Why Power Cables Affect Sound

I’m seeing this cable on the internet advertised as a 20 amp plug and sometimes not saying which amp it is. I only have regular 15 amp outlets, can I plug a 20 amp power cord to my Cambridge integrated ano and into the low cost power strip that plugs to a 15 amp wall outlet? Or does this plug come in a 15 amp?
Thanks.

What makes a positive difference in PCs is the design of the PC, not the cost.  I've heard $5K PCs that sound awful in several systems and every time I mention the manufacturer, someone says the opposite.  But I've tried well designed, less expensive PCs under $1K that trounce that other PC every time, dozens of times, including at several audio shows and a two homes.  The homeowners dumped their $13K PCs and purchased the $800 PCs instead.  So, it isn't the cost, it's the execution of the PC design that matters most.  It's not an if or possible difference, it's an obvious difference that Mkgus wants to know about.

Having said that, @mkgus is going to want to know which cords you're speaking of. 😄

All the best,
Nonoise

High Fidelity Cables - Hard, bright, forward sounding, harmonically thin. My friends and I experienced these ICs and PCs at various audio shows at about 18 rooms and in 2 homes (replaced after our substitutions). Even the old Monster Cable 300m ICs were at least tonally pleasant, lacking in frequency extension, resolution, dynamics and ambiance retrieval. $15 Monster versus $5K to $13K HF cables. Some audiophiles claim HF cables are the greatest. Not at least eight of us audiophiles with at least mid to hi end systems ($20K to $850K).  

jafreeman"Even though this thread has veered wildly from the original question, the evidence for the validity of using high-quality AC cords is overwhelming."
This is obviously, unquestionably, and indisputably apparent from the information, evidence, and facts presented here by various contributors expressing their personal, first hand, observational experience across a wide variety of components used in music reproduction systems.

Fleschler,
I agree with your comments about how High Fidelity cables sound. I had a home audition of their CT-2 power cord and it was everything you described.  I was told it was because they were new and required a couple hundred hours on them to start sounding better. After one month and zero improvements I returned the power cords.

Thank you.  You are the first poster who agrees with me.  Two other posters said I was out of my mind on other forums.  

I'm glad to see people getting past "If" and onto "What" are the differences.

michaelgreenaudio"I'm glad to see people getting past "If" and onto "What" are the differences."

There was never any genuine, sincere, valid question as to the efficacy, value, and superiority of some high-end power cables by those with actual, genuine, first hand experience using components in they're own music reproduction system. Some contributors have posted precise, repeatable, specific references to the exact products they have used and shared the results, consequences, and outcome of substituting these superior products. What has happened is that a few members of a noisy, tiny, self important minority have protested these findings while claiming they are the result of delusion, snobbism or mental illness and of course such accusations are without substance, merit, or validity and the moderators in their best judgement, determination and analysis have curtailed, limited, and restricted such vile, prosecutorial, and insulting posts. 

" "Elizabeth, if you persist in punitively flagging my posts I’ll draw that matter to the attention of moderators. "

It is not evident, apparent, or discernable as to who made this order, instruction, and threat to Elizabeth but it is entirely, completely, and uncategorically unacceptable to harass, intimidate, or retaliate against any contributor hear and if I can determine who here threatened Elizabeth I will bring them to the attention of the moderators so that they're rights, privledges, and access here is terminated, revoked, and/or suspended. 

I also agree about the HF cords thinning out the sound, only I call it more detailed. :)

It is interesting that when any of the contributors here describes to a particular cable a specific sonic quality, attribute, or characteristic there is general affirmation, agreement and consensus as to the nature of  the cable, lending further evidence, documentation, and credence to the simple facts, truth, and reality that cables do indeed sound different from each other depending on the characteristics of the music reproduction system within which they are installed.

+1 clearthink. On your last three posts. Regarding our decorum here and the clear evidence of so many with first hand experience. Thanks

What happens when you plug an expensuve power chord into a cheap power bar that is plugged into a $1.00 wall socket? Or is it automatically assumed that a power conditioner is part of the equation. If not where should the quality power pieces begin?

pkvintage"What happens when you plug an expensuve power chord into a cheap power bar that is plugged into a $1.00 wall socket?"

