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Post by 405x5 on Oct 29, 2016 14:55:31 GMT -5
"I do very much like the extremely nice sound of my music and home theater and all little tweaks and changes I have made make me appreciate it even more.
[/quote]["
Appreciate, yes....change as in performance (or anything else)
Not a chance of this
Bill
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Post by audiosyndrome on Oct 29, 2016 15:21:29 GMT -5
BTW, a 'regenerator' function already exists inside electronics. Did they forget to mention that to protect sales? Incandescent bulbs can dim to 50%. Voltage that low is perfectly good for all properly designed electronics - due to a standard and necessary 'regenerator' function. PROPERLY designed electronics will NOT work when the line drops 50%. Equipment designed for a nominal 120 volts line is (typically) designed to work plus or minus 10%, sometimes plus or minus 15%. That would be 102 - 138 volts worst case. Lower than 102 and the power supplies will go out of regulation. Higher than 138, keep your fingers crossed. Russ |
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Post by copperpipe on Oct 29, 2016 17:38:54 GMT -5
Using this logic, you won't need to clean your water glass either since nothing was cleaned in miles on the waters journey to your faucet which can get pretty ugly. Again this is also where a power conditioner comes into play to clean what has come to your system. BTW amps and other components do feature forms of internal shielding and internally wires are shielded by the case. For best performance speaker wire is not shielded though wire designs like "twisted pair" helps to protect them as well as shielding of other nearby cables, thus one of the reasons for shielding power cables. Back to water, at home I use a Britta pitcher to filter my water, think of this as a power conditioner. At home I also prefer to use glass drinking cups as opposed to plastic ones. The glass ones are a little more expensive but I prefer the clean taste where I find reusing plastic glasses tends to pick up an added taste that I dislike so I prefer the real glass. Think of this as your power cable the shielded cable will not add any unwanted noise to my system, the unshielded cable works well but can pick up or add unwanted noise. Now you're just changing the subject  Read the title ... "upgraded 'audiophile' power cords", which is what we were discussing. Nobody mentioned anything about power conditioners. |
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Post by richardrc on Oct 30, 2016 3:10:12 GMT -5
I wonder at which volage the auto voltage select circuitry kicks in. It might be able to handle a substantial overvoltage from 110. I am stuffed here at 240 but usually 250 and as high as 260 when my UPS AVR circuit switches on. BTW, a 'regenerator' function already exists inside electronics. Did they forget to mention that to protect sales? Incandescent bulbs can dim to 50%. Voltage that low is perfectly good for all properly designed electronics - due to a standard and necessary 'regenerator' function. PROPERLY designed electronics will NOT work when the line drops 50%. Equipment designed for a nominal 120 volts line is (typically) designed to work plus or minus 10%, sometimes plus or minus 15%. That would be 102 - 138 volts worst case. Lower than 102 and the power supplies will go out of regulation. Higher than 138, keep your fingers crossed. Russ |
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Post by wilburthegoose on Oct 30, 2016 8:56:40 GMT -5
My audiophile power cords:  |
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,222 
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Post by novisnick on Oct 30, 2016 9:04:32 GMT -5
My audiophile power cords: It seems that you have a balanced quad system with a common ground!!  |
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Post by 405x5 on Oct 30, 2016 9:38:53 GMT -5
My audiophile power cords: Whoa 😲 too close to the transformers......hope those are SHIELDED wires. Bill |
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Post by wilburthegoose on Oct 30, 2016 11:49:58 GMT -5
(it's really not my house - but it illustrates the type of equipment our power traverses on the way to our homes ) |
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Post by RichGuy on Oct 30, 2016 16:46:58 GMT -5
My audiophile power cords: Whoa 😲 too close to the transformers......hope those are SHIELDED wires. Bill Actually most overhead power lines don't even have insulation. After all those miles without I wonder why they bother to use insulation on the last few feet before the wires enter your home, seems like a waste. |
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,222
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Post by novisnick on Oct 30, 2016 17:22:00 GMT -5
Whoa 😲 too close to the transformers......hope those are SHIELDED wires. Bill Actually most overhead power lines don't even have insulation. After all those miles without I wonder why they bother to use insulation on the last few feet before the wires enter your home, seems like a waste. Those wires are NOT surrounded by combustibles like much of our homes are!  |
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Post by RichGuy on Oct 30, 2016 21:02:57 GMT -5
