Anyone out there a physics whizz? Are Teflon silver copper braid effective for power? What characteristics do they exhibit? Does silver really cause bright? Does a litz braid REALLY reject noise? Does copper braid and foil change sound? Are they effective at noise rejection? Are solid conductors preferable? What gauge for pre/dac/source etc. vs. power amp? Permanent screwdown of cord with no connector? Attached at both ends better?
What conditions are present in a component, to make it susceptible or not to cord making audible changes? Is this a fault of design, or just the cost of doing business?
Point of diminishing returns?
What conditions are present in a component, to make it susceptible or not to cord making audible changes? Is this a fault of design, or just the cost of doing business?
Point of diminishing returns?
Well beyond, bear in mind what is behind the power receptacle in the wall. Sometimes a shielded power capable is useful in keeping the cord from radiating EMI into nearby signal wiring, but that's really about it.
Choose a cord with appropriately sized conductors for the load - going a bit larger certainly doesn't hurt either. Mine are generally 14 - 18 gauge depending on the device being powered. I have made a few myself but there is nothing special about them.
Choose a cord with appropriately sized conductors for the load - going a bit larger certainly doesn't hurt either. Mine are generally 14 - 18 gauge depending on the device being powered. I have made a few myself but there is nothing special about them.
its a power cord. makes no difference. think about it, what wiring goes inside the walls to the power outlet before you plug a fancy power cord in?
So, how about permanent wiring? Screw down both ends? Maybe a power distribution unit without sockets? A terminal strip.
Foil in addition to braid? Litz? Many say silver will make sound bright. I guess that the solid conductors are to stop microphonics.
Just picked up some cardas quadra... that were custom built for client, at 850 dollars. PER. They make my system sing, and are marginally better. But I intend to off them, and build good enough.
I have military spec Teflon silver coated, with silver coated copper braid. I will litz braid it. Should I wrap a aluminum shield around the wires, then braid? Or is aluminum superfluous?
PS, I paid 25 per, not 8fiddy. They sure are pretty.
Foil in addition to braid? Litz? Many say silver will make sound bright. I guess that the solid conductors are to stop microphonics.
Just picked up some cardas quadra... that were custom built for client, at 850 dollars. PER. They make my system sing, and are marginally better. But I intend to off them, and build good enough.
I have military spec Teflon silver coated, with silver coated copper braid. I will litz braid it. Should I wrap a aluminum shield around the wires, then braid? Or is aluminum superfluous?
PS, I paid 25 per, not 8fiddy. They sure are pretty.
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the mains cable is not going to make a single bit of difference to sound quality unless you can filter it. even running a complete new line from the consumer unit is not going to help with noise that has been injected into the 'mains' of your house so using fancy cables is pointless no matter what they are made from. yes shielded cables might help cut down RFI but only if they are run from a completely separate consumer unit direct from the 'meter'.
Cardas just issued a HIT on you.
I knew this place was not the one to find power cord religious adherents. I will have to sell them to Audiogoners.
I knew this place was not the one to find power cord religious adherents. I will have to sell them to Audiogoners.
just make some fancy ones up with cotton braid and swish looking connectors then write some truly fantastic marketing BS and sell them on ebay at mega inflated markup. its what other people do 😉
BTW if you want to use your fancy cables then go ahead if it makes you happy. after all life is tooooo short to worry about what others think.
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Yes. It depends. They conduct electricity. Only when you polish it. No. No. Only when used as a screen/shield. No. Depends on current draw. Why? The equipment will not work if the mains lead is only attached at one end.Highfido said:
If changing the power cord is genuinely audible then there is something wrong with either the equipment or the power cord. This is most likely to happen with extremely cheap equipment and cables, and with eye-wateringly expensive equipment and cables. Almost all mid-priced things get it right.
Anywhere beyond competent design.
I would observe that the power cord is only connected to the bulk caps for that small fraction of each half cycle where the transformer output exceeds the voltage on the bulk caps.....