What happens when you put bicycle tires on a Ferrari?

What happens when you try to run Photoshop on Windows 3 with 3 megs of RAM?

What happens if you try to stream hi-res using a dial-up connection?

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.

So, lets separate out audible quality from theory. Here, I do not discuss audible benefit, just theory.

I call what the OP posited the multi-way cable theory.

While it’s interesting, and I’ve seen a number of manufacturers take similar ideas either with Litz wiring, or with super low metal content connectors, I think it’s important to talk about how most linear power supplies work.

First, the incoming supply is 50 Hz or 60 Hz. That’s the signal you want to reach the power supply, so you do NOT want high frequencies coming in or going out. Anything besides these 50/60 Hz is noise and distortion.

Next, the power supply itself acts as an extreme low pass filter. It is trying to remove everything above DC. Again, you do NOT want high frequencies passing through it. In a separate thread there was an electrical engineer discussing how noise would make it past the power supply. Making power cables like you do audio cables (i.e. super transparent) would only make that worse.

Now, OP, I’m not arguing whether your power cables made a difference. I’m only arguing that the idea of transparency in a power cable is probably not you are liking about them.

In fact, I might argue that a cable with some impedance, and built in noise filtering is a better way to go.

I don't think that helping different bands be more transparent by itself would work. But!! There's this idea of laminar flow in fluids which is interesting.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminar_flow

You can watch a video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=990jkBGHaVk&feature=youtu.be


The idea is that water can flow without turbulence, like if it was in layers, and each layer flowed independently of every other layer. That to me seems a better outcome for us in power cables.

It would be interesting to consider that it's' not about high and low frequencies, but about laminar flow of electrons through a conductor.

Of course, there are probably good theories which say it's' irrelevant, having to do with the speed of electrons vs. the speed of the electrostatic field, etc. but there are also some very interesting ways an enterprising soul could use to test if this was in fact working. I will state clearly I do not know. I wish I had time /energy/equipment to measure this, as it would be a fascinating new tool in cable design.


Best,

E

erik,
Please explain how the noise of the switching of a full wave rectifier in a power supply can pass back through the primary winding of the power transformer and through the power cord and end up on the AC mains.
Jim

Please explain how the noise of the switching of a full wave rectifier in a power supply can pass back through the primary winding of the power transformer and through the power cord and end up on the AC mains.

Hi @jea48 ,
I'm not making the claim it can do this very well, I'm making the claim that you don't want that. In either direction. So, the idea that a broad-band AC cable is ideal seems misguided to me.

But to answer your question, please lookup "parasitic capacitance transformer." I'm afraid I do not have the experience with typical AC transformers to model how much of an effect this might be, but I will say it's' much closer to the realm of known engineering than a lot of other theories.

Best,
E

After reading 11 pages of riveting commentary -  here's my take away - buy the most expensive cable you can afford. If you hear a difference keep it, If you don't, return it.

erik,
I am not disputing anything you said in your previous post. I am in agreement with most of what you said.
My understanding is the noise created by the rectifier does indeed end up on the AC mains unless the designer/manufacturer of the equipment adds some type of filter on the AC line of the equipment. My understanding, from what I have read, digital equipment is the worst.
So if noise on the AC line can cause distortion in audio equipment, then it stands to reason, if, say a CDP is putting noise back out on the AC line, the noise will inter through the power cord of a preamp that is plugged into the same wall mains AC outlet as the CDP. Correct?

Jim

If electrons are the cars of a train then, as Bob Dylan said, there’s a Slow Train Coming up around the bend. You know, since electrons in conductors, whilst being almost massless, are virtually motionless. Or as close to it as you can possibly be without being dead.

“Do not seek the treasure!”

pkvintage, "What happens when you plug an expensuve power chord into a cheap power bar that is plugged into a $1.00 wall socket? Or is it automatically assumed that a power conditioner is part of the equation."
Good question; Everything is part of the equation.

IME, you can control this equation to greatly improve your sound quality. This is what I’ve done to clean up the power to my system:

Power amps:
Have Oyaide Tunami power cables plugged into an audience conditioned which is connected to an SR wall outlet. I’ve tried them directly into the wall & find that the audience conditioner improves the sound considerably.

