Do Power Cords Matter

[Brad225]

Like many out there I have always wondered about how a power cord could make a difference in the sound of audio equipment.
It has always been my thought that to use it the electricity had to come all the way from the generation station through miles of wires that are maybe decades old into the house and to a receptacle in the wall.

How could that last 6 feet of wire make much difference?

In the past I have read articles by Jon Risch. I'm sure a number of you are familiar with his writings. He is often skeptical of many commonly held beliefs about wires and audio practices.

One of his articles I ran across was about power cords. His explanation of how they can affect audio equipment was quite interesting.

Enough so I think I will probably make some and see if it matters in my set up.

Below is a link to that article.

http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/ac-cords.htm

 

[GregLett]

I for one did not believe in power cords at all. I ran stock cords in my system until a few weeks ago. My buddy was listing some of his many power cords on AGONE, so I figured what the hay, let me plug in one of them to my CD player.

I purchased that power cord from him. That experience made a believer out of me. I still won't go nuts and pay 1K for a cord, but I think good quality PC in you system is a must.

 

[Kenscollick]

I have been around for quite awhile and the power cords were the last thing I upgraded I scratched my head for a long time as to the last 5' making a difference, but dammed if it don't. everything matters,

 

[amey01]

I won't criticise ANYTHING because we simply don't understand. That said, I really really can't see how a few feet of quality power cable on the end of yoru system can make a difference when the real "power cord" for your system extends all the way back to the power station! It is sort of like connecting your speakers up with fence wire, then adding an inch of Nordost Valhalla at the end and saying that you can hear the difference.

In all honesty, they probably do make a difference, but I run stock power cords because I believe you can get better bang for your buck by spending money elsewhere.

 

[Jeff Zaret]

To some it makes a difference and others it will not. It depends on how, in general, "clean" the power is coming out of the wall. Of course it is a generalization but there is some validity to this entire theory.

It is similar to a water purifier on your faucet. Now considering everything else in the system and what you can really hear and what is psycho-acoustically heard can be two different things.

The bottom line is try one or two on specific equipment. Usually the ones which stand to make the most impact would be the preamp and/or a CD or DVD and see what changes there are and are they worth it. If it is worth it and you like you have your answer if not you still have an answer.

Jeff

 

[sleepysurf]

Risch's comments are interesting. I've always been skeptical about the value of high-end power cords, but I recently sprung a whopping $50 for six of the Volex 17604 power cords (14g, shielded), which I'm using for all my components, and ML Summits. Frankly, I didn't notice any improvement in sonics, but at that price, it was certainly worth a try. I suspect that for some components, the improved current capacity, and RFI shielding, DOES make a difference, and *CAN* have an audible effect.

As for ML's, only the Summits and Vantages (and the powered subs) could theoretically benefit from a power cord upgrade. The stat panels themselves only draw current to charge the panels, and there is no logical reason an upgraded cord would make a difference there.

 

[tonyc]

I was a skeptic until I heard the difference a good power cord can make. It still angers me to think that yet again I must spend more money! Still, hearing is believing and I do hear differences.

 

[risabet]

I really really can't see how a few feet of quality power cable on the end of your system can make a difference when the real "power cord" for your system extends all the way back to the power station! It is sort of like connecting your speakers up with fence wire, then adding an inch of Nordost Valhalla at the end and saying that you can hear the difference.

Interesting comments but actually there are only a few meters or tens of meters of line at residential voltage from the transformer to your power meter. The transformer acts as an isolation device from the major issues with the high voltage transmission lines. Now does that matter? I guess so since I and many others can hear a difference when power cords are swapped (though we could all be self-deluded also). I certainly can't say why (though reduction of RFI/EMI strikes me as important) there is a difference but subjectively I hear one.

As an aside since the power is AC you could view the power cord as the first meter

 

[Brad225]

The thing with Jon Risch that I found interesting, assuming it is in fact correct, is way for instance, a power amp stores and requires power for peaks in musical passages. Supposedly a better/lower gauge wire will be able to supply power at those moments where a 16 or 18 ga. wire that is typical on many pieces of audio equipment.

I'm curious to hear what people think of his approach.

I understand its all taken with a big grain of salt.

For those of you with an electronics background does what he is saying make sense to you?

 

[David Matz]

I spoke to an acoustically competent electrician, and they recommend 10 guage wire from your circuit breaker on 2 20 amp circuits, hospital grade outlets, and an aftermarket powercord first for your amp and then for your cd player. You can easily test the latter part.

 

[MickeyVee]

I assume that most of us are running some sort power conditioning. I think that a quality power cord from the conditioner to the equipment helps.
This was evident to me when I added an Audioquest NRG-2 to my reciever and DVD player. I then added one to my subwoofer. They did make a notable difference in the sound quality and dynamics. I wouldn't do without them now. Next is to add one to the flat panel to see if this makes any difference in the video quality.
I would not go overboard and spekd 1k on a cord, but the bottom of the line Audioquest did make a difference even in a lower end system.

 

[twich54]

I spoke to an acoustically competent electrician, and they recommend 10 guage wire from your circuit breaker on 2 20 amp circuits, hospital grade outlets, and an aftermarket powercord first for your amp and then for your cd player. You can easily test the latter part.

