Pricey cables
- Thread starter Lesterbest
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unfairlane
Well-Known Member
Some points but he lacks knowledge like most others
DaveVoorhis
Addicted Member
Not sure what that means, but it's notable that Waldrep did a double-blind test on power leads under circumstances that seem ideal for finding differences, and he found no differences. Whilst this is a single, presumably informal study that bears much repeating to build a body of evidence, it suggests that maybe at least some of the $3000 power leads owe more to salesmanship and customer gullibility than engineering and differences in sound.
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Lesterbest
Super Member
Would it were so.
jeremyjustic
Analog
I stopped coming around a couple of years ago because the same ol' people were having the same ol' arguments over and over and over.... looks like only the players have changed.
Splatter Pak
High-End Scrounger
I once got to borrow and listen to a hot-rodded Phase Linear amp. I noticed that its power cord looked like it could have come off a lamp (I think it was stock). I no longer obsess about power cords.
Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
So I read the article.
Truth is his conclusion seems quite reasonable. Given the care taken into assembling this listening environment, and the number of qualified evaluators, his conclusions should not be discounted.
Does this mean its applicable in every case? Relevant to us who listen to music in our living rooms or man caves? I don't know. Maybe.
It's something to think about for a bit.
PS I think I will spend some time this evening swapping out a Belden cable for the power cords I use on my DAC and phono stage. It never hurts to revisit and verify the choices a person has made.
PPS It does seem that the fellow sees value in the interconnects and speaker wire though. Otherwise why would he allow Audience cable into it. Why not use studio standard wire like Mogami or Canare? So there does seem to a flip side to the coin.
Regards
Mister Pig
Truth is his conclusion seems quite reasonable. Given the care taken into assembling this listening environment, and the number of qualified evaluators, his conclusions should not be discounted.
Does this mean its applicable in every case? Relevant to us who listen to music in our living rooms or man caves? I don't know. Maybe.
It's something to think about for a bit.
PS I think I will spend some time this evening swapping out a Belden cable for the power cords I use on my DAC and phono stage. It never hurts to revisit and verify the choices a person has made.
PPS It does seem that the fellow sees value in the interconnects and speaker wire though. Otherwise why would he allow Audience cable into it. Why not use studio standard wire like Mogami or Canare? So there does seem to a flip side to the coin.
Regards
Mister Pig
DaveVoorhis
Addicted Member
Possibly, but it's also a very sharp strategy in terms of the test he's done: He can't be accused of allowing the benefit of the high-resolution power cable to be masked by inadequate interconnects and speaker wire.
Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
The way you word this makes it seem like he made the choice of using Audience to provide a no compromise test for the power cable. This is not the case. He allowed the Audience cable to go in as a mainstay of his recording studio. The question becomes this. Was it because he felt there was an advantage of using it. Or did he do it because Audience is footing the bill? And if so, does he think Canare or Mogami would be of equal quality and performance? He does not address that last question, so there is no way to have a definitive answer. Your posts appears to place a motive to his actions that cannot be verified.
Regards
Mister Pig
I don't have any experience with expensive cables, whether IC's, speaker cables or power cords. Therefore, I have no opinion on their usefulness. One thing that stands out to me about the article is that he doesn't describe the electrical system supplying his studio. Is it just straight from the pole to his outlets, so to speak? Or does he have noise filtering devices in the electrical feed? Is the electricity supplying the audio equipment "shared" by the other things in the studio building (lights, printers, computers, etc.). These questions and more would have to be answered before someone could design an experiment to duplicate his results.
DaveVoorhis
Addicted Member
Whether he installed the Audience cables because he believed in them, or installed them because Audience donated them, or installed them because he planned to do A/B tests later, or installed them for some other reason, or even for all these reasons, doesn't matter. The conclusion still stands: He can't be accused of allowing the benefit of the high-resolution power cable to be masked by inadequate interconnects and speaker wire.
charles 1973
Super Member
While I have serious doubts myself about expensive power cords, assuming the factory one Is appropriate for the device and makes a good clean conection, he is using a very low power device, and may not have any RF or EMI to contend with. To be fair, It may be that devices that draw high current (like power amps) or in situations where higher than normal RF or EMI is present their might be an improvement.
IMO many of us would be farther head by installing a dedicated receptacle for our equipment, or at least making it the first or 2'nd of up to 12 receptacle's from the box. Each of the up to 12 receptacles adds another connection that can (and has in my house) malfunction. All it takes it one loose or corroded connection, and all other receptacles are comprised.
IMO many of us would be farther head by installing a dedicated receptacle for our equipment, or at least making it the first or 2'nd of up to 12 receptacle's from the box. Each of the up to 12 receptacles adds another connection that can (and has in my house) malfunction. All it takes it one loose or corroded connection, and all other receptacles are comprised.
DaveVoorhis
Addicted Member
Good point, but are high-end electrical cables purported to compensate for line noise, or do they do something else?
If they filter line noise, can you install a Schaffner line filter and save about $2975 over the price of a high-end power cable?
Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
Nope that is true. Which is why I found the article interesting, and worth thinking about.
Personally I think its important to revaluate audio selections we have made from time to time, and see if they still hold true as our systems may evolve. Don't get your beliefs set in stone, as you might be able to improve things as you journey in this hobby.
There is a post above that questions whether power filtration is being done on the AC feeds to the studio. And perhaps there are steps taken to isolate power cords from interconnects and speaker wire also. Perhaps there have been steps taken to minimize noise (which given the design folks involved, seems highly likely) and this minimizes or eliminates the positive contributions the power cord may make, and what other folks might experience in a home environment. It is worth considering at least. And if so, is there a way the average hobbyist like us can practically apply those techniques to our systems.
Regards
Mister Pig
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