Preamp:
SR power cable plugged into Acoustic Revive conditioner which is plugged into an ExactPower transformer. The transformer has an Oyaide power cable connected to a Pangea premium XL outlet.

Front end:
Turntable uses DH audio power cable into a VPI analog drive system which is connected to the ExactPower transformer.
CD & DAC are connected with Oyaide (DAC) & Furutech (CD) power cables into the Acoustic Revive conditioner.
Power supply for the DAC & Phono amp have a Furutech flux 50 connected with an Oyaide power cable into the Acoustic Revive conditioner

I’m by no means saying this is the "best" solution to cleaning up the power going into the components, just that it all makes a difference to sound quality.

@areed622


This is why I love series mode surge protectors. Only one's I know of that work down in the audible range, around 3 kHz.
And yes, it is useful to keep noisy things like that "outside" of your cleaned up power or you will pollute it.


@jea48

I used to have a desktop lamp with a fluorescent lamp and when I looked at the garbage it was putting on the AC, wow! It was really horrible. You could hear it in my stereo too.

So if noise on the AC line can cause distortion in audio equipment, then it stands to reason, if, say a CDP is putting noise back out on the AC line, the noise will inter through the power cord of a preamp that is plugged into the same wall mains AC outlet as the CDP. Correct?

I have seen plenty of evidence for this happening with an oscilloscope. So I know for a fact that this happens on a technical level.

What I don't always know is how audible it is, unless you have a fluorescent lamp! :)

Also, how much value it is. I mean, I really was not given a mind and soul to spend money exclusively on power conditioning equipment, so sometimes the expense can seem really extravagant to me.

What I normally recommend is Furman with SMP and LiFT as really good, cost effective protection and noise reduction. Some units have multiple banks, so you can avoid cross-contamination. This is one of the low end models with both features:

https://amzn.to/2BI1N5U

They make higher end models too, but that is seriously good for the money.

Above that I love the PS Audio line, but they are pricey. PS Audio also uses the series mode protectors.

At another forum hosted by Roger Modjeski of Ramtubeworks, he specifically 100% denied that PC make any sonic difference other than adequate gauge.  His forum https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/does-anyone-care-to-ask-an-amplifier-designer-a-technical-que...  answers questions concerning amplification versus Atmasphere manufacturer who are often at odds.  Roger basically takes the attitude that if a PC makes an amplifier sound different, the amplifier has an inadequate power supply or design.  Only his RM line of amps are correctly designed and built because they are are unaffected by different PCs.  He then sort of berates me as an uneducated person.  His quote " My stand on power cords is entirely intellectual from an amplifier designer and transformer makers point of view. I know what is inside a transformer and how it works. When you know about transformers, house wiring etc. we can further discuss this interesting topic."  

I think the argument can be made that the better a piece of gear’s power supply, the less sensitive it will be to power issues.

The argument can also be made that power cables may not be very cost effective.

My cost-effective balance is to ignore cables, wiring and sockets, and use an effective power conditioner as close to the gear as possible, and try to make separate zones of power.

That is, one for my sources and preamp, a separate for my Class D amps, and another for all my networking gear.

Within these, noise has to travel at least 2 filter sections to crossover.

I actually discourage the use of very large gauge electrical wiring (i.e. Romex). Having some impedance in the line can actually reduce noise a great deal. I don’t really want my amps that tightly coupled to the noise from my dishwasher for instance.

erik
If you visit the Cable Asylum forum you can read where many members build their own DIY power cords. You don't have to spend a fortune for a good power cord.
Jim

I'm one of them. Used Oyaide Tunami cable with Furutech connectors. Very nice PC's for the money. 

The nerve of him!  He probably doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about!  And neither do all the science based individuals who study confirmation bias. 
Just trust your ears 🙄

Please explain how the noise of the switching of a full wave rectifier in a power supply can pass back through the primary winding of the power transformer and through the power cord and end up on the AC mains.

I can answer this question - what happens is the spike is transmitted both via radiation and by conduction through the transformer.   Power transformers do have a bandwidth and it is surprisingly wide.  I don't believe I have ever measured a line isolation transformer with less than 100KHz of bandwidth, although they are not always flat.  

