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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. 
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Showing 5 responses by tobor007

tobor007's avatar
tobor007
135 posts
 
"A 2014 study published in Science Translational Medicine (Harvard medical school) explored placebo effect by testing how people reacted to migraine pain medication. The researchers discovered that the placebo was 50% as effective as the real drug to reduce pain after a migraine attack."

That percentage would pretty much cover the " significant" difference some people are hearing. Spend the extra money on room tweaks.


fossda  "My good audio retailers and the audio literature have indicated that power cables are of first importance in cabling upgrades."

Salesmen tend to do that.  

tobor007's avatar
tobor007
135 posts
 
I really did not mean their would be a loser. Just fun and perhaps some learning tied in with a good show.
tobor007's avatar
tobor007
135 posts
 
So back and forth it goes, and nothing changes. Why not get 10 sample audiophiles who have a history of posting here and have a listening study. Location could be at an agreed on audio show so it would give us some fun things to do.Small  ante fee to be determined. Say $200? 5 for and 5 against believing or not believing the difference power cables make. Blind test. Any person can switch sides after the test. Score the test and the winners take all. The losers get a audiophile t-shirt for parting gift. We all get to meet each other and have some laughs. I'm in, so we only need 9 more. 
tobor007's avatar
tobor007
135 posts
 
I started the placebo suggestion, and where I was going with it is, not to say there is no effect on sound. If you have noise in your system and replace the power cord and it cleans it up, a 5 year old can distinguish between the two. It's the claims of " so obvious that it cannot be missed". Just like picking out a Magnepan from a JBL speaker. At that level of difference, you would not have to live with a system for days, it would very easy to blind test, a casual listener would prefer 1 over the other every time. If there is a marked difference between cables and advanced audiophiles can perceive it, don't worry about blind testing. I mean it's "obvious". Just like spending $10,000 on speakers instead of $500. It makes a big difference.  
tobor007's avatar
tobor007
135 posts
 
" hypotheses for how a power cable COULD affect sound"
The fact remains, if you can't pick it out (on your own system) it dose not matter. Have your wife plug in the expensive cord for a day then the stock cord for a day, not telling you which is which. Do this for a week or 2. If it's obvious, you'll be correct every time. Really simple stuff. I would suggest, after the test, and when your wife quits laughing, sell the cables to a believer here. Take the money and upgrade your power equipment, speakers or sources. Or perhaps check into some battery/solar powered equipment.
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