audiphile power cords


Do upgraded power cords really make a significant difference in sound quality? I have a Jolida 502p that I think sounds pretty good. What do you recommend for a power cord that would make a significant improvement?
al2214

Showing 6 responses by wolf_garcia

I have a 502p with a beefy power cord of unknown provinance that somebody gave me, and it sounds great...really great, but attaining a "significant" difference from AC cables might be illusive. I've swapped some high end and less so cords in and out for fun and it pretty much always sounds great regardless. I have it and and another power amp plugged into a PS Audio Humbuster III (more for the other amp which is SS and used rarely for a pair of deck speakers) which has a sensible transformer noise killing design, and having tried various so-called "premium" power cables with very difficult to detect little to no improvement having led me to not give a damn about them. I'm lucky I guess...I do use a PS Audio "garden hose" type AC cord on my REL sub, mostly because it was a cheap used thing and looks cool, but it had no audible effect on the sound of the sub. Good AC wall plugs (again, PS Audio Power Ports) make sense but I'm not sure if the SOUND is better, but the grip on the cable is great so there's that. The claims of what expensive AC cables might do are silly to me, but I do think that better power supplies with chokes and other sorts of filtering can be helpful.
Bojack gets my "best post of the week" award...agree or not, it's fabulous. I like power cord descriptions from Pangea and the like as the bombast kills me...it seems that any system without premium AC cords must sound like screaming death bats, and with them the electrons are SO much happier and more organized when entering the labyrinth of fuses, resistors, transformers, the spleen, chokes, filters, etc., that your system will suddenly rise from a cloud of stinking mud fog and fix your life.
I think we should demand that the title of any topic be spelled correctly...really...
Power cables do make a difference...I've tried listening to my system without them and have been met with complete silence...no distortion or room mode interference of course, but no sound either...therefore I can highly recommend AC cords as they do seem to be a key component when one needs to get current from the wall to the gear. Call this a controversial position, but I'm sticking to it.
If I was to replace my fine sounding but hipness challenged cords with Pangeas that cost under 100 bucks, or ZU audio that are even less in some cases, or entry level Shunyatas, would I then reap the benefits of better electron management? My system currently is very quiet, has PS Audio and Pangea power supply tweaks, and seems to sound great. What do I do with the then unused cables? Make jewelry? The notion that I'd borrow expensive stuff and see what matches best with my system has been obviated by my previous experiment with the one high end cord I have...zero difference...meaning my current batch of decent wire is working, or I'm a tim eared bonehed...I may simply ignore the entire exercise and continue to be ovepaid to mix live jazz concerts using unexotic cables...just don't blow my cover.