So, the diode switching on and off creates a current surge when it turns on and another when it turns off.   Given we have inductance in the transformer as well as the line itself, the current starting and stopping abruptly causes a spike in noise on the line.   That spike is sent out through the power cord and will affect anything susceptible nearby on that line. Some amplifiers designs have components to squash that spike internally when it is created, others do not. 

The voltage spike is dependent upon the change in current divided by the change in time times the inductance.  That is, the bigger change in current when the diodes turn on or off creates a bigger spike.  The change in time is dependent on the turn on or turn off time of the diode, determined internally by the design of the diode.   The inductance is both the transformer and grid together.   

erik_squires is right, one does not want that noise coupling into audio equipment.   If one has a transparent power cord connected then that equipment has to deal with the noise.   If one has a power cord connected that doesn't conduct the noise, then the equipment doesn't have to deal with it.  

jea48  The Curl/Parasound incident occurred numerous times.  He designed the equipment and they modified it to a price point which diminished the resulting product sound quality.  

My own PCs are GroverHuffman.com Empress and Pharoahs which are laboriously made as you can read on his site, patented and priced at $400 to $900 1 to 2 meters.  I am the beta tester for his cables for the past several decades.  His PC designs haven't changed much, about a half dozen retailed designs over 15 year period. 

His ICs have had 100 iterations with many retailed designs.  Low voltage signals are very tricky to design. 

His speaker cable also has had maybe four or five retailed designs over 15 years.  No one does what he does to wire such as his embossing and pressure flattening the wire or triple coating his first layer of insulation with nickel, carbon and tungsten powder in a solvent based binder.  His wiring is generally low capacitance.  Just some information why his cables perform so well on a wide range of equipment.

analogluvr,
" The nerve of him!  He probably doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about!  And neither do all the science based individuals who study confirmation bias."

I disagree & suspect they are all very smart people, just ignorant in this regard. 

"Just trust your ears 🙄"

Will do / Thanks!

If you visit the Cable Asylum forum you can read where many members build their own DIY power cords. You don't have to spend a fortune for a good power cord.

@jea45
I think if you care, this is a great idea! :)

I move stuff around far too often. I can't see myself making the perfect power cord that I would use for long, but DIY is the smartest approach I think.

I remember reading an article where John Curl said he would spec a certain grade of components, for a piece of Parasound audio equipment he designed, only to be overruled the owners of the company saying it would make the price of the piece of equipment to high and price it out of the market competition.

I have read this before, and I feel it is unnecessary sour grapes.

I mean, sure, we all dream of cost is no object for all the gear we buy, or might envision, but the reality is that all engineers face cost / performance challenges. How they solve them is the mark of the very best engineers.

I like Paraound, I think the Halo line provides excellent value for money. Would I buy an A21 or A23 if it was 2x the cost? Probably not.
What would be interesting to me is to hear the difference. That is, what would a JC spec A21 sound like vs. what was produced. Would we hear it? Would we be willing to pay the price for the differences? That would absolutely be interesting.

Best,
E

Not that anyone cares, but I will no longer be responding to any naysayer comments. It is obvious to me, that I, and others here, have a greater degree / ability to hear certain things, and it is a waste of my time and energy to indulge in any more of this nonsense and immaturity. I wish everyone here, and yes everyone, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Healthy New Year. And again, those that have not  "tried " to listen, do not, imo, belong on a high end audio forum, such as Audiogon, as it is still all about the " listening ". Always, and Enjoy ! MrD.

@jea48  - "Well designed"  what does that mean?   If you look at the power cords out there, they all have widely differing design concepts.   If you had a power cord that intrinsically attenuated noise say 40+ dB from 30KHz out to 1 GHz while having 0 dB at 50 or 60 Hz, then sure it would keep the noise out.   If there is one out there that does it, I have never heard of it and it probably wouldn't be using copper or silver for a conductor.   The only way I know how to do it is with a filter. 

@elizabeth She has a good point.  I designed a power cable with a built in line noise filter and I wanted to sell it for $99.00.  The idea was I would publish the measured performance it produces, at least folks would know what they are getting.   Well, I couldn't do it at that price point.  Even if I built 1000 of them, I still couldn't do it for that price point.   The world does not need another $600 power cord - I don't care how good it is - there are other options.

