Does your McIntosh benefit from fancy power cables?

[Mouse]

Does your McIntosh benefit from fancy power cables?
I had a demo today and cables came up. The guy told me that power cables mater more than speaker cables (I'm assuming that if the speaker wire is already decent).

AVS forum where I also spend time is very anti high end cables, so I'm conflicted between my 2 favorite audio forums (AA seems to love them). I had to hear this for myself, I ask if there is any scientific proof like A/B or double blind testing done? He said lets try it out right now! He takes a standard power cord out of his office and swaps the Nordost for the standard power cord. I'm not going to say this was a night and day difference, and a placebo effect could certainly have happened. But what I heard was a subtle noticeable positive change. All the cables where Nordost, he only pulled the power cable from one component on a boulder system.

Does Mc equipment typically benefit from upgrading power cables? I'm considering getting a couple for my Pre/pro.

[damacman]

It would actually be quite easy to build a switching box that could swap power cords between power cord A and power cord B in real time. Even still it's quite difficult to remember what you heard three seconds ago vs three minutes ago ...

[Mouse]

He had it in less than a minute between swaps and powering the pre back on. How would I build a box for quick a/b testing? That's a good idea.

[clpetersen]

Originally Posted by Mouse

He had it in less than a minute between swaps and powering the pre back on. How would I build a box for quick a/b testing? That's a good idea.

Building an A/B box for power switching is not trivial. First, one sure way to blow sensitive electronics is to yank the plug and plug it back in quickly.
So, the box would need to switch very quickly - in much less time that a single A/C cycle. There are power electronics that can do this (solid state switches for example).

By the time you are done building this, you could have had a nice set of PC's and interconnects....

[Antonmb]

[QUOTE=clpetersen;873934]Building an A/B box for power switching is not trivial.

Not to mention the effect such a box might have on the sound, making the test meaningless.

[Formerly YB-2]

[QUOTE=Antonmb;873955]

Originally Posted by clpetersen

Building an A/B box for power switching is not trivial.

Not to mention the effect such a box might have on the sound, making the test meaningless.

To say nothing of the havoc the sparking, power surges, etc., would have on your poor amps power supplies and other circuitry. Not a good idea (unless you have access to some fancy ultra-fast vacuum switches).

[AudioGremlin]

Originally Posted by clpetersen

Building an A/B box for power switching is not trivial. First, one sure way to blow sensitive electronics is to yank the plug and plug it back in quickly. In many systems, the various power regulation stages go into an indeterminate state while powering down. Reapplying power suddenly could cause havoc. So, the box would need to switch very quickly - in much less time that a single A/C cycle. There are power electronics that can do this (solid state switches for example).

By the time you are done building this, you could have had a nice set of PC's and interconnects....

As a retired electronics engineer I entirely agree. It could be equipment suicide to break/reconnect the supply even momentarily, especially on high current equipment.
If I was to make a mains cable comparision unit I would ensure that the cables under test employ make-before-break switching to ensure a smooth uninterrupted switch-over between the cables under test.
As far as switching is concerned I would be tempted to use over-kill switching, for example a heavy duty motor latching contactor with a minimum of its own cableing.
Other ideas are available.... 😆

[tdelahanty]

I faced the same situation. I spent a lifetime in high-tech electronics and was very skeptical. My dealer was very savvy about this, he did not try to convince me, just sent me home with a few Nordost Diamondback P/C's. They remained in my system. You'll have to decide if the improvement is worth the cost.

[vintage_tube]

I'm a strong believer after buying an unseen/unheard Shunyata King Cobra (V1) many years ago for a Esoteric DV50S. You are absolutely preaching my preferences in the cable hierarchy -- power, speaker and then interconnects.

My signature with Nordost Odin says I'm a disciple & it has been an interesting journey over the years since that first Shunyata.

Best Sir,

Bob

[Richard D. George]

Short answer is “Yes”. I am in the process of switching out two components from Classe Audio to Mac and will be using the same Shunyata power conditioner and Shunyata power cords.

Go to the Shunyata forum and find the thread about whether a Hydra conditioner will improve a system and then read all of the detailed posts by Grant. They cover more than just conditioners.

You will not get this level of professional detailed information at the other forum.