When a power cord could obviously affect SQ
I have been a bit of a non-believer in power cords having magical effects on SQ but I have been discussing with Frank Ng a pair of PP 2A3 amps I am purchasing from TriodeLab. He is supplying a pair of his preferred cables and he points out that the 2A3s’ cathodes are fed directly from the mains transformer.
The amps (UPS willing) arrive tomorrow - this should be quite an experience - it has been quite a game finding great tubes.
@bruce19 hum is avoided by the cathode resistor being attached to the mid point of the resistors across the filament. In this circuit there is a trip pot that can be adjusted to minimize any hum or noise. I guess one might add ferrite rings on the filament leads and a small bypass cap (.001 mf) across them to get rid of any RF crap. If you google "filamentary triode" there is a good discussion.
|
My first experience with all the black magic coming true right before my eyes, the first time I bought an upgraded cable for any of my components (I’m a professional cable splicer, outside-plant copper cable splicer). My company based in Silicon Valley, most of my work is in San Francisco and the Bay Area. So I know a little about cables…. I was always skeptical. I thought it, obscenely nefarious and predatory marketing, claiming an AC power cable could improve your sound in a stereo. But one day I bought a NRG Z3 from audioquest. A “perfect surface”, long grain copper 3 conductor, 14 awg copper AC power cable. Came home and I was between reference stereo systems at the time, had just moved and all I had was a pair of KEF Q3 meta bookshelves and my AV receiver for the home theater, Onkyo TX-NR7100 integrated amp. The first thing I noticed, within 10 seconds of play time at LOW TO MEDIUM volume, was just plain more MEAT on the bones, I cannot describe it any other way, a little tiny increase in sound stage, the width, and depth I was perceiving the sound coming from. But the sound mainly got “thicker”, meat on the bones is what I can honestly say. Worth the $400 bucks, entirely. would anyone like to buy, 5 Audioquest NRG Z3 and Monsoon power cables, 1 & 2 meter, 18 month old |
@bruce19 you are correct that it should be addressed in the circuit design, but no circuit is perfect. |
Sorting out your grounding and cable routing can also make a big difference. I think this is part of what people experience as improvement when they start exploring power cables. A high quality power strip that does no filtering, is entirely passive, and employs star grounding and good quality parts can make a really nice difference.
I've usually found that amps should go directly into the wall, but other gear can benefit from some of the power filtering products (some, definitely not all).
I think power cords can make a big difference, for better and for worse. I don't understand why. Putting in a dedicated 70A line using #4 to a new sub panel with three dedicated #10 runs less than 10 feet from the panel, furutrch outlets, and organizing my gear so amps are on circuit 1, pre and dac on circuit 2, and streamer/lps/clock/etherregen on circuit 3. The before was everything on one line that was a shared 50A circuit with my dryer. Even comparing to when the dryer was off, massive improvement, more than any power cord by far. But power cords still matter with these improvements. I suspect the right power conditioner could improve things, just a lot smaller impact than before. Here I can sort of reason that the new sub panel and separate circuits separate the gear on these circuits differently from being on the same circuit because the high inductance of the circuit breakers acts as a barrier between them, even though they are all connected to the same 70A circuit. Then there's another barrier to the rest of the house at the 70A breaker, and another between the house and the neighborhood at the 200A breaker. But why the power cord matters as much as it seems to is much more mysterious to me. Like lots of things in audio. |