I also need a power cable that was 24 feet long, at that distance making one started to make sense since the factory ones get pretty pricey at those lengths.   Unfortunately Pangea doesn't make one at that length and when I called the company I discovered it can't be custom ordered either.  So, I am building it. 

@mrdecibel - one thing that might pacify the naysayers is some real science in the marketing and advertising from some power cable companies.   Gosh, it is sadly lacking with some companies and I get real squeamish about shelling out a few hundred dollars based on nothing more than advertising and few raving comments from unknown people.    Yeah, some companies allow a full refund if it doesn't improve the sound but I am still out the freight and I am not willing to put my freight money based on ads.   There is plenty of information in this thread as well as this site to confirm cable differences but that is not advertising and little of it is science.

Funny I am not sure if someone else posted this but here is what Shunyata is saying.  I am not saying my opinion either way here, just a cut and paste of what I found.  Hell I don't even know if anything that Shunyata says is accurate or true but Happy Reading.



Every audiophile who has experimented with better power cables has heard the performance advantage they offer. Indeed, the amount of improvement can be astounding, often transforming a system from good to amazing. As audiophiles, we trust our ears but it’s hard to understand how replacing just one short link in a long chain of the power delivery system can have such a dramatic impact. The following article is intended to answer those questions.
  Shunyata Research has become a dominant force in the power delivery field. Owner and designer, Caelin Gabriel is clearly one of the luminaries in the industry. His products have, in many ways, changed the way people think about power cables and raised the bar of performance. Shunyata cables have established themselves among audiophiles and industry professionals as state of the art. The list of manufacturers and professionals that use Shunyata cables is impressive, including the likes of Sony Music New York, Sony Music Japan,
Vienna Philharmonic, Sky Walker Studios, Crest National Studios, Astoria Studios, Audio Research, Wilson Audio, BAT, Meridian, VTL, Bel Canto, Halcro, to name just a few.
To follow is a response from Mr. Gabriel that appeared in an on line forum addressing question why power can be such an influential addition to a system.

 

 

Introduction: “There are a lot of misconceptions about power transmission and power quality that make it difficult for some people to understand why a power cord makes a sonic difference. The first question is – do power cords make any difference at all? There is no sense in talking about theories of operation if we can't agree that there is an audible effect. Most of the thousands of people that use our power cords started out as skeptics and have answered that question for themselves and have found that power cables and power conditioners can have a profound impact on performance. And no - I do not care to debate with people that have not done the simplest of tests about whether power cords work or not. The only cases where a high quality cord does not have significant effects is when it is used with a poor quality power conditioner that acts as a high impedance to instantaneous current flow. “

Misconception #1: AC Power is like water coming from a large power tank, flowing through several 10s of feet of power hose into a component. This implies that the component is at the end of this system.

Answer: “Actually, the component sits between two power conductors: the hot and the neutral. AC power oscillates (alternates) back and forth at a 50-60 Hz rate. So power does not pour into the component at all. The component's power supply is within a complex network of wires and connectors. ALL of the wire and connectors can and do affect the performance of the component's power supply.”

Misconception #2: AC power can be contaminated just like water in a hose. This implies that once the water is contaminated at some point up stream, that is must be cleansed before it arrives at the audio component.

Answer: “As stated in #1, the component is not at the end of the power hose. It is between two power hoses and the current is oscillating back and forth. Further, current is not like water at all. Electrons cannot be contaminated. There are two aspects to power transmission: the electromagnetic wave and the current flow. The current itself cannot be contaminated but the electromagnetic wave can be modulated with other frequencies. We usually call these other frequencies noise or Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Within the various parts of a power circuit there may be EMI in certain parts that is not present in others. Electromagnetic energy can be transformed or redirected to lessen their effects.

"Some power cords use capacitors, inductors, or ferrites in an attempt to control the electromagnetic fields around the audio component. The success of such an approach is completely dependent upon the specific design and the reactance of the power supply of the component to which the power cable is attached.”

Misconception #3: There is up to a hundred feet of wire in the walls, so the last 6 feet of power cord can't possibly make any difference.

