Power cords

Well looks like Kilerpiglet is right, this is heading straight to the same type of discussion as speaker cables and ICs (as well as all other "tweaks", like cones, shelving etc). It all becomes a matter of belief. The suggestion is always made to try whatever is under discussion so that one can draw personal conclusions. The underlying belief is that any and all of this does have benefits on the sound itself and if you don't hear it, well... The analogy to hospital equipment is interesting, but not quite convincing to me. The reason for any measures taken in hospitals insofar as power lines, the quality of ac etc. might have to do more with insuring longevity of the equipment than ultimate performance. Moreover, I do not see that aesthetics enters into the picture insofar as priorities are concerned with medical equipment (which is not to say that their external design, nowadays, is not given a fair degree of attention), as with audio equipment, which, if I understand correctly, is invariably about the quality of the sound. Since I can make no claims to knowing what goes on in hospitals, I will not try to deduce from the type of wiring and sockets used there what the true motivation might be The notion that something could be done or should be done in home sound system installations merely for reasons of safety, operating stability, where the benefits only occur in extreme circumstances, or longevity of the equipment has, quite simply, vanished. The only thing that is left is that everything, from the shelf on which the equipment sits on to sun spots, somehow affect the "listening experience" (sorry for my use of junk English, I can't resist). It seems difficult to argue against the notion that the ultimate decision should always be based on one's own experience. Again, I am not convinced that it is necessarily so. The sub-argument here is that some listeners have the experience and knowledge required to discern properly. I will not touch this last point for fear that, yet again, lines will be drawn, to no avail. To use medical analogy again, I know for a fact that I cannot conduct proper testing of a drug alone on myself. I may feel that whatever it is I take provides relief or even a cure, but I would not even think of manufacturing whatever it was that in my own experience produced such results with the argument that I will let the user be the judge. We are not always the best judge. So the arguments go around and around until some participant invites another to leave because he is the troubling the A'gon peace. Luckily, its only a hobby. The only negative effect of tweaking and upgrading is on the wallet or in time lost, but, again, one can always argue that any hobby is a waste of time. In that sense audio is no worse, and in many ways better, than a number of other hobbies. The long and short of it, I guess, is personal choice, which, in these matters, I am for without reservation. With my limited resources, I still want to err on the side of more recordings and less hardware.

Thank you one and all for your comments and suggestions. If I can add one thing at this stage, it would be my suggestion to end the discussion on this thread as, contrary to what I indicated before, Killerpiglet is actually incorrect in saying that it would teeter on the brink of chaos. Quite the contrary, on second thought, it is actually very predictable, in that lines are drawn exactly at the same point as for ICs, speaker cables and tweaks in general. I will not go over ground previously covered, although it is even clearer to me now that there are two schools of thought on audio (surprise, surprise), which are built on different premises, and then go on from there to elaborate a web of arguments which are interwoven in such a fashion that they almost become a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. As I have stated in one of my earlier comments, a whole sub-argument, sub-discussion could be generated on the "experienced" or "golden ear" listener notion, as postulated, inter alia, by Garfish. I am sceptical but not cynical. I just can't generate enough excitement from tinkering with the hardware side as in my early days in this hobby. On the other hand, finding a new artist, another good or great recording from one I already know and appreciate, or even a whole new genre (at least to me) of music, especially on my frequent forays to the local used CD stores, still makes me happy. Whatever your way of enjoying the hobby, go for it. This is neither promise nor threat, I may concentrate from now on the music threads instead of the equipment threads, since I have no wish to proselytise and my views, however one perceives them, are probably known by now and , generally, less than welcome on this site. Maybe a discussion on power chords instead of power cords next time around. Good day one and all. Now where's my Gene Ammons/Sonny Stitt CD...