Why does better power = better sound?

Hi Bryon - your comments here on expertise reminds me of the final film of Orson Welles, F is for Fake. If you haven't seen it, you need to. I think you would really enjoy it, and it is very much on your topic.

Hi Learsfool - I haven't seen F is for Fake, but I know what it's about and it sounds interesting. I will put it on my Netflix list. Thanks! :-)

Bryon

20 amps times 120 volts is 2400 watts at 100% efficiency. Take that time maybe 85% efficiency per pass through device (power conditioners and power supply) and you get a more realistic 2400 *.85 *.85 = 1734 watts (1300 watts with a 15 amp circuit).

That's for everything sharing that outlet. Most systems can live with that just fine.

Short of CLASS D amps, that have real issues with RF noise (and a bunch of other bad stuff in wide-band use)if not handled properly, good capacitor filtered power supplies are pretty quiet.

I still haven't seen any results on Vcc DC bias variation on "sound" and fundamentally this is really what all that upstream stuff is supposed to improve. OK, people "say" when the Vcc bias changes, imaging and dynamics suffers.

That's one of the general "improvement" of class A amps, the engine is at red-line all the time so it's ready to go NOW! But at an efficiency cost. A/B amps have to accelerate up to speed, slowing transient responses. High bias A/B amps cheat a little and hold the throttle in class A for 15-30 watts. Other improvement is distortion which is inversely related to bias current and of course, no PNP to NPN notch distortion to manage.

Some of the "power" improvements I'll try to hear with a PLINIUS SA-103 amplifier verses my ODYSSEY KISMET MONO low bias A/B amplifiers. This, with the units AC line noise defended by the on board power supply of each amplifier.

To say a power supply is inadequate is somewhat intriging. The caps recharge at the RC time constant of the circuit, which is pretty fast and with full voltage charge from ZERO in five or six time constants. If a big drum beat pulls down the supply, then the only drum beat that will sound good is the first one you hear! The time even between drum hits is PLENTY of time for the caps to recharge. There is a measurable supply sag that can be designed for.

As far as caps needing to sit for "days" to charge fully? This sounds like a fairy tale as again, music is happening faster than that, and the power supply of a good amps seems to manage without waiting days between bass transients or high intermittent current draw. A more continuous draw? Well, I guess your amps don't sound good anymore until you leave and come back in a day? Amps are tested at a steady state 3/4 load cycle and then swept to full power to make sure long duration operation is decent.

The data says power supplies work on a much FASTER charge cycle than "days" or even seconds. The Vcc sag is an indicator of this attribute as that's where the rubber hits the transistors. No supply can never sag, so it's the amount (dips) and character (spikes) that is in question to fidelity.

I recently replaced the IEC inputs on my amps and the RCA inputs with the best of each from Furutech.
I purchased the Rhodium plating, only because there are a lot of tubes in my system and it doesn't need any more "warmth".

What I am now enjoying is more transparency than before.

The more robust Furutech components must be better at passing the electronic signal than the more modest older units.

Nothingelse was changed in the system.

People who know my system's sound were impressed by the improvement in clarity,and it wasn't in a dark room late at nite.

My non technical brain tells me that the better parts passed the elctrical signal better than the old parts, and that when the electrical signal is more clear so is the sound.

Hence, for me, whatever you do to better the power to your system, the better it will sound.

The other thing that my non tech brain tells me is that so far I've nothing to fault with Furutech replacement parts.

They provide the reasons why their products are supposed to sound better,for those who need the re-assuremnt.

I have no affiliation with Furutech and I don't work in the industry and have nothing to gain.

Nor do I have any other parts to compare them to other than the older, more modest receptacles that they replaced.

The older parts were not defective in any way, the system had no noise or hum issues.Life was good.

It's just better now.