Answer: “The power cord is not the last 6 feet, it is the first 6 feet from the perspective of the component. As stated in #1 the local current and electromagnetic effects directly affect the sonic performance of the component.”

Misconception #4: There is a tremendous amount of electrical interference and EMI coming from outside the home that we need to protect our equipment from. This implies that we need some sort of power conditioner or filter to protect the equipment.

Answer: “Most of the EMI that affects the audio quality of a system is generated by the audio components themselves. Electromagnetic waves that traveling through space dissipate in power at the square of the distance from the source. Further, very high frequencies that propagate through the power circuit do not survive for long. Power lines present a high impedance to MHz and GHz signals due to the relatively high inductance of power lines.

"A primary source of audible sonic degradation is caused by the power supplies in our audio/video components. Most components use FWBR (full wave bridge rectifier) power supplies that generate an incredible amount of transient noise when the rectifiers switch off. The design of a power cable can significantly affect the reactance of these signals within the power supply. The power cable is effectively part of the primary winding of the power transformer. The transition between the various metals used in a power cable and its connectors can cause electromagnetic reflections and diode-like rectification of the noise impulses as they propagate away from the power supply. If the power cable presents a high impedance to these signals they will be reflected back into the power supply where they will intermodulate, thus increasing the high frequency noise levels of the component. Most power supply filters are ineffective at blocking very high frequency noise components and much of it is passed through to the DC rails. The sonic effects of this include: high background noise levels, blurred or slurred transients and a general lack of clarity and purity of the sound or visual image.”

Misconception #5: There is some sort of conspiracy among audio designers that keeps them from producing a "proper" power supply that is not affect by power cable quality.

Answer: “This concept is like saying that if a speaker where properly designed, you wouldn't need to use a good quality speaker cable. PowerSnakes have been tested with the most modest of mid-fi equipment and the most exotic state of the art components. We have yet to find a component that cannot be improved by replacing the power cord.

"As long as power supply design is based upon FWBRs or switching supplies, the power cord will always be significant.”

Misconception #6: High-end power cords just increase the circuit capacitance acting as a high-frequency shunt

Answer: “There are some power cords that ARE designed this way. Some even insert capacitors within the cable to further increase capacitance. This approach has some positives and many negatives including the reactive interference with the way many power supplies are designed.

"Capacitance alone cannot account for the differences in a power cord's performance. There are some high-end power cords that are very effective that have virtually immeasurable levels of capacitance. These cables are usually designed around hollow tubes with the conductors inside. The conductors are several inches apart and cannot significantly affect the capacitance of the power circuit.”

Misconception #7: Power cords are just like speaker cables; always the shorter the cable the better.

Answer: “Some speaker cable designers would argue that a speaker cable below a certain length is not better. We will let them address the issue if they desire.

"A speaker cable conducts an audio signal from the power amplifier to the speaker. The distance is quite small, on the order of a couple of feet to several feet. The quality of a speaker cable is determined by how well it can transmit the signal from the amplifier to the speaker without alteration.

"A power cable on the other hand is not transmitting a signal. It is conducting A.C. power and its sonic superiority will be determined by its ability to deliver current (steady-state and instantaneous) and its ability to deal with the EMI effects of the components to which it is attached.

"Since a power cord is composed of a hot and neutral wire that the component sits between, a change in the length of the cord will increase the size of the "buffer" around the component. In general, I would not recommend a power cord that is shorter than 3 feet or 1 meter in length. But subtle degrees of audio performance are not the only consideration when putting together an audio system. Esthetics is also important especially when the system is located in a beautiful home. I just point out the performance differences so that people can make an informed decision when determining the optimum length for their cables.

"There is much more that can be discussed about power delivery but for the sake of brevity I'll cut it short at this point. On a personal note I would like to say that I was an audiophile long before I was a manufacturer of audio products. Before Shunyata Research I designed high speed networking devices and can tell you that there is a lot more money to be made in the computer industry. Like many of the manufacturers of high-end audio components, I design my products for myself and for the love of music. If other people like what I have created - great. If after trying our product you prefer another - great. There is a wide diversity of preference and subjective perception among individuals. Thank goodness there is also a wide diversity of manufacturers that create products to serve a variety of tastes.”

