Biggest learning of 2019 for me: power cords are the most important in an audio system.

[essrand]

Like everyone else I think I went from a non-believer in cables to a believer and got half-decent ICs and Speaker cables.
But I never bought power cables (PCs). It didn't make any sense.

But buying Cardas PCs and the tremendous effect it had on my system has made me a believer.
Much later I read in posts on audiogon by many an experienced audiophile including in the legendary thread by whitecamaross that I follow: powercords > IC > speaker cables, or PC >Speaker cables > IC, but PCs always came first.

I know audio experiences are subjective, but did anybody else here feel the same, or have had similar experiences?

 

[mpw]

I am having a reverse experience...after going back to original Naim power cord...stock version.

But hey...that's why audio is so different isnt it ?

And yes as far as hardware goes..my playing level is much lower.

 

[rikhav]

Power cords are important I agree
Earlier I was also not giving any attention to power cords and just used whatever came with the equipment
For me biggest change with power cord came with dac and source
Second with amp and last with pre
But it would be absolutely opposite for someone else.
But fact is power cords do make difference

Also on similar topic, I dedicated a phase of power supply to audio gear and that also make considerable difference.

 

[srinisundar]

Like everyone else I think I went from a non-believer in cables to a believer and got half-decent ICs and Speaker cables.
But I never bought power cables (PCs). It didn't make any sense.

But buying Cardas PCs and the tremendous effect it had on my system has made me a believer.
Much later I read in posts on audiogon by many an experienced audiophile including in the legendary thread by whitecamaross that I follow: powercords > IC > speaker cables, or PC >Speaker cables > IC, but PCs always came first.

I know audio experiences are subjective, but did anybody else here feel the same, or have had similar experiences?

Yes i do agree. I have good experience on this. Cables Makes Difference.

Power cords are important I agree
Earlier I was also not giving any attention to power cords and just used whatever came with the equipment
For me biggest change with power cord came with dac and source
Second with amp and last with pre
But it would be absolutely opposite for someone else.
But fact is power cords do make difference

Also on similar topic, I dedicated a phase of power supply to audio gear and that also make considerable difference.

This is absolutely correct & real.

 

[mpw]

I dedicated a phase of power supply to audio gear and that also make considerable difference.

This makes the most difference IMO...

 

[jai1611]

I am having a reverse experience...after going back to original Naim power cord...stock version.

But hey...that's why audio is so different isnt it ?

And yes as far as hardware goes..my playing level is much lower.

Naim stock power cords are surprisingly good - at least the ones with UK plugs. I first moved to them originally with my Rethm system nearly a decade back. Replaced a bunch of European plug cables at the time. Have been part of my system since. These days I supplement them with some Einstein cables - for the power amp and the linear power supply for the PC. Both benefit from extra shielding.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

I have just concluded my experimentation with power cables and am hugely surprised by what good power cables can do to a budget system. More about it in a dedicated thread.

 

[mpw]

I have just concluded my experimentation with power cables and am hugely surprised by what good power cables can do to a budget system. More about it in a dedicated thread.

But before that it will be logical to have a dedicated line 15A to your audio rig..

IMO ..when the incoming power foundation is strong further experiments can be more relevant to yourself and the reader

 

[sidvee]

powercords > IC > speaker cables, or PC >Speaker cables > IC, but PCs always came first.

I know audio experiences are subjective, but did anybody else here feel the same, or have had similar experiences?

Yes I concur, at-least in my system power cords make the biggest impact. My go to PC is Shunyata now.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[arj]

What is important with every component and its evaluation is all we are seeing is the change we see from what it was (however compromised it was) to where it is now

e.g : If the basic system output is Not neutral ( eg the bass is boomy because the speaker is closer to the wall) any power cord (2) which will cut the bass will make it sound more neutral although in reality it is cutting out something which was there

On the other hand on another system where maybe a CDP is such placed ( maybe on a soft wood) such that the bass is cut /absorbed in any any way Power cord (2) will make it worse while the original power cord will make it better !


