Are manufacturer AC cables good enough?

nsgarch2,520 posts05-08-2020 12:50am"....You need  to "lift" (disconnect) the ground at the EQUIPMENT end of the stock cord."

Very poor advice from a safety standpoint. Can you name one manufacturer (audiophile-grade or otherwise) that does this?

+1 yabe1951

Beautiful explanation of the cognitive dissonance, and overcoming it to gain benefits. 

yabe1951

You had a contradiction, your intellect said wire is wire should sound the same.
Your experience said no the wires sound different, better.
When humans have dissonances they try to resolve them it’s just what we do. You solved yours by deciding to "just to ignore the science, for the most part, and the debates, and simply enjoy the music." If it worked then your dissonance has been resolved.

It's interesting because I did something similar. Instead of ignoring science I used science and discovered I didn't really hear differences in cables or dacs it was my human frailty or a human fault or perhaps a survival mechanism that evolved. Anyway it's just who we are you solved your contradiction one way and I another.

nsgarch

You need  to "lift" (disconnect) the ground at the EQUIPMENT end of the stock cord ... cut off the IEC plug at the equipment end of the cord and install a new IEC plug with only the hot (black) and neutral (white) conductors connected ... The ground conductor (green) should be cut a little short of the new IEC plug and not connected.  You have just turned a stock power cord into a respectable audiophile power cord ...

Very bad advice. You have just created a safety hazard. Disconnecting safety grounds is not the remedy for things such as ground loops or AC noise.

@ cleeds, turnbowm 

No, disconnecting the ground conductor at the EQUIPMENT end, as I specified, does NOT create a safety hazard.  However, disconnecting the ground conductor at the wall outlet end does indeed create a safety hazard!  A bit of research into equipment grounding techniques will explain why.

Some audio equipment now comes with a workaround for the UL power cord grounding requirements:  you may have noticed a "ground lift" switch on the rear of the chassis. Toggling the switch to the "lift" position accomplishes the same thing as disconnecting the green ground conductor at the equipment end of the OEM power cord.