Caelin Gabriel
Shunyata Research Inc.

Addendum:

“Before we produced our first power cord, we did extensive testing of the audible effects of a variety of devices and materials associated with power transmission. We created many jigs and test apparatus that allowed us to test wire types, dielectric materials, connector contacts, dampening materials and a variety of transformers, chokes, coils, ferrites, capacitors, triacs and diacs. After 3 years of testing, we concluded that just about anything and everything that is inserted in or around the electromagnetic field of a power circuit has an audible effect. Some of the effects are quite small and are relatively insignificant. Others are dramatically profound and sometimes surprising in their behavior. Obviously we are not going to "give away the farm" and discuss all of our findings, but there are some very basic observations that I can share with you.

"First would be that wire type and size in a power cord is highly overrated. Every wire type (I am talking about the metal itself) has a specific sonic characteristic. Silver, copper, brass, gold and others all "sound" different. The difference in sound is not related to conductivity capacity because we adjusted the sizes during testing to account for this. Each of the metal's inherent "sonics" can be ameliorated by careful adjustment of the other materials used in the construction of the final cable. We have a warehouse full of various prototype cables that never made it to production. Some of these use a relatively small wire size of ~18ga, that sounds surprising full in the bass. Intuitively, you might think that a small wire would sound thin in the bass region. This is not always the case. Conversely, we have some cables with wire as large as 1gauge that sound powerful in the bass but are also flabby and irregular sounding. So, just increasing the wire size is not the easy answer that some might think.

"Most of what I have to say here are my "conclusions" based upon observation through trial and error testing. Furthermore, there are no perfect components and there are no perfect parts. Everything is relative and the designer must weigh the sonic value of each part when designing a product. Our philosophy is to create a product that is a faithful musical component as opposed to striving for excellence in any single performance area.

"Our tests with coils and chokes indicate that (in general, with exceptions) that any coil or choke that is placed in-line with the power circuit is harmful to dynamics. Many of them will also induce a subtle smearing or blurring of transients. This is naturally dependent upon the power supply design of the unit that the coil is used with. Coils and chokes are necessary in most components and I prefer "single layer wound" types such as the foil designs. Cost of production will always mitigate against the use of these types of coils due to the expense. We definitely do not believe in placing coils or capacitors within a power cable. These devices belong in the component or in a dedicated power conditioner.

"Many components use a power inlet IEC that has an integrated "L" or "pi" filter. The quality of these devices varies dramatically. Generally speaking, the more capacitors and inductors that you have in a circuit, the more complex the dynamic interactions will be between the devices. This will also make the component they are used in more reactive and the possibility of negative sonic effects increase. Multiple filter networks can resonate and generate unintended results that have subtle but audible ringing / pinging sounds. Many of these IEC packages were created for office and computer products and are required to pass certification tests for EMI emissions. All I can say is that what is good for a fax machine is not necessarily good for a pre-amplifier.

"Shielding can be a two-edged sword. On one hand, it can reduce radiated fields from impacting other components. On the other hand, the shielding may induce re-radiated fields onto the cable or component that it is being used in. Sometimes the cure may be worse than the illness. As always - you must know your materials and tools and apply intelligence with a small dose of intuition to create a world class product. There is no silver bullet and there is no rote formula that works in all cases. There is just hard work, occasional inspiration and lots of testing.”

Caelin Gabriel
Shunyata Research Inc.

 

 "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein.

Thanks Bigkidz

Thank you.  I just quoted back to ramtubes Misconceptions 3 through 5.  

This is what Audioquest says of power cords,

Amplifiers present a real challenge for any AC power source, as the transient current requirements (though short in duration) can be many times that of the average (RMS) current consumption. Power amplifiers are also unique from all other components in that the current draw is dynamic, not constant, and it changes with volume and audio signal content.