ALL the rest of the time it is cut out of circuit by a couple of back biased diodes, so it can (providing it is minimally sane) only make a difference to the second order things like RF pickup (Should be a non issue as the supply input module should take care of that), and third order effects like conduction angle due to series R/L.
If basically sane wires make a difference then something has been badly designed (and it usually is not the wire).
73 Dan.
ALL the rest of the time it is cut out of circuit by a couple of back biased diodes, so it can (providing it is minimally sane) only make a difference to the second order things like RF pickup (Should be a non issue as the supply input module should take care of that), and third order effects like conduction angle due to series R/L.
If basically sane wires make a difference then something has been badly designed (and it usually is not the wire).
73 Dan.
So this was not a legitimate user/experimenter question but a manufacturer trying to raise interest in a product he sells.
I guess some moderator should move this thinly disguised infommercial to the Vendor's Bazaar area where it belongs.
Just sayin' 🙄
Depends on the definition of 'wrong'. Take two pieces of gear that tie signal ground directly to the chassis and potentially to AC third wire ground -depending on national safety standards - and connect them with the usual 24-26 gauge interconnect and it's possible the bulk audio signal return current is through the lower impedance, larger gauge power cords.
Definitional quibbles aside, Hypex's 'floating balanced' architecture or transformers eliminate this possibility.
Why on earth would the last metre of a power line which could be hundreds of metres from the local substation transformer and dozens of kilometres from the nearest power station make the slightest difference? It won't, unless it's so thin and pulling so much power that the mains voltage drops significantly, affecting the operation of the circuitry (i.e. regulators, bias points etc.). Just goes to prove that if you repeat crap often enough on the internet it becomes true.
Well put, unfortunately this myth predates the internet by decades, and even more unfortunately I am old enough to have encountered and remembered this. Some ideas are hard to put to rest and I am still stunned at what people will pay for nothing more than a good story.
Another concern is safety. I've see some horrible examples of "better sounding" power cords that were an electrocution or fire just waiting to happen. Just use a decent quality, UL approved (or equivalent) standard cord with enough current capacity and move on.
Mike
Mike
I actually tho9ught a better use was, as a further shield, wrapped around my mil spec copper braid OFC teflons stuff, and techflex around that.
I still say, the ultimate, even if as was said, it is an IED, would be a terminal strip, with screwed down spades, fed by three welding cables. All power cords being short as possible. Terminal strip power distribution also being hard wired into ac.
No, no, directly beneath the hat.
Seriously though, That 12/3 power line could be pigtailed under marrettes a few times across the wall and in junction boxes before it even reaches the receptacle you're using. Never mind the miles of cable from the converter station. Soo I would suggest you start pulling all the receptacles and junction boxes out of your walls, followed by your main panel. Then go for a stroll to your nearest converter station armed with a roll of aluminium of foil in hand.
Better yet pour a glass of wine and relax about it. I guarantee you that will make your music sound better.
Disclaimer - Do not take my advice on anything here but pouring the wine.
Jon
I tried to argue these very same points at a vendor forum here. I asked the owner to provide evidence to back up the extravagant claims he was making about his costly mains cables and ended up getting deleted each time. That says it all to me.
At the end of the day, we're not going to convince die hard audiophools not to give their hard-earned to snake oil salesmen. Me, I just rely on long-established electrical engineering and the laws of physics.
I tried to argue these very same points at a vendor forum here. I asked the owner to provide evidence to back up the extravagant claims he was making about his costly mains cables and ended up getting deleted each time. That says it all to me.
At the end of the day, we're not going to convince die hard audiophools not to give their hard-earned to snake oil salesmen. Me, I just rely on long-established electrical engineering and the laws of physics.
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The electrons that comes in higher-priced cables vibrate with less resistance resulting in higher propagation velocity. And the best part is, since it is AC, the net drift velocity is zero so there is nearly no loss of the high-class electrons. After a while some losses inevitably happens though, but that's when you buy a new cable. Or burn some Benjamins and scatter the ashes on the cable to rejuvenate the electrons.
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