Can power cable upgrades be appreciated with Rotel?

[Horacio]

I'm thinking about upgrading the stock power cables included with my Rotel gear (RCD-1072, RC-1070, RB-1080), together with an upgraded wall outlet. I drive B&W 804s with these. From what I read at other forums many think you should get your electronics to a point high enough that they can benefit from an upgrade in power cables. Now, would my Rotel hi-fi benefit from this? Have you tried upgrading PC and have you experienced a significant improvement?

Thanks!!

[esaleris]

I can't say if those cables improve anything or not, but all I think about is the fact that the actual electric wiring inside your house leading up to the outlet is probably lowest-cost, generic wiring. So I'm not sure the last 3-6 feet of awesome, expensive, audiophile-quality cabling have an effect. Others may have different opinions.

[Ron Reda]

Manufacturer specific information deleted by admin.

[Dmantis]

Cable upgrades of any kind make a difference if what you are currently using is causing problems.
I have upgraded , changed , moved all over the place power , speaker , conditioners , IC's etc and I have noticed a few things.

Matching is key. When you put in those cables that go well with your system, everything seems to work great. I have no preference on who makes them other then just finding the "Right " Ones.

Powercords I did however notice some sonic differences. It makes no sense why but shortening some of my powercords really cleaned up the back of my rack and I was able to keep IC's away from them easier. No powercord coils was also very nice.

I say buy a few from wherever you feel comfortable. The owner has a Cat cable store online but I'm not sure if he has powercords to try.

Dan

[Ferres]

If you're a little skeptical, test the new powercord with a tv monitor that has a detachable powercord. If you get some picture improvements then it will probably do the same with audio gear.

[PewterTA]

Better than upgrading the cables (in my opinion) is to go to Partsexpress (link above) and get yourself some Deoxit D100L or Gold GX100L...Gold is the better conductor. Cover the prongs with this stuff and plug them in...you'll get a much better contact between the outlet and the plug. This will give a better signal to your equipment and will create a noticeable difference. How noticeable...that's debateable, but for the cost, it's highly recommended.

Only reason I say to try this over upgrading cables, is I've found to get any improvement you have to spend some major $$$ to get a noticeable difference.

[btf1980]

I'm definately in the, how do I say it delicately without offending anyone...."skeptic" side of this issue. The power cables that came with your equipment is fine and are more than adequate IMO. You don't need "designer" power cables for anything. Use that money instead for room treatments, hardware upgrades for the future, or heck add it to your 401K or a savings/checking account. All those will go further than any power cable you buy.

[PewterTA]

I agree with BTF1980, which is why I recommend the deoxit...I never even though THAT would do anything, until I figured for the <$20 to try it why not. To my surprise, it was definitely a positive.

[Mark-n-b]

a more scientific perspective

I am an engineer, and I too was sceptical because I would have thought that the wiring in the house would be the lowest denominator in a circuit that leads back to the power station (or at least the nearest sub-station). However, this is not the case, because the wiring in the house is solid core, and the cable from the socket to the unit is stranded – which is a compromise for a/v gear (the weakest link in the chain (apparently)).
I have read that some people have used the same solid core wire that is in the walls of the house to wire directly to audio equipment for the best possible gains in performance – but it is against regulations in some countries to use solid core wire in this way (I think because it not flexible, and if you do flex it a lot, it tends to break).
Mark

[esaleris]

However, this is not the case, because the wiring in the house is solid core, and the cable from the socket to the unit is stranded – which is a compromise for a/v gear (the weakest link in the chain (apparently)).

Thanks, that's an interesting point I've never considered.

[chrispy35]

There's a scientifically explicable difference between solid-core and stranded wire at 60 Hz? 8O Please provide the science...

In the skeptics camp,

Chris P.

[DL86]

Extremely doubt power cable does anything no matter how pricey your sound system is. Unless the power cable has some genius circuit built into the power cord that could improve anything, then highly doubtful a 1.5m cable will do anything.

In the b&w forums one bloke had a set of set of 802D's a mark levinson pre amp and cd player and a super pricey krell amp and concluded that power cables and high end power conditioners did absolutly nothing to improve sound quality over 1 dollar generic power cords. So I doubt a "high end" power cable will aid rotel electronics.

DON'T BE SUCKED INTO MARKETING!

[Mark-n-b]

...Please provide the science...

I cannot because I am also in the sceptic camp, but less so than I was before I asked the question . I am mealy relaying what was said in answer, which seemed reasonable to me, and it is possible that this could be an answer to why people *seem* to hear/see an improvement given the lack of any other reasonable argument - for or against!

[Ferres]

It's easy and even better to be skeptical when it comes to these types of products. Until of course you find one that actually does something. :W

[Horacio]

Thanks folks. Interesting feedback. I was expecting believers and skeptics, as usual. I noticed most are stating position from your beliefs rather than experience, though. Still valid of course, but was hoping for more experience-based feedback.

[Kevin D]

Thanks folks. Interesting feedback. I was expecting believers and skeptics, as usual. I noticed most are stating position from your beliefs rather than experience, though. Still valid of course, but was hoping for more experience-based feedback.

Well that's the problem. Everyone with a good 'experience' will be questioned by the skeptics. There's no way to really know without trying it out yourself.

I'm going to go ahead and close the thread before it gets into a battle or gets full of competing cable manufacturers and websites. Remember this site is ran by Cat-Cables. While Cat doesn't offer power cords, most companies that do also offer AV cables.

If anyone does have some experience you would like Horacio to know, feel free to PM him.

Kevin D.