Though many AC power cords may feature low DC resistance to allow for some of this requirement, the characteristic impedance of the AC cable is equally responsible for assuring uncompromised performance. Many premium AC cords constrict or compress the audio transient as their characteristic impedance restricts the transient current.PURITY CONDUCTORS - SOLID PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+)Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of ear fatiguing transient intermodulation distortion. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface Copper+ eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other premium coppers. The superior purity of PSC+ further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface Copper further eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other premium coppers.GROUND NOISE-DISSIPATION TECHNOLOGYAC Ground wires provide protection from current-wiring faults, but they also act as antennas. Thus, they are subject to induced radio frequency (RF) noise. This RF noise bypasses component power supplies and is typically coupled directly into a system’s most sensitive audio-video circuits. AudioQuest’s patented Ground-Noise Dissipation greatly reduces this distortion, yielding unprecedented levels of noise dissipation across the widest bandwidth (range) of radio frequencies possible. Our unique circuit-topology utilizes a common-mode phase-cancelling array, in concert with proprietary dielectric materials which provide additional differential linear filtering. (US Patent # 9,373,439)

UNCOMPRESSED HIGH-CURRENT TRANSFER - HURRICANE
With current capacity of 20 amps RMS @ 125VAC 50/60Hz (16 amps RMS @ 220-240VA 50/60Hz), Hurricane/High-Current can withstand current transient peaks many times its continuous (average) RMS rating. This makes Hurricane/High-Current ideally suited for a wide assortment of AC power conditioners, power regenerators, AC isolation transformers, and AC battery back-up devices, as well as any power amplifier, powered subwoofer, powered loudspeaker, powered receiver, or integrated amplifier.

DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM WITH RADIO FREQUENCY TRAP
All insulation between two or more conductors is also a dielectric whose properties will affect the integrity of the signal. When the dielectric is unbiased, dielectric-involvement (absorption and non-linear release of energy) causes different amounts of time delay (phase shift) for different frequencies and energy levels, which is a real problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio. The inclusion of an RF Trap (developed for AudioQuest’s Niagara Series of power products), ensures that radio frequency noise will not be induced into the signal conductors from the DBS field elements. (DBS, US Pat #s 7,126,055 & 7,872,195 B1)

DIRECTIONALITY
All drawn metal strands or conductors have a non-symmetrical, and therefore directional, grain structure. AudioQuest controls the resulting RF impedance variation so that noise is drained away from where it will cause distortion. The correct direction is determined by listening to every batch of metal conductors used in every AudioQuest audio cable. When applicable, arrows are clearly marked on the connectors to ensure superior sound quality. For most models of AQ cable, the arrows not only indicate the direction that optimizes metal-directionality as part of Noise-Dissipation, but also indicates non-symmetrical attachment of shield and GND in order to optimize full-system performance.”

Assuming this is all true, so now my question is why do some of these cords/cables cost so much?  Materials are not "that" expensive (copper wire for a six foot cable, silver wire, shielding, etc.)

  

@bigkidz

Every audiophile who has experimented with better power cables has heard the performance advantage they offer.

Not true at all.  Outside of certain audiophile site bubbles, plenty of audiophiles, audio enthusiasts etc don't hear any difference between power cables.

Then there are those of us who have "heard" obvious differences, but through more careful testing, realized it was our imagination.Of course, we are the fallible ones; the infallible don't even have to test themselves ;-)

  Shunyata Research has become a dominant force in the power delivery field. Owner and designer, Caelin Gabriel is clearly one of the luminaries in the industry.....

The problem is that the technical claims tend to be marketed to audiophiles who typically don't have the technical know-how to vet the claims.  They get that cool sounding technical story and think "wow, that sounds convincing, sure looks like they know what they are talking about!"   Then of course they "hear" the effects.

I certainly include myself among those not technically competent to vet the claims of these high end cable sellers. But that's why I try to look at the opinions of those who know more than I.   Instead of just being impressed by the marketing spiel of a cable company,  I've done my best to look at other opinions.  In a nutshell, I've seen the technical claims made by Shunyata shredded to pieces numerous times by people with actual knowledge in the field of electronics.  (And who aren't trying to sell cables - who can look at the claims and say "they are pulling the wool over the eyes of anyone who doesn't know better). 


It seems many audiophiles mostly look to have their biases and subjective experience confirmed, so if the spiel sounds compelling, and they believe they heard a difference....case closed.

And the Cable Sellers sell cables for  thousands of dollars and live happily ever after ;-)