What was the first power cable that you noticed a difference in the sound?


I have bought six or seven different power cords, none over $500 and have noticed little or no change in the sound of my system. All the cables are 12 gauge or bigger.  Without talking about cables made with unobtainium, where did you start hear a difference.
 

Thanks.

curiousjim

+1 Cundare2,

I replaced my stock power cords with Pangea AC9 MKII SE with Cardas copper (yeah I know they are above average at best) and heard no improvement. I later had 2 dedicated lines pulled and installed audiophile receptacles (Furutech GTX-D gold and rhodium) and Oyaide R1, and voila!.....now we're getting somewhere. Afterwards I went back to the OEM cables versus the Pangea cables, and now there was a sonic improvement.

My conclusion is that only when I upgraded my power delivered to the cable, was the cable able to produce a difference. As I am now building a dedicated listening room, the first thing I will include is 3 dedicated circuits.

They don’t make difference unless the gauge is too low and they are starving the component from power. Higher price tags and pretty packaging won’t change that. 

from  tennisdoc56: By what method/electrical theory does a power cord improve the contractor grade romex in your walls?   Please avoid explanations in biology such as sees, senses, feels, prefers.   Not being sarcastic 

 

I googled the following:  "acoustical properties of various metal conductors" and over the next 6 pages, I didn't get a single hit that covered, in any manner, the way that each metal affects the sound of the signal that passes through it.   There were entries about sound absorption, sound reflection, which metal is the best conductor of electricity, acoustic properties of commercially available thermal insulators, and the speed of sound in metal/sound waves passing through solid metals.   

 

Nowhere did I see any mention of how passing the signal through various metals affects the sound.  There was nothing about the warmth of gold, the detail of silver, etc.  Is there respectable research being done in this area; are theories out there relating to this?   I have no idea, but my search didn't yield anything relevant.   I'm not a scientist.  I'm actually quite challenged by modern technology, but I do use the scientific method in my audiophile pursuit.  I LISTEN.  I try different components, cables, connectors, and most recently, slugs (in place of fuses).  I don't know WHY there are such variations in sound between the various metals I've used but, clearly, the addition of different metal(s) in the signal path (and possibly outside in the case of some fuses) can significantly affect the sound.  

 

Rather than rely on this stance, why don't you simply experiment, and listen.  Do you really think that all those stating the benefits/differences of cables are delusional or just exaggerating?    And please tennisdoc56, don't take this as an attack.  Since the research doesn't appear to be out there, I think we should all do our own.  

I can say the days of OCC Wire are now over in my system due to my adopting the use of PC Triple C Wire.

I have been an advocate of PC Triple C Wire for a period of time and have been instrumental through loaning out Cables using this Wire. I can assure you that some very enthusiastic users of Audio Equipment have now moved to PC Triple C Wire used throughout their systems following their encounters with it in Loaned/Demonstrated Cables. 

One such encounter was with Power Cables, I loaned a PC Triple C Wire Power Cable with a Purchase Value of approx' £200 per metre, to a individual who has a lot of respect throughout the UK. The individuals system receives very good appraisal and the work they carry out on Audio Devices as work for betterment is very well known. This person has a lot of friends with Audio Interests.

The initial experience of the above individuals experiencing PC Triple C wire was with myself present. I was keen to hear it in use in a System not using Valve Amplification and the system it was to be added to is SS Amplification. 

The owner of the System, put a current through the Cable for approx' one hour before the demo' took place.

On adding the Cable to the Phonostage, the effect was immediate and to both listeners there was a more to be heard on offer and each track played was  assessed as a betterment.

Very Similar happened with the Power Amp.

It was agreed on the day that my choice of Plug and IEC for the Cables were able to be improved upon and more could be expected if this was addressed.

I left the Cable with this individual to swap out connectors and further assess.

The assessments went further than I thought would occur, a local group got involved and purchased other types of Power Cable produced using PC Triple C Wire.  

The A/B Comparisons took place with a Group present at the system I loaned the Cable to.

The out come was quite interesting, especially allowing for the follow up evaluations.

The Group were all in agreement that the Cable seen in the Link, when terminated with Solid Copper Plug/IEC had an impact on the sonic being produced, that was a betterment to the previous Power Cables in use.

 https://zenmarket.jp/en/rakutenproduct.aspx?itemCode=audio9:10000582