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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
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,544 posts
 
@mzkmxcv,

I think mrdecibel is right, you're simply trolling, or proselytizing (which is as bad), trying your best to convert those who know better. We can hear the difference and don't need saving.

That, and it's funny how you end a lot of your proclamations with "I'd like to see it" and not, I'd like to hear it. What's up with that?

All the best,
Nonoise
Post removed 
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@nonoise
@elizabeth

I’m not aiming to tell anyone who bought a $550 AudioQuest Diamond Toslink cable to return it and get an AmazonBasics one. As I’ve continually stated, I don’t care if you can hear a difference, if you feel a $200 power cord makes an audible improvement, then it was worth it. However, I can say with most certainty that the sound coming from your speakers is 100% identical, and thus advertising such “improvements” and making the layperson believe power cables actually do alter the signal is just how myths get started, same way people think 24/192 sounds better than 16/44.1 (assuming same master).

I’ve asked repeatedly now for an explanation on how a “better” power cord can improve imaging or extend treble response, as @mrdecible claimed, and yet all I get are the same statements that I must be trolling.

You hear what you hear, just like how some people see “the dress” as white/gold when it in fact is blue/black (I saw it as white/gold the first day, then the next morning I saw it as black/blue, totally shocked, and then relived a few days later when it was confirmed blue/black). If you think you aren’t susceptible to placebo, then that’s denial, even people who whole heartedly believe in data/measurements are.
gpgr4blu
1,077 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.
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@gpgr4blu

There may be numerous ways, but I would like you to pick one that doesn’t deal with mains leakage or EMI and explain how a power cable improves it (such as the stated extending of treble response). I would also recommend emailing any of the companies whose products you experience have had improvements with upgraded power cords and see what someone with likely a PhD in mechincal/electrical engineering has as a response.

As I said, 99.999% of devices I’ve seen show no mains leakages and perform to spec with the OEM cables. If you think a better power cord makes it perform better than what it’s spec’d at, more power to ya.

If you think there are actually sonic changes that measurements can’t show, I would also like to hear your reasoning. We aren’t talking personal preference of how one measured speaker is supposed to sound better than another, we are talking simply any changes at all.

If I claimed “upgrading” my car’s battery cable gained me faster acceleration, I’m pretty sure you’d be doubtful too.
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