Power Cords - What are peoples experiences?

[sugarmedia]

Thought many of you would find this article interesting, as there seems to be alot of debate surrounding the subject.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_11_4/feature-article-blind-test-power-cords-12-2004.html

[caleb]

This piece of b#llsh$it has been doing the rounds for ages.

[sugarmedia]

...And the horse has spoken.

Didn't I say there was some debate to the subject? Its never been a favored article for those who sell or make Powercords.

[caleb]

I don't sell power cords mate I make my own.

And they sound better than the expensive crap you get commercially.

[JetFlyGuy]

The thing I would like explained to my with regard to power cords, is wouldn't the total quility of the power be limited by the romex in the walls that lead to the outlet, or are we assuming that the line conditioner would eliminate this bottleneck?

[Aussie Geoff]

Hi,

1) I have moved this from Club B&W as it is not specifically to do with B&W speakers.

2) This can be a VERY emotive topic - so please lets just share experiences and not try and drown people out with a particular strong view...

PS - I was a Power Cord sceptic until, having tried several over the years, I found one that made a big difference (much to my surprise!). After that it took some searching for "the right one" for me but I'm a happy fan of the difference they can make in a good system.

Thanks

Geoff

[Patt]

My svs cylinder sub comes with a pretty small ga cord so I picked up a couple plugs at Parts Express and made my own. They happened to be out of 10 ga cord at the time so a local carried 25' pcs and it worked out well.

After installing the heavier cord I had to turn the gain down just a touch and it does have a massive heavy look to it.

[Danbry39]

I have three upgraded power cords, one which the dealer insisted I have (for free) for my Arcam CD player as he said the difference would be major. I never tried it with its original, so I can't say whether the sonic improvement actually existed.

The second one was with my now gone Rotel 1066 pre/pro. This time, I was able to discern a noticable improvement, although I went in skeptical.

So, I bought another one for my Denon DVD player. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help in this case whatsoever.

My conclussions are that they can make a difference, but that it is hit and miss.

When I posed the issue to EE's, they speculated that it could better shield out electro-magnetic fields generated by components in things such as power amps. Also, in the case of the Rotel, many have complained about the loose connection the stock cable had with the piece of equipment. They told me that the tighter, more snug connection alone could make a difference.

And, no, I didn't do any double blind tests. I'm too lazy. So, take all of this with the proverbial grain of salt.

[DifferentLee]

I got a deal on a Cardas Golden Reference cord and plugged it into my Sony SCD-777ES. It made a difference in terms of quieter backgrounds. The resolving capability of one's system can have an impact on what difference it makes.

EMI and RFI shielding makes a big difference in studio recordings where I have some experience. Why wouldn't it make a difference at home? Same physics.

[RobP]

I have noticed a big difference in the sound of my system with my power cord when I plug it in to an outlet as apposed to not plugging it in.

[Pieter]

Throw the main circuit breaker for an even blacker than black background!

[Adz]

I've heard too many times that PCs work better on source equipment like a DVD or CD player. In my system its hard for me to discern a noticeable difference except when I swap in and out on my amps. On my CineNova Grande especially, there was a clear improvement when I swapped the stock cord for a VH Flavor 4.

[Lex]

Sugarmedia, and others who may see this and want to jump on the bandwagon presenting blind, double blind and abx blind testing results? HTGuide management does not support all these tests, and won't become their medium for presentation of all these results

So, in short we favor the side of another 2 channel forum to not support blind or double blind tests. So, I ask that you do not post these type test results at HTG as a general rule. It is also a general invitation to post about all kinds of cables, and while our sponsor is not currently selling power cords, the post still falls under the cable invitation to post rule, and as such is a violation. We could just start deleting this type post, and may at some point without notice.

Doug