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Do power cords make an audible difference?

I recently discovered the inexpensive Pangea AC-9 power cord. It was so inexpensive I decided, just for kicks, to buy one for my sacd player and my integrated amp. I was extremely doubtful I would hear any difference at all. I plugged them in, turned on the system and I was surprised. I immediately invited a non-audiophile over for a listen. She had only heard my system for maybe 30 minutes with the old cords and I asked her if she could hear a difference. After listening to only two tracks she said "it sounds more clear". This is exactly what I had thought. I also noticed the sound stage seemed bigger. Now, it's not A huge difference but it is noticeable to the casual observer, so it is significant, which is more than I hoped for.
esmith3671
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
From searching the archives to find out how others have handled glare in their systems I found that members years ago heard audible improvements when they swapped stock power cords out of their CDPs for aftermarket ones. Some of these threads though were 4-7 years old.

For me when I had an Emotiva ERC-1 CDP and put in a My Audio Cables (MAC) HC Power Cord I heard a quieter background. It made me get off my chair and notice.

Again like Theo said above it is system and person dependent. Part of me believes it is component dependent as well. When I had a decent Sony receiver and put a thick Tributaries power cord on it I heard no difference.
bigbucks5
184 posts
 
Do trees falling in a forest make a sound?

Same answer to both questions...Yes, only if there's a person to hear it.
adam18
670 posts
 
For my ears, in my room, with my system ... YES !!
I replaced the stock power cords of both my Rogue Audio Cronus amplifier and my Rotel RCD-1072 deck with Signal Cable upgraded power cords (less than $ 100 each), and have noticed an improvement.
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
PS Audio Statement Extreme on my CD player produced a blacker background ..... PS Audio power cords had no effect on other components ie amp, pre-amp and now integrated amp .......
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
835 posts
 
I'm with Drdennis on this one.
I don't think that someone who heard your system for 30 minutes could tell the difference with new cords. Which kinda proves the point - People believe they hear things and arrive at certain conclusions.
Tuesday night I was wearing blue jeans and my system sounded very good to me. Wednesday night I was wearing slacks and it sounded just a little better. I do not conclude that slacks make my system sound better. Many people on these forums would (OK, slight exaggeration , but not by much).
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