So there is no way between the above cases to see which power cord is better. But in both cases, if the quality of power itself is improved, both will have a better Outputs. But again, better output can also mean showing up another problem of the system ( eg the treble might seem sharper..which is actually a reality of the system, but will be perceived as Bright)

The Fundamental question is what is neutral...for each one of us, perhaps its the sound which we have heard as a reference - maybe another system we have heard or you have actually heard that live and use that as a reference.So everyones neutral van vary. I personally prefer the ears of a couple of people I would trust since I do not trust my own ears as much.

OF course if you believe that Power cords do not make a difference, please ignore all of the above !

 

[essrand]

I have just concluded my experimentation with power cables and am hugely surprised by what good power cables can do to a budget system. More about it in a dedicated thread.

Would love to see this thread.

 

[firearm12]

power cords also made the highest impact in my case as compared to any other cables. Its really fun to play with them. i also noticed that 50% or more of power cable sound comes from the connectors. They matter a lot. I use furutech connectors and can say that copper connectors have flat mid centric sound, gold connectors are warm bassy and golden sounding to ears. rhodium ones are high on space and accentuate highs and lows but have recessed mids. i like gold and copper in my system, rhodium is high in resolution but makes system lifeless.

 

[superczar]

But before that it will be logical to have a dedicated line 15A to your audio rig..

IMO ..when the incoming power foundation is strong further experiments can be more relevant to yourself and the reader

To add, a dedicated line coupled with a single coupling ground for everything (and that really means every single device) on your audio chain (with the exception of streaming servers)..
Even a small decoupling on the ground line can raise the noise floor thereby rendering all subsequent tweaks a bit meaningless

 

[firearm12]

power cords also made the highest impact in my case as compared to any other cables. Its really fun to play with them. i also noticed that 50% or more of power cable sound comes from the connectors. They matter a lot. I use furutech connectors and can say that copper connectors have flat mid centric sound, gold connectors are warm bassy and golden sounding to ears. rhodium ones are high on space and accentuate highs and lows but have recessed mids. i like gold and copper in my system, rhodium is high in resolution but makes system lifeless.

Adding to all this if i simply swap my cables among equipment, sound can change dramatically going from being too dull to too analytical at one point, so one type of cable is not suitable for every equipment (even though i have all equipment from one company). You never know what equipment will like what cable or connector, so its really fun to play with power cables and all this is highly independent of cable prices involved.

 

[Hari Iyer]

One of the major reason i switched to batteries in my preamp wass to avoid the entire powersupply stage in the preamp and i am glad that i did.

 

[renjith lal]

power cords also made the highest impact in my case as compared to any other cables. Its really fun to play with them. i also noticed that 50% or more of power cable sound comes from the connectors. They matter a lot. I use furutech connectors and can say that copper connectors have flat mid centric sound, gold connectors are warm bassy and golden sounding to ears. rhodium ones are high on space and accentuate highs and lows but have recessed mids. i like gold and copper in my system, rhodium is high in resolution but makes system lifeless.

Hello Firearm,

It is really impressive that you have tried with different Furutech connectors and noted the effect of different type of connectors gold, copper and rhodium. You have lot of energy and patience.

Few people suggest to use Furutech GTX-NCF wall receptacle and people say you can immediately find the difference and I have read in some forum
it is an audiophile bargain. I have not tried it yet but I am tempted.

I am just wondering how many variables in our audio chain which can make a difference .

Firarm do you use any power conditioners?

 

[firearm12]

Hello Firearm,

It is really impressive that you have tried with different Furutech connectors and noted the effect of different type of connectors gold, copper and rhodium. You have lot of energy and patience.

Few people suggest to use Furutech GTX-NCF wall receptacle and people say you can immediately find the difference and I have read in some forum
it is an audiophile bargain. I have not tried it yet but I am tempted.

I am just wondering how many variables in our audio chain which can make a difference .

Firarm do you use any power conditioners?

Yes being working from home mostly gives a lot of time to me to work on my system but its now getting frustrating for me and my ears.

