Power Cords - Just Say Yes

You are the newest poster boy for Getting Over the Pride and Trying Cables.

Your frank admission is helpful for several reasons; one is that you admit pride played a central role in preventing you from actually trying a comparison. It should be obvious that when one merely listens to different systems in different environments it is impossible to tell the role cables play. ONLY by A/B comparison - which as we have been saying all along, it's not necessary to do so in a blind test as the results are strikingly obvious - in the same rig can one hear the difference and find out that not only are power cords, but ICs, Digital cables, and speaker cables capable of such dramatic changes to system sound.

Now, just imagine if other hard-headed skeptics softened their arrogant attitude enough to actually TRY some different cabling. The audiophile world might become a better place in many ways. :)

Donjr, welcome to the System Builder club! You now are on the road to much better sound and a far more lovely experience.

The sad thing is that for some people the price of experimentation has to be virtually nil before they are willing to entertain a change. I will simply say that being cheap holds back one's rig FAR more than most think. This is one of the reasons why I say, "The greatest impediment to building an audiophile system is the audiophile."

Donjr, now, let's reason a bit. You just have heard for yourself how PC effects amp/pre. Trust me; EVERY wire in EVERY spot effects a system's sound. What are you waiting for? Put the new PC on the cdp. You'll hear a different presentation simply by moving the PC from amp to cdp.

In my experience moving PCs from amp to cdp you will likely hear more definition and detail as the source is improved, but will also likely have some diminishment of macrodynamics if the stock cord is put back on the amp.

Now, consider; if you hear that change, then what of an entire loom, an entire system of cabling influencing the components and speakers? Uh, huh. You need to make up for lost time, my friend! :)

Success comes to those who do/try, while the rest make excuses.

That's not theory; that's application. :)

Foster_9, how about we add back my initial comment in my paragraph, which you omitted? It makes a difference when it reads thus:

The sad thing is that for some people the price of experimentation has to be virtually nil before they are willing to entertain a change. I will simply say that being cheap holds back one's rig FAR more than most think. This is one of the reasons why I say, "The greatest impediment to building an audiophile system is the audiophile."

You swung the discussion to an extreme of $1K power cords and Fortune 500 salaries. That's quite the shift! My point, regardless of level of experimentation - for instance, perhaps sub-$100 power cords used - was that some people are SO cheap they won't tolerate even the thought of spending money on anything which is not supposedly guarnateed to improve their audio experience.

As I indicated that is "...one of the reasons," not the sole reason. As you suggest there are several reasons, including tight budgets why people can't experiment. My point was that some people are cheapskates, and I think they justify it by listening to the voices of those who have done little to no comparisons/testing of such matters. It's all a bunch of, "I think,...." versus putting up even modest amount of money to conduct a comparison.

You indicate that two of the reasons why audiophiles fail to achieve good sound are, "...knowledge, experience," which I assert can be gained through actually trying things such as aftermarket cabling, rather than sitting on one's opinion. :)

BTW, I did not say that being cheap holds one's rig back far more than other causes; I said that it holds one's rig back far more than the audiophile may think.

I believe you misunderstood my intent. My point is that at whatever level of cost, the decision to choose "value," i.e. disinterest in spending anything - note that I said, "virtually nil," - more on something not considered proven to improve is a big reason why many audio systems do not perform well.

Mapman, seriously? Six figures? You push the analogy to six figure systems? I think you are making the same stretch here as Foster_9. It's a long stretch to go from my complaint of people being cheap and willing to spend virtually nil to six figure systems.

Why is it that when aftermarket power cords are mentioned as a means to overcome insipid system building you guys jump to the 1%er argument? :)