For the Hi-Fi enthusiasts among us...

TechFounder

So what are people's thoughts on power cables? I'm a bit curious as to how much of an impact it will make in my system? Any recommendations?

TechFounder

Yea, I have a decent mid-fi system that costs a few thousand bucks so I will be able to hear the difference (New Cambridge Audio amp, Marantz CD player, Monitor Audio speakers, Goertz flat speaker wires). Also, I have pretty good hearing so I will be able to hear a difference if there is one.

There are those who are pretty adamant that power cables do nothing but make your wallet lighter. I find it a bit amusing as about 40 years ago, there were a ton of people who said the same thing about speaker cables. That it's a bunch a mumbo jumbo created to lighten your wallets but we all know now that speaker cables make a huge difference. So, are power cables in a similar historical arc? So, I see that only one member @Evitzee here seems to have direct firsthand experience and he thinks that it does. Anyone else?

SkunkPrince

I spent significan time in my college years working on high-end audio and consulting for a local boutique shop here in Milwaukee. There is a lot of good stuff both old and new out there.

You can get to 98% rather easily. Once you pass 98%, a lot of it is personal taste. Me, I'm an imaging freak, and the Nobus/Signature speakers originally designed by Bob Smith (who stole from me, if you ever meet him, punch him in the face for me) are pretty darn special. These are dynamic speakers specifically designed to sound like Quad ESL-63s, except better.

But I got to the point where I was done fixing good designs with bad execution (Mark Dineen's B100 preamp) or bad designs (Counterpoint in the 80s).

I have my Stax DAC-Talent D/A converter with custom chip upgrades and Parasound electronics. The Zdac compares quite favorably with the upgraded Stax. With Parasound, you can easily get to 98% without breaking the bank.

You want to upgrade your system? Clean your connectors. They get cruddy after a while because rarely are they the same material between the cable and the equipment.

Shielded star-quad cabling can make a difference too. There is a lot of RF in the world today from HT wires across the street (I can't get any decent shortwave here) to cell towers and plenty of barely-shielded DC/DC converters.

But all of that stuff doesn't cost a lot of money. Belden star-quad is less than a dollar a foot and many of you can learn to solder.

As a credential or two... I worked as an electronics technician at the university to pay for college. When times were precarious, they opened a position for me, and I had to test for it. No formal training, I was #5 in the state. Alas, they closed the position, and by profession I am a technical writer today.

TechFounder

That's interesting. The thing about this hobby is that science doesn't seem to be able to adequately explain what's happening most of the time. Experimentation seems to win out in actually improving the sound. While I'm also skeptical why a power cable should make a difference, there are enough people out there saying that they hear a difference. Of course, as you have already said, there's diminishing returns as you spend more. I care about finding the sweet spot where the be value can be had. I think in power cables that's between $250 and $500 it seems?

sxl2004

Value is a different issue than detecting differences.
Interestingly both are personal decisions and experiences.

Lazy_Lightning

In this system, I could clearly hear changes to any cable. In a lower end system, the changes may not be so evident.

The best way to experiment is to borrow cables from the Cable Co. library and listen for yourself. I'd personally invest in cables once the foundational elements of the system were in place.

TechFounder

I'm not as 'enthusiastic' as you when it comes to this hobby. That looks like a great system. With your own dedicated power too? I have no doubt that you can hear the smallest changes. If I were willing to spend your kind of money, I would get a Luxman L-509X amp and ATC SCM50 speakers...

rob#1

Different power cables and/or shielded /non-shielded cables can sound better if you listen closely enough 😗Whatever makes the system sound better to you is what counts. Speaker placement, room acoustics and the best source material in my experience are far more important factors for good sound quality.

(PS regarding power cables, ideally you’d have a separate circuit for your audio system as if your fridge is on the circuit, for example, this can certainly adversely affect your system).