Power Cable Myths - Dave Pensado edition

I can believe cables have an effect on sound. Which ones specifically, by how much, where and why, no-one seems to know. They're either too expensive for anyone to try, or those who do get them, nobody believes a word they say (expectation bias, choice supportive bias etc.)

On a personal note, was forced to test Mogami 2549 vs Gotham GAC-3 because of a problem we couldn't isolate to anything else... Found the problem followed cable type. 3x Mogami's vs 3x Gotham's, they all had a group sound. Won't get into which one did what, but they were definitely not the same.

Then comes my favourite, cable length...

Power cables are power cables - as long as they're heavy enough for the current running through them and are in good condition there shouldn't be any real difference.

What really cracks me up is the nuts claiming amazing improvements from their absurdly exspensive power cables - which are plugged into the same typically crappy building wiring (and power) as everything else.

What about the wire that runs from the back of the IEC connector to the PCB of the power supply....


Cheers

Wiz

In other words, Power Cables Matter

I did all these sort of "tests" 20 odd years ago in my old Van Nuys shop. Everyone in the room easily heard the differences. It wasn't even close like some converters. I found Ray Kimber's stuff to be the best (not suprizing as he makes great stuff and has the lab to confirm it).

His $400 IEC cable did open up the tops and low end. It was feeding a custom preamp/playback rack I used to send to my DAC's. I was also using his $400 S/PDIF cable to the DAC. Ray also sent me a IEC cable with what looked like a rat stuck in a snake's body. That one did tilt the playback response, it lowered the top and and raised the low end. I asked Ray about it's construction, but it's "super secret stuff". I did get him to admit it was some sort of polymer stuck inside that cable creating that lump.

I didn't like it so I sent it back, it's a recording studio app here, not a home playback system attempting to make a modern CD listenable.

I have some of those IEC cables around here and use them for mic preamps, etc. They help but they are the icing on the cake, you better get all the other ducks in a row first.

I"m with Jim & Brad, although I'll say that IMO the difference is just sprinkles o the frosting of the cake. Personally, I care more about making music and other than on my console or PT rack, normal gear just gets a "decent" low cost / good quality cable. But there's no doubt that differences can be heard on some of these different designs.

The fact that they can make a shocking difference, in some cases the biggest of all wire, is really an indictment of power supplies and the quality of building wiring.

Just using a shielded power cable can make a huge difference. My all time favorite audiophile tweak is simply tightening up all of the AC connections which often haven't been touched in decades. I've also run into situations where the power company needed to tighten the transformer connections.

Depends entirely on the building and gear being used.

Why bother when it's a complete obvious no-brainer?

You can't assume it in my experience. Poor connections are everywhere as are cheezy power supplies that can't block RFI. Shielded power cables run around $10. I'm not talking about exotica. Shielded power cables can reduce the effects of RFI coming in on the power line. This is simple physics and engineering, not audiopfool mysticism.

I personally would never use the word "dramatically" or "shocking". Just like I wouldn't use that word to describe the difference converters, or preamps, or DOA's make. I probably should have clarified when I said "I'm with Jim on this one." The point I personally was trying to make was that power cables can make a difference on par with other things we often concern ourselves with tweaking. I think when you are being honest it's all shades of subtle (does your wife hear the same differences you do for most things?). But our brains sometimes still respond to those subtle differences. Sometimes we care about the differences and sometimes we don't.

How many of you use Hosa cables with molded connectors to plug into your microphones? Look in the mirror and you are probably scrunching your face as you read that. I think most folks at least opt for Mogami or Canare or Gotham with Neutrik connectors, right? My attitude towards power cables is the same. I at least want to use something made with quality components.  There is an affordable middle ground between cheap Asian sweatshop produced and ridiculous audiophile insanity.

rowmat - You are right, the AC power cord does not carry audio. But the audio that flows through your gear probably goes through active electronics that modulate electrons, which originate in the power supply. Quality audio is a function of clean power in my experience. A good power cord can keep noise from being injected into the power supply through the AC mains as Bob alluded.  A good shielded Volex 17604 cable is about $12.  Chop off the molded connectors and use some nice hospital grade Marinco connectors and you have yourself a really nice power cord for like $40.  How much did that Mogami microphone cable cost?

How many of you guys wire your studio with 99 cent outlets vs. hospital grade or contractor grade ones?

Brad

If you can't hear it, then I guess it doesn't matter  --  for you.  But I've found that like Brad mentioned, most everything makes SOME difference.  I even have an buddy with VERY good ears who pulls his outlets out of the wall once a year and uses Flitz on them to clean em up, and he swears he can hear a difference, and I 100% believe him.

Once you get into these rabbit holes, how much difference, and how much it costs is what drives my decisions.  Like I mentioned, other than heavy draw items, I don't really care about the IEC cable.  But I DO care enough to run 10ga wire, use high quality outlets, junction boxes or power strips with quality heavy gauge wire and quality (not uber expensive) IEC power cables.

Lest you think my buddy is crazy, here's a story for you.  In addition to spending time polishing his audio outlets, () this guy makes VERY expensive mono bloc power amps used in some of the best studios in LA.  We borrowed a pair for a trade show once.  He came by the booth, listened for about 15 seconds and said "WTF did you do to my power amps?".  Of course, I said "nothing", and then he told me categorically that we put the wrong IEC cables on them, didn't we.  Well....all the stuff was just thrown in a box and we grabbed whatever we could find.  So he rummaged around, found where we had put his cables, and we proceeded too swap them out.  Back and forth a few times.  Each time he could tell.  And this is at a freakin' trade show on the floor of AES.  The worst power you could possibly imagine for audio, and one of the worst listening environments possible.  And he could tell.  Every time we swapped - or didn't.

So....there's a difference even if you can't hear it.  It's the reason after the show he went back to non-removable power cables.  Too many people didn't take the time to care and would put the wrong cables on his power amps, and to him, they are works of art, and he wants them presented in their best light....

As a side note, like Jim, he prefers Kimber cables in almost any application - power or audio - if affordable.

I was thinking more about linear power supplies when I made my comment, which seem to dominate in my studio filled with pre-90's gear.  Maybe most newer gear uses switch mode supplies, but a lot of of stuff more than 15 years old is seems to have linear supplies.  You are right--PWM hash is a much bigger deal.  I took great care in the Silver Bullet design to address this so I had noise-free power rails.

Brad