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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
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erik_squires
15,870 posts
 
@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.
fleschler
1,922 posts
 
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."  
erik_squires
15,870 posts
 
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.
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