Actually most overhead power lines don't even have insulation. After all those miles without I wonder why they bother to use insulation on the last few feet before the wires enter your home, seems like a waste. Those wires are NOT surrounded by combustibles like much of our homes are! The main reason is the cost to insulate them. The cables are kept away from ground so the circuit is not complete, as long as you aren't grounded they are safe to touch even though they can be many thousands of volts. This is why birds are able to land and sit on them, as log as the bird has no ground contact they're safe. The required insulation for those thousands of volts is very thick and gets expensive so the wires are either bare or sometimes coated. The coating is NOT insulation though it's just to help protect the cable from the elements it's far too thin to insolate the high voltage. This is why if you ever see a downed power line never touch it, even if you were to touch the wire up by what appears as insulation the power will travel right through that and likely kill you. For underground power lines the cables are always insulated for obvious reasons. |
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KeithL
Administrator 
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Post by KeithL on Oct 31, 2016 11:50:38 GMT -5
I was flipping back through this thread and, while I posted a detailed reply to this whole idea, this particular one seemed to warrant a shorter and more concise comment.... If you read the ads for many expensive power cables, many of them certainly DO tend to IMPLY that they somehow "improve" the power going through them. Now, while it's certainly true that a shielded cable can help keep noise and interference from getting in or out, and a power conditioner or filter most certainly can yield a significant improvement, at least in some circumstances, many of the claims they make are just plain absurd. To use the analogy provided.... A hose most certainly could contain useful filtering components, and even simply sticking magnets around the hose might reduce certain types of scale buildup, but, for the most part, a hose is a hose, and a hose is NOT a filter (and doesn't usually contain one unless it says so). Just imagine that, when you went to your local hardware store, they had what appeared to be a normal $20 garden hose. They then proceeded to explain to you that there were horribly toxic chemicals in your drinking water (which nobody else seemed to be worried about). And their normal seeming hose was magically treated to remove these chemicals (but they didn't have test reports to back up their claims). And you could have this magical health-bestowing hose for the low price of $499. My guess is that you probably wouldn't buy it. And, if they showed you something that sure looked like a plain hose, but insisted that it provided the same filtering as the unit on the next shelf over - which weighed fifty pounds and was the size of a 30 gallon drum - you probably wouldn't believe them either. Well, sadly, that's often a pretty fair description of some of these power cables. They're making claims that simply are NOT justified by the science. They've got a cable that, while it's a perfectly nice cable, is NOT a sophisticated filter, and is NOT going to filter out all that line noise (if it was there to begin with). Wires are like wine glasses.... there is a very solid point of diminishing returns. Yes, using an aluminum mug will make wine taste funny... and switching to a glass wine glass will make a significant difference. However, while I'm sure you can spend $500 for a wine glass, I very much doubt that it will make the wine taste even a tiny bit better. There are tweaks and there is nonsense; "upgraded" power cords fall 100% into the second category. Trying to improve your power cable is like cutting a water hose in half and then splicing in a $1000 3 foot upgraded section. Do you think that 3 feet will do anything to change the water coming out the end? Well actually in the case of the water hose, it could very well improve the water. It could contain filtering components so it takes in impure water and purifies it. Same could be said of a power cord. Even though the power coming for miles through the wires to your house is "dirty" the power cord somehow cleans it up and makes your system sound better. Now that's a bunch of nonsense but then one could argue that's what it does. |
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Post by monkumonku on Oct 31, 2016 12:01:52 GMT -5
I was flipping back through this thread and, while I posted a detailed reply to this whole idea, this particular one seemed to warrant a shorter and more concise comment.... If you read the ads for many expensive power cables, many of them certainly DO tend to IMPLY that they somehow "improve" the power going through them. Now, while it's certainly true that a shielded cable can help keep noise and interference from getting in or out, and a power conditioner or filter most certainly can yield a significant improvement, at least in some circumstances, many of the claims they make are just plain absurd. To use the analogy provided.... A hose most certainly could contain useful filtering components, and even simply sticking magnets around the hose might reduce certain types of scale buildup, but, for the most part, a hose is a hose, and a hose is NOT a filter (and doesn't usually contain one unless it says so). Just imagine that, when you went to your local hardware store, they had what appeared to be a normal $20 garden hose. They then proceeded to explain to you that there were horribly toxic chemicals in your drinking water (which nobody else seemed to be worried about). And their normal seeming hose was magically treated to remove these chemicals (but they didn't have test reports to back up their claims). And you could have this magical health-bestowing hose for the low price of $499. My guess is that you probably wouldn't buy it. And, if they showed you something that sure looked like a plain hose, but insisted that it provided the same filtering as the unit on the next shelf over - which weighed fifty pounds and was the size of a 30 gallon drum - you probably wouldn't believe them either. Well, sadly, that's often