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Why Power Cables Affect Sound

I just bought a new CD player and was underwhelmed with it compared to my cheaper, lower quality CD player. That’s when it hit me that my cheaper CD player is using an upgraded power cable. When I put an upgraded power cable on my new CD player, the sound was instantly transformed: the treble was tamed, the music was more dynamic and lifelike, and overall more musical. 

This got me thinking as to how in the world a power cable can affect sound. I want to hear all of your ideas. Here’s one of my ideas:

I have heard from many sources that a good power cable is made of multiple gauge conductors from large gauge to small gauge. The electrons in a power cable are like a train with each electron acting as a train car. When a treble note is played, for example, the small gauge wires can react quickly because that “train” has much less mass than a large gauge conductor. If you only had one large gauge conductor, you would need to accelerate a very large train for a small, quick treble note, and this leads to poor dynamics. A similar analogy might be water in a pipe. A small pipe can react much quicker to higher frequencies than a large pipe due to the decreased mass/momentum of the water in the pipe. 

That’s one of my ideas. Now I want to hear your thoughts and have a general discussion of why power cables matter. 

If you don’t think power cables matter at all, please refrain from derailing the conversation with antagonism. There a time and place for that but not in this thread please. 
128x128mkgus

Showing 5 responses by gpgr4blu

gpgr4blu
1,076 posts
 
I feel sorry for anyone who believes that reputable high end PCs cannot improve the sound of a system in many ways--in fact, too numerous to list.
gpgr4blu
1,076 posts
 
I can tell the difference between stock power cords and say, Audience, Audioquest or Shunyata high end cables--all of which I have, had or listened to in my system at length. I hear better and tighter bass, better microdynamics, dimensionality and pace or some combination of most of the above in all of them. These high end PCs all differ in character but all exceed, on balance, what stock cords bring to the table.
I often fail to hear differences in tweaks to my system but I hear the differences in PCs and ICs as clearly as I can hear the differences in room treatments. If others cannot hear these differences and rely upon the limited universe of existing measurements that don’t come close to measuring all aspects of human hearing, good for them--they can use lamp cord and save thousands of dollars on expensive PCs or ICs.
As for me, I’ll keep listening to my expensive PCs and ICs and enjoy the differences that they bring. There is no measurement that will convince me that I'm hearing 
gpgr4blu
1,076 posts
 
@mzkmxcv:
Timbre, texture of sound, the presence or absence of easily heard vs buried microdynamics in a passage, imaging and, most importantly, whether the music sounds natural and rhythmic and engages one emotionally or is presented in a mechanical and metronomic fashion. Indeed, we only have measurements for characteristics of sound which are within our knowledge. Not to dismiss measurements. They are important--for example I don't think an amp can sound good if it measures poorly, but an amp that measures well doesn't necessarily sound good at all. 

gpgr4blu
1,076 posts
 
mzkmxcv:
You can build your system based upon measurements. I’ll build mine, as I have over the past 40+ years, based to some extent on measurements, but to a greater extent on what I hear.  As for the science you believe to be definitively on point, I disagree with your characterization of how the measurements you present relate to how the sounds measured are processed by the human ear.  But let's assume you are correct, well, then --if the current science cannot measure why I hear differences in PCs and ICs , then I submit that it is not measuring everything. Or as a scribe once said:
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
gpgr4blu
1,076 posts
 
mzkmxcv:
I have said everything relevant regarding my ability to distinguish between the cable manufacturers I mentioned above. I have no need to win an argument against alleged measurements as to why I do. But I can assure you it is not confirmation bias.It is now time for me to bow out of this thread. 
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