Why does better power = better sound?


Why does improving power quality improve sound quality?

I’m not asking to start an argument about power cords or wall outlets. Please let’s not go there. I’m asking because I’m hoping to learn some technical explanations for the effects of power quality on sound quality. I think I already understand how…

1. greater current availability = greater dynamic range
2. reduction of RFI/EMI = better signal to noise ratio

…but what about these…

3. ???????? = greater perceived resolution
4. ???????? = more realistic instrument timbres
5. ???????? = more precise imaging

Are differences in resolution, instrument timbres, imaging, etc. somehow reducible to current availability and/or powerline noise? If so, HOW are they reducible?

Again, I’m hoping to get into technical specifics, not polemical generalities.

Thanks in advance.

Bryon
bryoncunningham
I've seen the Furmans with those tubes and never new exactly the purpose til now. They would be useless to me too. But, oh well. My stand can handle the depth. Thanks so much.
There's a used 20 on ebay right now.
Lynne
Byron, I think of AC power as just DC power at any one moment in time. We all know that current reverses 60 times a second and has zero volts/current 120 times a second. Your amp, etc. is not at the end of the power chain but is actually at the center of it in series. Any non-linear defect in this series circut with all the starting and stopping before we even consider the changes of modulating this current with music is an arithmetical mess. Consider that each connection is not just a little resistance but also has a diode effect with current flowing better in one direction than another. And we havent even gotten to your Wi-Fi impressing it's signal onto the house wiring acting as an antenna. Mind boggling, Mike
I can speak from experience about the effects of the quality of the power on the performance of your gear.

Back in the late 1990's I moved into a brand new home, but in an older subdivision.

I had Quad 63 and Meitner mono block power amps.

During my first summer my amps shut down.

I sent them to Ed,he fixed them, sent them back, and in the next day or so, they shut down again.

He said there was nothing wrong with the amps, and that I should consult my power provider.

To make a long story short,a new transformer was attached to the pole and I never had another issue with the amps shutting down.

The sound also improved,things opened up, it was faster,more detail, all the good stuff.

It was around this time that I replaced my power cords going to the Quads with DIY made from 12 guage Romex.

How much of an improvement was that?

The fellow who bought my Quads asked if the DIY power cords were also for sale.

It was ten years later or more that a friend of mine got into balanced power and upgraded power cords and dedicated lines.
I heard what they did to improve his sound which was already much better than mine, and much more expensive.

His system did things that mine was incapable of doing.

It got out of the way of the music.

I've since implimented many of his power upgrades and added a few others like designer fuses to the mix.

The results are that eventhough I have a complete system that doesn't cost as much as his Scarlatti digital set up does, I have narrowed the performance gap .

For me I don't wonder why or how this should be, it is what it is.
Thanks for sharing your story, Lacee. I have a similar kind of story with my adventures with AC power over the years, starting with a simple power conditioner and then moving on to fancy power cables and then to even fancier power conditioners and then to dedicated lines and to cryo'd 10 gauge Romex and to magic outlets and to more magic outlets and to custom power supplies and to ferrites ferrites ferrites and to noise harvesters and to powerwraps and to obsessive compulsive cord management and to all kinds of custom shielding and finally to fuses, which brings the whole subject to the level of absurdist satire.

Still, I wouldn't change a thing.

Bryon
Bryon, it only seems absurd to the folks who are content with the kind of sound they get with stock fuses, no power conditioning,dime store multi plug outlets and everything plugged into a one buck wall receptacle.

They laugh at what we spend to improve the power, yet they aren't getting the sound from their gear that they paid good money for.
They would rather flip amps and gear on a continuing basis,never having really heard the gear they own running the way it should.

I was fortunate to hear the results of power upgrades in my friend's system, and then followed suit with the same results-improved sound with the gear I already have.

I didn't have to spend another 10 grand for a new power amp, I made my old one sound like the ten grand amp for a lot less money.
Why spend thousands when all you have to spend is a few hundred in the right places.

That's absurd to me.