power cords

[lopan]

Allright a few years ago actually 10 I was talking to the designer for some of my amps Ed Meitner. He said that they had neard an improvement running a dedicated 30A 10 guage circuit for the amps they currently had a 15 dedicated circuit The improvement in the upper end was astonishing and is every time I move temporarally use the existing circuits and then make the upgrade again.

I am hard presses to believe though that changing my 6 foot power cords is going to make a difference. But I bought the wire my frequency amps are monoblocks so I am going to do one and remotely switch back and forth to AB the change. The present stack cord is stranded grounded 16 gauge so to macth the 30 amp circuit I will be using 3 12 gauge solid core cables twisted with the 20 amp ends.

I don't any change but if there is this would be a cheap upgrade

I will let you know

[serengetiplains]

My experience is that power cords make a difference. They are, among other things, antennae, and they generate electromagnetic fields. Meitner now ships his DSD equipment with Kimber power cords, by the way.

[serengetiplains]

You know, if perhaps any such difference power cords make results from the copper/silver/etc from which they are constructed, we'll never get this audio thing correct because of the miles and miles and miles of crappy aluminum and copper cables, not to mention the several probably less-than-ideal transformers, "conditioning" the AC in our homes.

[lopan]

dude I didn't even know Meitner had new products is it still under Museatex name or is something else? Certainly the price would have justified better cables. but this is promising

[lopan]

found Meitner thanks

[Peter Daniel]

Originally posted by serengetiplains
You know, if perhaps any such difference power cords make results from the copper/silver/etc from which they are constructed, we'll never get this audio thing correct because of the miles and miles and miles of crappy aluminum and copper cables, not to mention the several probably less-than-ideal transformers, "conditioning" the AC in our homes.

You might still do something about it by regenerating AC voltage supply. Mark Levinson is using such circuits in both their top amp and preamp. PS Audio offers similar units as well.

Personally, I'm not really concerned with miles of wire before they end up in my receptacle. Power cords make a difference anyway, and by choosing a proper type one can improve the sound substantially. BTW, I also have dedicated 30A lines to my stereo (separate for left and right channels and source equipment, 2 x 220V AC), but in my current residence it's not like day and night comparing to regular setup. I guess it depends on location and mains quality.

[thomas997]

Originally posted by serengetiplains
You know, if perhaps any such difference power cords make results from the copper/silver/etc from which they are constructed, we'll never get this audio thing correct because of the miles and miles and miles of crappy aluminum and copper cables, not to mention the several probably less-than-ideal transformers, "conditioning" the AC in our homes.

Yes that is right. A couple meters of high quality copper/silver cable before the amp isnt going to make a difference if theres 1km of standard aluminum or copper before that.

Its only as good as the weakest link, so maybe if you had some awful 1A power cable or something, that would need upgrading.

If you are looking for something to do you could definately condition the AC yourself, buy a line conditioner or something. But I know where I am the power is extremely clean (vancouver), transfer station is not very far away. I can see it making a huge difference if you lived in somewhere like africa where the power is probably unstable.

[serengetiplains]

Originally posted by thomas997

If you are looking for something to do you could definately condition the AC yourself, buy a line conditioner or something. But I know where I am the power is extremely clean (vancouver), transfer station is not very far away. I can see it making a huge difference if you lived in somewhere like africa where the power is probably unstable.

Hi Thomas997, I also live in Vancouver and have found, through not insignificant experiementation, that power conditioning makes a sufficient difference to the sound of my system (including video) that I do not and now would not operate my system without it. I found the best setup to be a power conditioner operated through another a power conditioner, for which purpose the cheap but excellent Elgar conditioners one finds on the used market do quite well.

[thomas997]

Originally posted by serengetiplains


Hi Thomas997, I also live in Vancouver and have found, through not insignificant experiementation, that power conditioning makes a sufficient difference to the sound of my system (including video) that I do not and now would not operate my system without it. I found the best setup to be a power conditioner operated through another a power conditioner, for which purpose the cheap but excellent Elgar conditioners one finds on the used market do quite well.

Thanks, I will keep an eye out for one. I will try it on the TV as you suggest as well.

[james_b]

Upgrading AC power cords can make a tremendous difference. I live barely 3 miles from the Dulles airport in Virginia, and there is a lot of RFI interference. I have a Panasonic L300U front projector and Bravo D1 DVD player connected by DVI. I upgraded the power cords on both at the same time and the difference was truly amazing. There was a real improvement in depth of field, much more 3D. Brighter and better blacks, less noise. Perhaps video is easy to see compared to audio. I believe the better shielding was a big factor, in addition to the larger guage and higher quality concuctors and plugs. I used cables from VHAudio. I also upgraded the DVI cable, which was a standard generic cable free with my Samsung T160 HDTV receiver, and the picture was brighter, I had to recalibrate with my AVIA DVD. The DVI cable was from Accessories4Less and made by IXOS using PC Copper and having better than average shielding. Later I upgraded the stock AC cables on my HT receiver and my T160 HDTV receiver and those made a noticeable difference, too. VHAudio cables are very reasonably priced, I think you can see good benefits without having to spend too much.