a pretty fair description of some of these power cables. They're making claims that simply are NOT justified by the science. They've got a cable that, while it's a perfectly nice cable, is NOT a sophisticated filter, and is NOT going to filter out all that line noise (if it was there to begin with). Wires are like wine glasses.... there is a very solid point of diminishing returns. Yes, using an aluminum mug will make wine taste funny... and switching to a glass wine glass will make a significant difference. However, while I'm sure you can spend $500 for a wine glass, I very much doubt that it will make the wine taste even a tiny bit better. Well actually in the case of the water hose, it could very well improve the water. It could contain filtering components so it takes in impure water and purifies it. Same could be said of a power cord. Even though the power coming for miles through the wires to your house is "dirty" the power cord somehow cleans it up and makes your system sound better. Now that's a bunch of nonsense but then one could argue that's what it does. Two things: One, thank you for a great idea for starting a gardening hose business, and Two, I dare you to post your thoughts about wine glasses on any wine forum.  |
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Post by johnreid on Nov 8, 2016 13:45:43 GMT -5
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Post by vneal on Nov 8, 2016 13:50:56 GMT -5
Keith L you are usually the voice of reason. BUT I can assure you wine in an aluminum cup Vs a wine glass can easily be tasted and the glass is prefered as is a beer in a bottle Vs can
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Post by beardedalbatross on Nov 8, 2016 14:27:34 GMT -5
Keith L you are usually the voice of reason. BUT I can assure you wine in an aluminum cup Vs a wine glass can easily be tasted and the glass is prefered as is a beer in a bottle Vs can He never claimed otherwise. |
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Post by goozoo on Nov 8, 2016 15:08:44 GMT -5
I was in the above camp for many many years, until I decided to get more into my home theater. The problem is that people are led to believe that a single component will solve the problem and bring them closer to the nirvana they seek. Power cords by themselves are limited in the improvements they can offer as they are confined by the laws of physics. That being said, when combined with something like a high quality power conditioner "can" provide an audible improvement to musical passages for example. I noticed a marked improvement when I placed a Transparent Audio Power Isolator 8 int my rack running the thickest power cable I could find from Home Depot. I then switched to the MM2 power cable that came with it, and noticed a slight smoothing of the sound yet again. Unfortunately, not all power conditioners are created equal and most serve to protect gear versus help sound quality; unless you are willing to spend a lot. So the moral of the story is, unless you're all in, spend your dollars with a good power conditioner (like a Furman) to properly protect your gear (you may even get better sound) and don't listen to the sales and marketing hype.
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Post by Casey Leedom on Nov 8, 2016 17:32:26 GMT -5
I have to admit that I fell "victim" to buying special Power Cords. I "justified" it on the grounds that they were shielded and might therefore make it less likely to propagate 60Hz noise into adjacent Speaker Cables. But in reality, it was all for the looks. Well, and also getting exactly the right length which is also about looks because it makes the back of the "rack" less obnoxious looking.
That said, I'm done with it and look forward to focusing my time (and money) on items which will improve things like the upcoming RMC-1 ... :-)
Casey
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Post by craigk49 on Aug 9, 2017 12:54:07 GMT -5
On my desktop system with 4s and a sun, I did upgrade the power cables to everything in the system requiring AC voltage. Couldn't do it all at once. But, when everything including the wiring from the wall to the power strip was changed the sound was a bit more three-d and was missing a bit of graininess. The sound stage grew just a bit in width and depth. So, I'm glad I tried the experiment. Did I think it would cause a change? Not really other than the heavier wiring might help a but in power delivery. In the end, i'm glad i upgraded. Am I worried about why it worked. Not really. For whatever reason, it made a subtle and positive difference. And that makes me happy.
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Post by 405x5 on Aug 9, 2017 13:11:16 GMT -5
On my desktop system with 4s and a sun, I did upgrade the power cables to everything in the system requiring AC voltage. Couldn't do it all at once. But, when everything including the wiring from the wall to the power strip was changed the sound was a bit more three-d and was missing a bit of graininess. The sound stage grew just a bit in width and depth. So, I'm glad I tried the experiment. Did I think it would cause a change? Not really other than the heavier wiring might help a but in power delivery. In the end, i'm glad i upgraded. Am I worried about why it worked. Not really. For whatever reason, it made a subtle and positive difference. And that makes me happy. Oh! No no no.....you've been had my dear friend.🤑 Another one bites the dust in the realm of being sucker punched. The important thing is....it makes you happy and to use your own words " for whatever reason". Bill |
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Read the title ... "upgraded 'audiophile' power cords", which is what we were discussing. Nobody mentioned anything about power conditioners.
