Great cheap tweak

[stesom]

I assure you that better mechanical connections and materials make a difference. Buy a spec or hospital grade ac outlet for $6 at Home Depot and swap out that standard outlet. I think most of you will hear the difference.

BTW--Most stock power cords are 18 gauge wire with 3 conductors. Household Romex is typically 12 gauge wire with 3 conductors. If you want to get the most out of the Romex in your home, replace stock cords with a 12 gauge, 3 conductor cord, at least. Brands are not important. Yes, there are some differences, i.e., some have filter networks built in, some are shielded, but that's another discussion. One place where power cords make a really big difference is in low signal areas, e.g., turntables and cd/dvd players. Audio equipment loves current.

Just to clarify, typical 15 amp circuits run on 14 guage wire and 20 amp circuits run on 12 guage. I do agree that it is good to run a well constructed power cord of equal guage to the circuit, but I personally think it is silly to spend any more than 100 bucks for 6-8 feet to get good wire and quality connectors with an insulator. I have over 50k in my system, but I would not waste my money on expensive power cables......Steve

 

[MiTT]

Just to clarify, typical 15 amp circuits run on 14 guage wire and 20 amp circuits run on 12 guage. I do agree that it is good to run a well constructed power cord of equal guage to the circuit, but I personally think it is silly to spend any more than 100 bucks for 6-8 feet to get good wire and quality connectors with an insulator. I have over 50k in my system, but I would not waste my money on expensive power cables......Steve

But Steve, have you tried it and found that they just don't work, or are you rationalizing that they can't?

I appreciate taking a truely stoic approach, (not registering an opinion one way or the other until the benefit can or cannot be demonstrated and validated firsthand) but I don't know how anyone can dismiss cable differences out of hand without conducting their own emperical research and experimentation when this is one of the biggest debates in audio.

You have a really remarkable system, I would be shocked if you could not discerne some differences between interconnects and power cords on your rig. My system is no slouch, but not quite up to the level of yours and I have never had a single person who has listened to different cables on my system not be able to voice a specific set of differences and preferences, and I've done it many times. What's interesting in your system is that you've got a Richard Gray power conditioner, so in your case it really is more about the "First 3 feet" from the conditioner to the componet - not at all the situation of the "last" few feet after miles of 14 gauge and romex. When I was up at Ayre a few weeks ago they were demonstrating the MX-R's with Summits for me, and they felt that an upgraded power cord (used in conjuction with their own power conditioner) offered significant improvement.

I'm not suggesting that everyone go out and drop serious coin on the flavor of the month, but I do suggest, as I have many times before, that EVERYTHING matters in audio and that this is just one more area where appropriate synergy can yield great rewards.

 

[stesom]

But Steve, have you tried it and found that they just don't work, or are you rationalizing that they can't?

I appreciate taking a truely stoic approach, (not registering an opinion one way or the other until the benefit can or cannot be demonstrated and validated firsthand) but I don't know how anyone can dismiss cable differences out of hand without conducting their own emperical research and experimentation when this is one of the biggest debates in audio.

You have a really remarkable system, I would be shocked if you could not discerne some differences between interconnects and power cords on your rig. My system is no slouch, but not quite up to the level of yours and I have never had a single person who has listened to different cables on my system not be able to voice a specific set of differences and preferences, and I've done it many times. What's interesting in your system is that you've got a Richard Gray power conditioner, so in your case it really is more about the "First 3 feet" from the conditioner to the componet - not at all the situation of the "last" few feet after miles of 14 gauge and romex. When I was up at Ayre a few weeks ago they were demonstrating the MX-R's with Summits for me, and they felt that an upgraded power cord (used in conjuction with their own power conditioner) offered significant improvement.

I'm not suggesting that everyone go out and drop serious coin on the flavor of the month, but I do suggest, as I have many times before, that EVERYTHING matters in audio and that this is just one more area where appropriate synergy can yield great rewards.

I have better than stock power cords, but I could not tell the difference between $100 power cords and $600 power cords and yes I did try them to see. There are folks selling power cords for 1000s of dollars and at this point feel that is just crazy. I also am using a Richard Gray's 1200 Custom so most of the grunge should be removed. Again I agree that a well constructed power cord is great and can be better than stock power cords. But I don't think you need to spend crazy money to get the benefit.

The thing I find interesting is that I bought a flagship product from Ayre and it came with well made 14 gauge cables and you would think they would not go to the trouble of building such a fine piece of equipment only to cripple it with a substandard power cable. I have an Acura NSX sports car and they actually had custom tires (4 individual tires) made to work with the suspension setup. I would hope that a high end audio manufacturer would do the same when delivering their finished product....Steve

 

[Tj Bassi]

I think you are probably right. Different cords didn't make a difference on the Aeons, Logos, or Scenarios in my video setup. They did on the Descent.

Yes, with the Descent a quality A/C cord makes a difference.

T-

 

[zatoichi]

With the availability of spec/hospital grade plugs and IECs like the marincos, you can build your own power cords. The cost of a plug and an IEC is $27-$30 total, no soldering required. All you need to do is find wire. If you want to go really cheap, buy romex from an electrical supply store for a few bucks. Even that will be better than a stock 18-3 powercord.

If you feel you don't hear a difference, you can probably sell the plug and marinco to another audiophile w/out losing any money.

 

[edwinr]

While I might have a bit of a joke about cables etc, if anyone is to go down that path, before you spend big $$$, make sure your system is as good as it can be - like a properly treated room etc, etc,

Inserting high end cables into a system won't compensate for poor setup or major system anomalies. What nice cable WILL do though is add that extra little tweak to make a fine sounding system sound even better.

Just my opinion...

 

[stesom]

While I might have a bit of a joke about cables etc, if anyone is to go down that path, before you spend big $$$, make sure your system is as good as it can be - like a properly treated room etc, etc,

Inserting high end cables into a system won't compensate for poor setup or major system anomalies. What nice cable WILL do though is add that extra little tweak to make a fine sounding system sound even better.

Just my opinion...

Could not agree more and that is my next upgrade. I know I am not getting the most out of my system right now and will be looking into room treatment/tuning in the next month or so.......Steve

 

[tonyc]

Oh Steve, ARC gear loves Shunyata Pythons, especially the Ref 3! Your system is so magnificent, it deserves the best powercords!

 

[raygunn]

Tony, my friend, you are speaking my language!...

Here we go again! My .02 is that the ESP Essence cords I use on my Summits improve the noise floor, increase the size (width, height, and depth) of the soundstage, tighten and deepen the bottom end and improve the coherence between the panel and the woofers. Any naysayers are welcome to come listen to my system for yourself.

It's funny how we came to exactly the same conlusion on Power cords. :bowdown:

All of my pre-CLS ML's were shod with ESP Essence cords. They indeed did everything you said. Now I know for future reference that they also perform the same sort of magic on the newer models like the Summits.

Hmm, I already sold mine on Audiogon. maybe I should have tried them on the two Depths. DAMN!!!!