Correct, I agree, and to the point that I put my amp on it's OWN circuit.

with regards to power cord guage of wire, I doubt very much that with the equipment those of us are using; 18 guage is never used, 16 maybe.

as far as the initial question , I'm in the camp that a quality built, solidly connected of sufficient guage (10-14) is what matters. Does this formula necessitate spending many hundreds or thousands of $$, ABSOLUTELY NOT !!!

 

[Caerus]

I assume that most of us are running some sort power conditioning. I think that a quality power cord from the conditioner to the equipment helps.

This is the key; a good high quality cord (not excessive I might say) from the outlet to a good power conditioner is essential. The cascading cords down stream from the power conditioner should be of sufficient quality as Dave indicated. That may mean OEM cords in some cases or simply $20-50 aftermarket cords. There have been tests that conclude this; first cord in the system is the most important.

My Rotel power conditioner designed by APC has a substantial power cord from the wall to the conditioner which is more than acceptable. Some of my OEM cords are sufficient, but some I will mildly upgrade. No reason to go crazy with power cords in my opinion after the power conditioner.

Brad

 

[jfm]

my random contributions to this:

-- dedicated AC lines - one of the best bang-for-the-buck improvements for me
-- line conditioner - further helped, even with a dedicated AC line
-- power cord upgrades - as I accumulated them, I put the best ones coming out of the line conditioner (to help keep the cleaned-up ac clean) and worked backward from there
-- and about the power cord being the last few feet of the transmission line, there is the alternate view that it represents the first few feet that the component sees

cheers

 

[Gordon Gray]

Try a test drive!

I am of the school, based on my own personal listening experiences, that power cords make a HUGE difference in the sound of the component.

Once I started down the Mapleshade path, first with the CD treatments, then the brass cones, then the interconnects, and finally the power cords, I can't really describe how much impact the power cords had on the overall sound of my system.

The old analogy of lifting blankets off the speakers is the simplest thing that I can say.

Best option is to try with a 30 day / money back option.

I've plugged Mapleshade before and I'll do it again because they offer a 30 day audition, money back guarantee option. Another option is, of course, FATWYRE. In order of components, bang for the buck is CD player, preamp, and then amplifier.

Recently, I had a ground loop hum issue with my system. Trying to isolate, I swapped out my MS power cord with the stock cord. Difference was like looking through a window that hadn't been cleaned in six months and one that was cleaned the previous day.

However, the impact of power cord swapping, and your ability to hear the difference, is, IMHO, entirely dependant on how transparent your overall system is to begin with. Fortunately or unfortunately (read money spent) for me, I had enough good equipment, interconnects, etc. in place before trying the power cord upgrade, that the power cord upgrade, and the ability to hear the benefits, was an absolute no brainer.

I have no rational explanation as to why this is because I am not a techy type but I will tell you that is well worthwhile exploring.

GG

 

[Rabbit house]

How could that last 6 feet of wire make much difference?

It was my question when I started to think about my audio room for the first time.

I thought like this.
1. I don't want to spend much money for power cords, plugs and wall plates in my life.
2. In Europe, they use 240VAC for a power line. It's better because the voltage drop in indoor cable is not so huge. But in Japan we use 100 VAC.
3. We generally use 12 or 16 guage lines for indoor cables in Japan. They are thin.
4. I want to reduce the number of contacts in order to prevent the voltage drop between them.
5. I want to use gold plate for all contacts to reduce the contact resistance.

Finally I decided to give up "last 6 feet of wire ". I installed 6 indoor cables just for audio use. I used 8 guage lines with shields. The power indoor cords were connected directly to the audio equipments with IEN audio connectors one by one.

The result was amazing. People who can understand the difference by short power cords can imagine the big change easily.

It costed only 600 USD for all. Folks, don't you think it's economical?

Shuji

 

[tonyc]

What an elegant solution! I am not that obsessive but I did have a couple of 20A circuits run in my 2 channel room, one for the front end and one for the amp and Summits. I was so pleased with the result I had another 20A line added to my 5.1 system in the living room. Most recently I upgraded my PLC from a Monster to a Shunyata Hydra 8 for the front end and used a Shunyata Python Helix from wall to Hydra. I was absolutely stunned by the improvement in noise floor soundstaging and coherence.

 

[David Matz]

Has any one compared Powervar to others

Has anyone compared the Powervar product to any of the other products. I would love to hear any thoughts and opinions.

Thanks

 

[captain_tinker]

Folks,
I found this TrippLite hospital grade power bar, and wondered if this sort of thing would be a good idea?

http://www.superwarehouse.com/Tripp...de_Power_Strip,_6_Outlets/PS-606-HG/p/1487422

There is also this other place called GutWire, anyone ever heard of it?

http://www.uhfmag.com/AC.html

-capT

 

[ralflar]

I recently bought several 10 and 12 gauge power cords from Signal Cable and Zebra Cables. The difference they make in my system is significant!

They look much nicer and fit much better since they have proper length.

I cannot comment on any sonic benefits because I also replaced interconnects and worked on room acoustics at the same time. There is no doubt that the changes improved the sound noticeably overall. How much of that improvement can be attributed to the power cords is debatable.