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The Last Power Cable Question EVER (from me)

Not trying to be argumentative but I can never seem to get an acceptable answer to what I think is a straightforward question.  Whenever the subject of clean power comes up, the “power cable” is suggested to be of prime importance in the quest for better sound.  It’s a given we are not using lamp cord to power our amps but going past any quality piece of 3-foot copper cable raises questions for me. 

The power cable is designed to transfer electricity from the wall outlet to your amp, or power conditioner if you are using one.  In theory, the worlds best power cable will complete this task without allowing any outside “noise” to get into the line over that 3-foot span.  To the best of my understanding of physics, copper wire does not have the capacity to act as a filter nor does it have any ability to impart tonal qualities.  In fact, no sound signal passes through the power cable.  Just electricity. 

So using what many would consider to be the crème de la crème in power cables, the famed Nordost Odin Gold Reference Power Cable, yours for one easy payment of $34,000, and assuming it does exactly what it is intended to do, move electricity for wall to amp without allowing anything else to interfere, then you are still just getting the same power that’s in you wall line, delivered right into your amp?  As dirty as that power may be, how is the $34000 cable NOT just transferring that exact same power from point A to point B?  I would love to learn something new today, but my common sense keeps telling me there’s a lot of Kool-Aid in the whole power cable discussion.  Someone given an explanation based in fact. 

128x128bigtwin

Showing 3 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,358 posts
 

Long ago I asked fundamental questions on audio components (I was a practicing scientist for ten years). I quickly realized that the published parameters and explanations frequently bared little bearing on sonic reality.

I have been startled at the impact of cables, interconnects and power cords. Nordost interconnects have been the very best I have ever heard in my system (look under my ID)… but I had to take them out because they cost as much as my component ($17K) and one of the worst… an $8K interconnect that for some reason fought with my system.

One of the the most cost effective purchases I have made for my system was a $2K Audio Quest Hurricane power cord for my amp. I am sure the more expensive Dragon would sound better… I have to save up. 
 

I gave up long ago (45 years) thinking I could logic this out. You have to systematically evaluate stuff of appropriate cost to determine what works… or if you really want an explaination talk to an electron.

ghdprentice
6,358 posts
 

OP,

 

I have spent hundreds and hundreds… and hundreds of hours comparing interconnects. I have spent hundreds of hours reading about cables… their constructions and some of the high level parameters that determine sound.
 

I developed a grading scale and rated different ones on seven parameters rated 1 to ten. I also researched scientific papers describing differences. If you are truely interested. Then I recommend google. Look for scientific papers. I have a partial bibliography somewhere. 
 

There are conductor grain dimensions, each grain becoming tiny capacitors differentially retarding different frequencies. There are usually thousands per inch. Different frequencies are effected by different materials. Then there are dielectrics used to shield, geometries to shape electromagnetic. People do PhD theis on this stuff. 
 


If I can find some of the references I’ll post them. 

ghdprentice
6,358 posts
 

Here are a few references:

 

 

 

 

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/cables-power-products-accessories-and-music/

 

 

https://www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/pear-cable-science/audible-significance-engineering

 

https://www.qed.co.uk/qed-genesis-report

 

https://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/AC/AC_14.html

 

http://revelationaudiolabs.com/design/index.htm

 

http://revelationaudiolabs.com/design/index.htm

 

http://boson.physics.sc.edu/~kunchur/papers/Audibility-of-cable-pathways--Kunchur.pdf

 

http://www.co-bw.com/Audio_Cables.htm

 

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1535938

 

https://www.psaudio.com/copper/article/cable-design-and-the-speed-of-sound-part-one/

 

https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/definition/electromagnetic-interference

 

 

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/1-4020-0613-6_14946

 

https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-propagation-velocity-in-a-cable

 

http://www.audiosystemsgroup.com/TransLines.pdf

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskPhysics/comments/qymy66/propagation_of_electrical_signals_through_wire/

 

https://www.edn.com/as-edge-speeds-increase-wires-become-transmission-lines/

 

https://www.tutorialsweb.com/rf-measurements/coax-cables/coaxial-cable.htm

 

https://science.nasa.gov/ems/02_anatomy

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/blogs/entry/167-velocity-of-propagation-at-audio-frequencies/

 

https://www.elandcables.com/the-cable-lab/faqs/faq-how-does-sound-travel-over-cables

 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/essex-echo-1995-electrical-signal-propagation-cable-theory-page-5

 

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/audio-cables-wiring

 

https://www.punchlistzero.com/copper-wire/

 

https://resources.system-analysis.cadence.com/blog/msa2021-how-signals-propagate-in-unbounded-conductive-media

 

https://www.liveaction.com/resources/glossary/propagation-delay/

 

 

http://pspatialaudio.com/cables.htm

 

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00766

 

https://www.genmore.net/hot_273855.html

 

 

https://hometheaterhifi.com/editorial/audiovideo-cables-science-and-insanity/

 

 

 

 

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/cables-power-products-accessories-and-music/

 

http://boson.physics.sc.edu/~kunchur/papers/Audibility-of-cable-pathways--Kunchur.pdf

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