Power cord heiarchy

Spending hundreds of dollars on a six-foot replacement power cord ignores the other hundred-odd feet of regular wire between the wall outlet and power pole.
Schipo (Threads | Answers)

That's an oft repeated argument against after market power cords.

Grant Samuelson of Shunyata Research recently addressed this:

Power cords are designed to act as sympathetic, noise-isolated extensions of the primary winding within a component’s power supply. Seen this way, their function takes on a more understandable role. They represent the initial outward electrical interface for each piece of electronics in the system. That raw wire interface can either act as an antenna for radiated HF and ground-borne noise or it can be engineered to isolate the power-supply port from internal and external EMI, RFI interference.

There is no such thing as a power supply that is adequate to filtering or isolating itself entirely from the huge volume of gigahertz noise that surrounds electronics systems and comes from within them. The bigger and more powerful the system, typically the larger the problem an unshielded or unprotected AC port can become. That is not to say electronics systems cannot sound great without after-market cords, or that tons of money must be spent on them, it's just to say that there is real-world science that explains why that they "can and most often do make an easy to hear difference or improvement in recorded or reproduced sound".

In general, power cords do not represent the last few feet of an AC grid leading to a component; they are first few feet from the perspective of each component’s power supply. Due to the fact that your AC is in principle the_source_ of sound for any music or sound system--AC rectified to DC which carries the signal through the system--it would seem imprudent to ignore the possibility of a difference and not perform the simplest of empirical experiments for oneself--unless the point of discourse is only to make funny asides under strict internet protection :o).

Since no product of this or any kind are being forced on anyone, each is free to try for themselves and make their own determination. Certainly the fact that many of the finest recording studios, mastering professionals, electronics engineers speaker manufacturers openly use and endorse them would seem to dim some of the more ardent "internet posting professionals" erm, arguments...

Grant
Shunyata Research
Samuel (System | Answers)

FWIW...

Having turned into a thread on the merits of powercords, i can only say I did not believe. Then I tried some. Now I know. Same with Power conditioners. (My caviat is that I have ONLY experimented with the lower half of the price range) They can change subtle aspects of the noise result: (most folks call that noise result music)
i would say in general, my experience is that cords clarify. Powerconditioners clarify AND tighten up the LF, sweeten the HF, and lessen the strength of the LF slightly. The LF becomes leaner, tighter, less 'wool'ly. And the Lf quickly can become too thin very easily with nearly any multiples of cords and conditioners i have ever tried.

really...again? i can understand (sort of) that some folks are unable to hear the, what i perceive as significant, impact of power cords but what i do not understand is the need to constantly post in threads where others are exploring how they can best utilize the impact they do hear. that was not intended to be such a long sentence, happens sometimes.

to answer the op's question, depends. not what you want to hear i know. it really does depend on the cord, the gear and how it all interacts. it can really screw things up or really tie it all together so, for me, it takes a bunch of messing around. i still am struggling with finding the right balance/combination. i am starting to lean towards using all of the same cords which seems to be the right synergy for me.

I start with the digital source first.See what sounds best there.Then the preamp.Power amp last.This works for me.