Power Cables. Are they overhyped?

[John Channing]

We seem to have strayed off track a bit, the original discussion was about power cables. These do not carry audio signal and provided they are not faulty in some way will not make any difference to the sound.

It's interesting Naim said that too for decades before realising their loyal and gullible followers would pay a King's ransom if they could come up with a half plausible story. Et voila, £560 for a trinkety power cable. It would be interesting to do a study on hifi obsessives to see whether they are particularly suggestible or prone to endlessly trying to optimise things that already work perfectly.

In the end, it appears people will hear what they want to hear, even where the claims can be dismissed as bunkum using basic physics or electrical engineering. It's like audio Trumpism.

 

[Errol]

We seem to have strayed off track a bit, the original discussion was about power cables. These do not carry audio signal and provided they are not faulty in some way will not make any difference to the sound.

And what listening tests have you done to prove this statement?

Mr ED

 

[John Channing]

And what listening tests have you done to prove this statement?

Mr ED

How will any listening test change the basic laws of physics?

 

[John Channing]

And what listening tests have you done to prove this statement?

Mr ED

Fair play to you though, for immediately stepping up and winning the Donald J Trump award for services to the denial of science in the face of overwhelming evidence. ;-)

 

[busb]

If an amp or any component is susceptible to cable changes then it is simply not fit for purpose and should be thrown away.
Keith

Thrown away, thrown away? Certainly not! It should be sold on for more than it cost because it's properly run in so will sound better than when bought.

 

[Errol]

Fair play to you though, for immediately stepping up and winning the Donald J Trump award for services to the denial of science in the face of overwhelming evidence. ;-)

I take it then that you haven't listened.

 

[BE718]

Quite right, the ability to see, hear or become aware of something, understanding it's true nature, insight. (oxford)
Perception is insight, if you hear the difference in cable changes you are insightful.
How about that?

Mr ED

Nice one haha. Spend large sums on mains cables and you are anything but insightful.

 

[BE718]

Hello SQ, interesting point - how technically would the excellent grounding make a difference do you think (I'm sure it does by the way), when I asked about the benefit of a low impedance 'Earth' (especially low impedance to higher frequencies) I was told by BE that this was just a safety issue!

Cheers. Bill

No, I advised going for double insulated with no earth and balanced. An earth connection can introduce problems particularly if you have multiple connections to it. Also noise does not get drained into it.

 

[Errol]

Nice one haha. Spend largecsums on mains cables and you are anything but insightful.

When did I mention anything about ''largecsums"

 

[BE718]

When did I mention anything about ''largecsums"

So what are you saying?????

An ordinary IEC mains cable is cheap as chips - a few quid or $, audiophile mains cables are significantly more expensive.

 

[Errol]

So what are you saying?????

An ordinary IEC mains cable is cheap as chips - a few quid or $, audiophile mains cables are significantly more expensive.

Yes, and some of them sound a lot better.
We seem to be back where we started.

Some can hear a difference, some can't, it is what it is.

Mr ED

 

[BE718]

Yes, and some of them sound a lot better.
We seem to be back where we started.

Some can hear a difference, some can't, it is what it is.

Mr ED

Except of course they don't .hahahahahahah

 

[Paul Mc]

He's right though. Anyone trying to sell you a fancy power cable oven a decent spec mass produced iec is a charlatan.

Bill, I have two sets of Amps, a Muse model 200 that will spit and crackle if I move cables around and hums and buzzes from the speakers. It's been serviced in the past five years and measures to spec, it's just poorly designed with bad wiring that picks up all sorts of noise.

My other power amps are Tom Christians mod86p parallel amps. These are strewn across the floor with all sorts of poor cable layout, my laziness, but the circuit is balanced and has over 90db of PSRR. It's utterly silent at my typical max listening level.

One is designed well, one isn't.

I build a lot of phono stages. And am very careful with wiring layout and earth connection quality. It makes all the difference in the world to measured noise and hum.

So that's it?

 

[whatsnext]

I have tried several better than std mains cables and the difference wasn't there. I don't believe those who do hear a difference.

 

[drummerman]

I have tried several better than std mains cables and the difference wasn't there. I don't believe those who do hear a difference.

Maybe they just hear better than you?

 

[whatsnext]

Maybe they just hear better than you?

Maybe. Maybe they have better imaginations. They seem keen to tell a good story here. They certainly got me to waste my money.

 

[Errol]

Except of course they don't .hahahahahahah

I still take it you haven't listened.

 

[Julf]

I still take it you haven't listened.

Have you? With your ears only?

 

[stevec67]

Nobody listens with their ears only, and that's the point. We all hear what we want to hear, to a greater or lesser extent. Some may call this "training" and there is an element of that, some may call it "expectation bias" and we all have that. There is also context, in which a messed-up recording is unintelligible until you hear the original, then it's comprehensible. A transistor radio gives you an *impression* of bass, even if it can't reproduce it, and your brain will fill in the rest.

Some people here think that their ears, possibly their ears alone, are oscilloscopes. I can hear this because I've learned the skill. You may not, clearly you have not yet learned.

 

[Julf]

Some people here think that their ears, possibly their ears alone, are oscilloscopes. I can hear this because I've learned the skill. You may not, clearly you have not yet learned.

Yes, you can definitely train yourself to pick up stuff that is there but that you wouldn't pick up with an untrained ear. It is much harder to train yourself not to hear stuff that you think is there but isn't.