Yeah, you are overthinking it.
+2
A stupid question(s) about power cords
As the title indicates, I admit that this is probably a stupid question. But since I don’t know (for sure) the answer, I am asking it anyway.
The recent power cord thread got me interested in a power cord upgrade (from the stock cord) on my Maranzt SA10 (SACDP). The power cord receptacle on that particular component does not have a male equipment ground pin--only the neutral and hot pins. Therefore the cord supplied by Maranzt is a two pole (if that is the right terminology) cord. But because I have done it this way before, I do know that it will accept a power cord with an equipment ground as well as a neutral and hot.
Question 1: I went to musicdirect and looked at some power cords and I saw one (an open box Audioquest NRG Z2) that they were calling a two pole cord. The end that plugs in to the component only has a neutral and a hot, but the other end, the end that plugs into the outlet in the wall, does have an equipment ground blade (so that end has three blades). Why would that be?
Question 2: (and this is the stupid one) if a power cord has an equipment ground pin plugged into the wall, even if it is not plugged into an eqipment ground in the component itself, that cord is still connected to the neutral bus bar in the panel, right? So that being the case, since the equipment ground wire in the cord is right next to the hot wire, is there a way unwanted stuff (rf or whatever, my understanding of this is quite limited) can that dirty up the power that is traveling on the hot wire in the power cord?
I think that the answer to the last question is probably going to be ’no’? And if the answer is ’no’, that means that I really don’t need to shop for only two pole cords, right? And I see this as sort of important because if I buy a two pole cord, the ONLY component I can use it on/try it out on will be my SACDP--there will be no playing around with a two pole cord on my preamp or my amp.
And ALSO, if I don’t feel constrained to shopping ONLY for two pole cords, I would probably have more options to consider.
TIA for legitimate insight to this, and to all others, feel free to ridicule me and my question--I don’t mind.
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- 96 posts total
1. It is to orient the plug correctly so the hot and neutral of the receptacle matches the hot and neutral of the equipment.
2. Not necessarily. The dummy ground pin almost never has a wire welded to it so it does not connect in any way to the equipment chassis. You can shop for a normal 3-prong cord as long as the equipment end of the plug has the chamfered top and can fit in the equipment receptacle. You just won’t have a ground connection. That is not a problem as two-prong equipment are a double insulated chassis where the outer chassis cannot come into contact with a stray power wire. |
@gs5556 , thank you for that explanation! That makes total sense when it is explained that way. |
@immatthewj just sold SA10 few months ago. Nordost Heimdall 2 was a nice match with it. Opened up the top end a bit and improved clarity. Give it a shot. |
I'll thank you again on this thread, @audphile1 ! I was just about to post a topic on "digital" inquiring about about a good match with the SA10. I'll research the Nordost Heimdall 2. My SA10 is in front of a Cary SLP 05 which is in front of a Cary V12. I love the detail, but if it warmed up a bit it wouldn't bother me. The salesman at MD who sold me the SA10 told me it would really benefit from a better power cord, but I halfway didn't take that completely seriously, as that's what salesmen are paid to say, but I've always wondered about it. |
- 96 posts total