Yes receptacles and wall side plugs will make lot of difference in sound, basically i found all these things clean up the sound and lower noise floor and affect quality and texture of bass and treble alot (depending on material of connectors). Depending on the system this affects the overall sound accordingly. I have not used wall receptacles but am 100% sure they also affect sound similarly.

I dont use any power conditioner. I did got a furutech etp80 recently, it has 4 output with filters and 4 without. The ones with filters are supposed to be used with digital sources and ones without filters are to be used with amps and preamps. The filtered outputs make sound more clean, lower noise floor, clean up vocals but do affect dynamics, bass and fullness when i use them with my dac. The unfiltered ones make sound a little more larger than life and roll off treble, take leading edges off the sound for my amps though sound is more open and appears full. I am still confused whether i like these effects on my system. My system is too neutral and adding anything to it adds a certain color, so can get confusing for my mind.

Having said all this i have realised power is very impprtant factor and anything that tweaks the power affects overall neutrality and color of sound system, whether you like it or not thats differemt issue. I personally dont tend to like too clean a system, it sounds lifeless to me. I have not used any power conditioner but i suppose they too will have similar effects and will affect dynamics and neutrality so little reluctant to use those now after experimenting all this.

If you are a signal purist and dont care about very clean sound, best connectors are no connectors at all. Diy cables directly connected to the main wall cable and put just one good connector at the equipment end (cannot escape that), sound may not be as clean as by using wall sockets or power conditioners but it maintains a certain balance and solidness in sound. I think i am tending that way for future. Most people wont agree with this i know.

 

[lalit09]

Agreed, 1st i made a diy power distributor with shielded cable and connected it directly to voltage stabilizer and i could immediately feel the change.

After few days i diy power cable for my power amp and again smoothness it bought was big diff compared to stock cable.

 

[renjith lal]

Yes being working from home mostly gives a lot of time to me to work on my system but its now getting frustrating for me and my ears.

Yes receptacles and wall side plugs will make lot of difference in sound, basically i found all these things clean up the sound and lower noise floor and affect quality and texture of bass and treble alot (depending on material of connectors). Depending on the system this affects the overall sound accordingly. I have not used wall receptacles but am 100% sure they also affect sound similarly.

I dont use any power conditioner. I did got a furutech etp80 recently, it has 4 output with filters and 4 without. The ones with filters are supposed to be used with digital sources and ones without filters are to be used with amps and preamps. The filtered outputs make sound more clean, lower noise floor, clean up vocals but do affect dynamics, bass and fullness when i use them with my dac. The unfiltered ones make sound a little more larger than life and roll off treble, take leading edges off the sound for my amps though sound is more open and appears full. I am still confused whether i like these effects on my system. My system is too neutral and adding anything to it adds a certain color, so can get confusing for my mind.

Having said all this i have realised power is very impprtant factor and anything that tweaks the power affects overall neutrality and color of sound system, whether you like it or not thats differemt issue. I personally dont tend to like too clean a system, it sounds lifeless to me. I have not used any power conditioner but i suppose they too will have similar effects and will affect dynamics and neutrality so little reluctant to use those now after experimenting all this.

If you are a signal purist and dont care about very clean sound, best connectors are no connectors at all. Diy cables directly connected to the main wall cable and put just one good connector at the equipment end (cannot escape that), sound may not be as clean as by using wall sockets or power conditioners but it maintains a certain balance and solidness in sound. I think i am tending that way for future. Most people wont agree with this i know.

The biggest issue I hear about power conditioner is restricting the dynamics, I am in search of one which wont do that.
Not sure when I will get one.

I also dont want or prefer to color (or looking for a neutral cord)the system with power cords for sure, few experts use power cords to tweak there system according to there taste using power cords may be last few percentage of improvement.

I like your idea of using only one connector at the equipment and connecting other end to wall receptacle but not sure how practical it is.
Like the saying best cable is No cable, and best connector is No connector.
Thanks for sharing your leanings .