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On/Off Switch

People spend a lot of effort to feed their audio system with clean power. Dedicated power lines, new wires from the electrical panel, special hospital grade or audio grade power outlets, expensive devices to do additional power filtering are just some of the things that are quite often done in this hobby. Then we buy expensive power cords, special audiophile fuses, and even replace the factory IEC inlets with better quality.
This is all good, and I understand that once you have a system with high enough resolution, the changes are audible. But how often do we open the cover of our equipment to discover that although we spend so much money on a special power cord, the wire (incidentally much thinner and cheaper than our special power cord) from the IEC goes all the way from the back to the front just to go through a cheap on/off switch and back to the rear or the middle of the chassis.
I just looked at partsconnexion, hificollective, vhaudio, and a few other web sites that specialize in audiophile grade parts and could not find a nice solid audio grade on/off switch. Why is that? If a fuse makes a difference in the sound, and (according to some manufacturers) even the direction of the fuse has audible differences (something I can never hear btw), it would make sense that the contact parts of the on/off switch would be important too.
So my real question is does the quality of the on/off switch matter and what is a good on/off switch to use in a power amplifier?
nenon
nenon OP
20 posts
 

tommylion207 posts11-01-2017 7:13amI've never tried a higher quality on/off switch, but I just know it can't possibly make a difference in the sound. Just like fuses. Trust me, I read a book about how electricity works, and understood some of it 😉

Tommy - point taken. If fuses don't make a difference, there is no need to discuss the power switch.  

There was a time I did not believe that cables make a difference. And I am not even talking about power cords here... I am talking about speaker cables, interconnects, etc. And guess what? I was right! They did not make a difference in my system at the time. That time is way in the past now. As the resolution of my system was improving, I started to hear what difference various components of my system make. Or maybe my brain is playing tricks with me... but hey, if replacing a fuse does not make any difference in the sound, but tricks my brain to think the sound is better, I would still spend the extra $50. Not to make my system better but to trick my brain :).

I don't want this thread to turn into a fight if power cords or fuses make a difference. There are plenty of threads like that here we can probably read for days... 

What I would like to hear is suggestions for a good quality power switch or if people believe that all those components in the power grid make a difference but the power switch does not, I would like to know why. The fact that I could not find a high-end switch in the typical boutique parts stores for audiophiles suggests that my logic may not be that solid after all.  

toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
838 posts
 
It has actually been discussed on quite a few threads here and the best idea put forward and used by at least one amp manufacturer was to use a circuit breaker in place of the on/off switch and the fuse.
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
Unless it is a tube component, I like to treat things like a love light...

Turn it on


and leave it on
tommylion
563 posts
 
My previous post was totally tongue-in-cheek. Having some fun with the kind of responses that those of us who do hear differences with these kind of things often get.
nenon OP
20 posts
 

toddverrone684 posts11-01-2017 1:56pmIt has actually been discussed on quite a few threads here and the best idea put forward and used by at least one amp manufacturer was to use a circuit breaker in place of the on/off switch and the fuse.

Interesting... Maybe I did not use the right keywords in my search as I could not find any relevant discussions. I will try again. Thanks, Todd.
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