Power Cables - PSAudio/Shunyata

[Threefiftyz]

I've done a search in this forum on power and power cables but unable to find people using replacement power cables. Maybe I"m not searching correctly but anyway I'm starting a thread. Has anyone replaced their original power cables that came with your receiver or amp? If so, is what kind of differences are there if any?

 

[Alex2507]

I was aware of a recent thread that discusses power cables in detail and was able to find it for you. The general idea is not to waste your money on them.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46029&highlight=power+cable

 

[Rickster71]

Before anyone spends more money on an upgraded power cord; first do this easy test.
Next time you're in the Depot or lowes, etc. go down the electrical aisle, and look closely at a duplex receptacle.
Look at the sides between the two sets of screws. There is a small thin brass jumper.
That jumper splits the power between both the top and bottom of the receptacle.
So when someone spends big money on a supposedly upgraded cord, just remember the power goes through that tiny thin piece of brass first. (The brass tab can also taken out, to make a switched and non switched receptacle.)

 

[PeterWhite]

I've done a search in this forum on power and power cables but unable to find people using replacement power cables. Maybe I"m not searching correctly but anyway I'm starting a thread. Has anyone replaced their original power cables that came with your receiver or amp? If so, is what kind of differences are there if any?

Unless the power cord that came with your component was too light, which you would know if it got hot in use, there is nothing to be gained by replacing it. These expensive power cords by companies like Audioquest and many others are a scam, just like their speaker wire and interconnect wires.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I've done a search in this forum on power and power cables but unable to find people using replacement power cables. Maybe I"m not searching correctly but anyway I'm starting a thread. Has anyone replaced their original power cables that came with your receiver or amp? If so, is what kind of differences are there if any?

If a power cable need replacing on a component, why even trust the designer of that product in the first place? Move on to a component that is properly designed, including the power cable; simple as that.
Next, we will be discussing swapping chips in there, or circuit boards and traces, etc.

 

[PeterWhite]

If a power cable need replacing on a component, why even trust the designer of that product in the first place? Move on to a component that is properly designed, including the power cable; simple as that.
Next, we will be discussing swapping chips in there, or circuit boards and traces, etc.

There's no reason to make this any more complicated than it needs to be. Just place a Shakti stone on your head whenever listening to music. The bass will be "tighter", the midrange more "liquid" and the highs ever so much "sweeter". The only possible improvement beyond this would be to have a Shakti stone surgically implanted in your brain.

 

[mtrycrafts]

... Just place a Shakti stone on your head ....

Does this require a balancing act

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum, Threefiftyz! I suggest that you check out the thread for which Alex gave the link.

Some people think that aftermarket power cords make a difference, some people (clearly) do not. There's more detail in the other thread (just ignore the personal attacks that are posted there).

 

[DMD123]

Threefiftyz,

The best power upgrade I have found so far is to replace the cheap 25 cent outlet.

Do NOT buy the "Audiophile" outlets!

Just a Commercial grade 15 amp type for around $2. These have a much better grip on your plugs, have better grounding and while your in there you can make sure your polarity is correct.

This is one of the best upgrades I have done. All my plugs have a death grip to the wall outlet. Nothing worse than loose plugs that can cause all kind of issues.

 

[mtrycrafts]

The best power upgrade I have found so far is to replace the cheap 25 cent outlet.
.

Where did you find them for $.25? In the 21st century

 

[Haoleb]

The biggest advantage to aftermarket power cords, At least many of them is that they are sheilded. I cannot speak for the majority of them but I bought a PS audio prelude on clearance just to see if I could hear a difference. I could not. But its still a very quality cord that is indeed sheilded and looks pretty good too.

Pick up a sniffer used with wire toners and sniff around your cables and you'll soon find out that having sheilded cords can make a significant difference. Now does this difference heard with a noise sniffer do anything in actual audibility through your system? Unlikely. But it doesnt hurt.

 

[Toka]

The newest issue of Affordable Audio reprints some measurements taken before/after the use of an aftermarket power cord...I'd be curious to hear what people have to say about it (for the record, I'm not sold one way or the other).



http://www.affordableaudio.org/

(Choose September issue on the left)

 

[Rickster71]

The newest issue of Affordable Audio reprints some measurements taken before/after the use of an aftermarket power cord...I'd be curious to hear what people have to say about it (for the record, I'm not sold one way or the other).



http://www.affordableaudio.org/aa2008-09.pdf

Hi Toka, link says:
You do not have permission to access http://www.affordableaudio.org/aa2008-09.pdf

 

[Toka]

Hmm...weird...try this:

http://www.affordableaudio.org/


You'll need to select the September issue on the left menu.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hmm...weird...try this:

http://www.affordableaudio.org/


You'll need to select the September issue on the left menu.

Not impressed at all.
The author attributes a bit higher voltage at the end of the 8ga cable to lower cable resistance than at the wall outlet? Impossible even with zero resistance in which case it would be the same at least.
He certainly didn't measure its effects on a component output with it and stock cable at about the same time period.

 

[Rickster71]

Hi Toka, I agree with mtrycrafts.
The test is not a good one.
The 'before' and 'after' scope readings should be superimposed over each other, so the differences can be easily compared.
The way it was done there, we have to scroll down a page or two, trying to compare the scope display.
I could go on, but instead, try doing the following:

The site you mentioned has done a few reviews on Emotive products.
Get those reviews, and compare them to the way Gene and Clint (here at Audioholics) do their reviews on the same Emotive products.
I don't want to tell you what to think. Compare the way the reviews are done, and judge for yourself.
Let us know what you conclude.
Good luck, and be careful out there.

 

[hifi_fan]

Unless the power cord that came with your component was too light, which you would know if it got hot in use, there is nothing to be gained by replacing it. These expensive power cords by companies like Audioquest and many others are a scam, just like their speaker wire and interconnect wires.

Really? What's wrong with them?

Have you tried them?

hifi_fan

 

[mtrycrafts]

Really? What's wrong with them?

Have you tried them?

hifi_fan

What is there to try about them? Any real evidence that they make an audible difference? Imagining things is not evidence, by the way

 

[highfigh]

There's no reason to make this any more complicated than it needs to be. Just place a Shakti stone on your head whenever listening to music. The bass will be "tighter", the midrange more "liquid" and the highs ever so much "sweeter". The only possible improvement beyond this would be to have a Shakti stone surgically implanted in your brain.

I prefer to tap my forehead with a ball pein hammer while I listen. After a while, it's almost like I'm not even in the same room. I hear beeping, many people frantically trying to help someone and see that the lights are brighter, through my eyelids. There's a strange medicinal smell, too.

Oh, wait- that was the ER I went to because of the hammer.

I would really like to hear an explanation of how the power cord from the wall to the amp is supposed to make such a remarkable improvement, when so many houses have old, aluminum wiring, circuits added by people who didn't do it right and cheap outlets.

I was once told that putting Cramolin on the tabs of my power cords would tighten the bass and make things sound more open. I told him to leave the store.

 

[highfigh]

Imagining things is not evidence, by the way

It is in my world.