cord is the very first thing it sees and could be thought of as part of the leads of its AC transformer. I do hear differences 'tween cords, not major ones but very much depending on what was being replaced. In my system, it can be as significant as speaker cables, but the weakest link can hold back the intensity of the changes. In other words, on a CD based system, if one has replaced the power cords for the CD player and amp and not the preamp, that alone can restrict maybe 1/2 of the total potential results, at least in my system. I was surprised!

Your post seems to acually validate that just a dedicated AC line is not enough, since our neighbors pollute the power in the same way our own appliances do if we do not have a dedicated line. My Vansevers power stuff makes a huge difference and it is not my immagination. Mike Vansevers is an electrical engineer and pro audio guy, who, when he discovered he could affect the sound positively by altering the AC power, he changed careers and went into the power conditioning business. There are pages and pages of white papers on this web site that explain in great technical and non technical detail how power affects sound. On another note, photographers will swear filtering light improves a photograph. Is it true? We all have the same sun. Ever wear sunglasses?? Finally some people are born with better hearing than others; some will never be able to tell the difference.

The real question is that is why aren't audio equipment manufacturers providing cords of adequate guage and proper EMI filtering at the mains input of their expensive amplifiers. Come now, how much cost savings is there between a 16 guage and 12 guage cord? I'd be surprised if it exceeded one dollar of cost to a manufacturer. So why, after spending several kilobucks on an amp or preamp, should I shell out more to make the device function at a level I expected right out of the box? And why aren't audio equipment manufacturers taking appropriate steps to shield and filter their components to avoid internally generate RFI from being radiated or conducted from outside the confines of the box? The engineering principles are long standing and well understood. Why do we insist on elegant industrial design (look and feel) but permit sloppy engineering of the contents? (I think this is one of the distinctions between "consumer" and "pro" gear... and although we may pay audiophile prices, it seems in some cases and respects we're still getting consumer mass-fi grade engineering). If the audio magazines want to go measure something, go do what the manufacturers should be doing: measure the EMI/RFI output and susceptibility. There are well known standards and procedures for doing this.