Breaking in power cords

Dazzdaz writes:

I think you don't need another breaking in period to get a cable sounding good. This is a general misconception.

If you "think" that's the case, don't you wonder what causes people to relate their observations of the phenomenon in a public forum? Just taking a straw poll, I reckon we read more posts from folk who claim they have experienced the positive effects of break-in than those who say they observed no change over time.

Then there are members who "think" it's a misconception.

Regards,

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Dazzdax,
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How many different power cords have you broken in ?
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This is a good question. I have no doubt in my mind that "most" interconnects and speaker cables undergo some type of sonic change after being exposed to specific electrical stimuli for a given period of time. I don't know if i really believe this about power cords or not.

Most all of the power cords that i've ever purchased were used and / or new and had high amperage pulled through them right away. As i've stated before though, power cords don't make that much of a sonic difference IF the AC coming into the power cord is clean and the power supply in the component that it is connected to is properly designed. All of my AC is filtered before getting to the outlet and the power supplies have been upgraded.

With that in mind, my main concerns are reducing the potential for the PC to act as an antenna for RFI and making sure that the PC doesn't mechanically transfer vibration / resonance into the gear itself. This can happen if the PC itself is too rigid and / or arranged in a position that helps it to pick-up air-borne vibrations.

Some power cables are so rigid that you can literally feel the beat of the music in the PC and / or the component itself from the speakers resonating the PC. As i've mentioned before, i've had power cords that when you "knock" on one end, you can very clearly hear acoustic output being radiated at the other end. This is not good.

I actually measured increases in the noise floor of a component when varying the amount of vibration that it was exposed to via the power cord. Changing the amount of mechanical damping within the unit itself and / or the PC feeding it corrected this problem. From this one instance, i learned that rigidity with a lack of mechanical damping is not a desirable trait when it comes to a PC. Sean
>

From: Customer Service at Maytag.com [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 6:44 AM
To: a.k.a. shasta
Subject: Re: Product Question

Hello,

Thank you for visiting our Maytag.com customer service page. We appreciate your interest in our products and service.

We do not offer an electric dryer that operates on 120volts. We are not
aware of any prior electric dryers that did.

Sincerely,

Deanna
Maytag Consumer Services
(Mon.-Fri. 8:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time)

Received Date: 11/3/04
Completion Date: 11/11/04

How can we expect to hear a PC to break in, it doesn't even pass an audio signal?

If the electrical properties change 10%, do you expect to be able to hear a difference and remember what it sounded like a few weeks befor?

Seems to be the expectation theory again..)