Power Cords - Just Say Yes


I'm the biggest cable skeptic on the planet. I've never been able to tell the difference between one speaker cable over the other. I've never a/b tested because I just can't handle that sort of thing when all I want to do is listen to music. The power cord however is a whole different beast. I know. I just replaced a 18/3 that was powering my Rogue Cronus Magnum for two years with an Audioquest NRG4. I know some people aren't fans of AQ but that's what my local guy sells and I support him 100%. He sold me a broken in demo which is exactly what I wanted. I didn't do an a/b test and I didn't have to. I pulled the old one out and tossed it in the copper recycling pile and replaced it with the AQ. I fired up my amp this morning and let her warm up. I pulled out Sylvain Luc & Bireli Agrene's 'Duet' and hit the play button on the remote. Right off the bat I had to blink my eyes to make sure I was actually in my house. Everything tightened up with a dead silent background. I feel like a fool for waiting so long to come around on this one. I'm still skeptical of whether or not I will notice a difference when I replace the power cord to my CDP, but if you tell me I'll notice I might believe you. Either way, that's my next investment.
donjr

Showing 2 responses by ketchup

Has anyone ever tried a slightly longer run of wire terminated with an IEC plug (panel>breaker>wire>IEC plug>component) instead of the usual situation where the wire is terminated at an outlet (panel>breaker>wire>outlet>plug>aftermarket cord>IEC plug> component)? It seems a little "crazy," but you'll have a few less connections and no need for a different type of wire than what is already in your house.
Peter,

Who cares whether it passes code or not? The point is to see if there's an improvement in eliminating power cords from the equation. It's a test. But, if I hard wired my components and it made my system sound better, I would deal with code which would never be an issue anyway. Nobody would ever see it. It's your house, you can do what you want.

Your tests look interesting. I look forward to reading your conclusions!