Why Power Cables Affect Sound

Electronics are a lot like a copy machine.  If your copier makes a perfect duplicate, and prints it on the finest bond paper, it comes out very much like the original....however if you use corrugated cardboard, you may not even recognize the final product.   Use the best power to operate your equipment.

@mrdecibel : "N80. I am not fond of the power cables your brother in law gave you, but here is an idea."

Actually, you don't know what type of power cords I have.....because I don't know what kind of power cords I have. I presume they are OEM. Which, according to what I've read in this thread means they are sub par. You can't trust AR or Mark Levinson to put decent cords on their stuff.

"Make the change of the power cords, Listen for a few days, and get back to " us " with your findings. This will let all of us know what kind of " listener " you are ?"

That struck me as funny. Sounds like something from a Monty Python skit. "If she floats she is a witch and we will burn her. If she sinks and drowns she's not a witch."

So if I hear a difference then you cable guys are right. If I don't hear a difference then I'm just one of those guys without discriminating perception (a very real possibility I'll admit). The scenario doesn't seem to allow for the possibility that I AM a discriminating hearer and don't hear a difference because the cables simply don't make a difference OR the scenario where I hear a difference but that difference is a product of  my perception bias, which unlike some folks I KNOW that I experience from time to time.

So, technically speaking, this simple test doesn't tell us anything about cables or my hearing discrimination. 

"Actually,don’t do it for me, as I am way past that, but, do it for you, as the experience will be enlightening." 

It could be enlightening, but not necessarily so as I outlined above.

" #1 : You will not do it, nor feel like doing it."

Admittedly that is probably the case. To me, my system sounds remarkable. I'm not really inclined to chase a vaguely defined goal of "better" especially when, for me, that "better" might just be different. Then I'll waste time dithering about which is better without really knowing.

"# 2 : You will do it, but the results might be, you either hear a difference, or you don’t."

Those are indeed the only two possibilities. 

 "# 3 : If you hear differences, you could speak about them here. Or not."

If I do the test I will certainly share my results. But as mentioned above those results might be meaningless since I know I am not immune to perception bias and/or other psychological influences. My results may not be trustworthy and cannot be purely objective. For instance, I know for a fact that the mood I'm in can affect how I perceive and enjoy music. Who would trust the opinion of someone like that?

"I am sure many of you have a " gift " in some area of your life. 2 channel audio is mine."

I honestly do not mean any offense by this at all but there is certainly the possibility that power cable upgrades and other such tuning is for people with the "gift" and not for people who don't. Geoff maintains that high end component makers are not aware of the power cable upgrade market. It seem more probable that they just aren't aware that there is a population of listeners out there who can really tell a difference.

I do not think that I have the "gift". That does not bother me at all. I have found a way to really enjoy music. With my personality if I did have the gift I don't know that I'd ever reach the point where I was just enjoying the music because there is always a new tweak or cable out there.

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.