Does your McIntosh benefit from fancy power cables?

[Poppyhome]

I sold all my fancy WW Silver PCs for some Top Of The Line Monoprice 3ft 14AWG Power Cord Cables for $1.97 each. I liked the various sizes available which resulted in less clutter. If I noticed a difference it was subtle at most, especially since I can't visually see them, which influences my thinking.

This audio hobby is all about what makes you happy and sounds good to you. Everyone has different priorities and spends money differently on whats important to them, and that's all that matters.

Ron

[damacman]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

One can also argue that the last 4’ is actually the first 4’.

Seriously? They're Laws of Physics - not just really good ideas.

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by damacman

Seriously? They're Laws of Physics - not just really good ideas.

Yes seriously. For instance, if a piece of equipment is noisy (many are), feeding that noise INTO the line would be a case where it’s the first 4’.

[BlueSky]

Remember that the last inch and a quarter (or first if you are so inclined) is the line fuse on which you can spend as much as $150 or more to "perfect" (verb) your power delivery system.

[JBT]

No!

[SuperD]

I'm no technie and have zero engineering background but I believe as mentioned before, that high quality cables not only deliver power as intended but also restrict noise coming from our components. This is also why I believe grounding is just as important. I hear the same things after a new PC purchase. The noise floor got even lower, better dynamics, bigger soundstage. I think all of these improvements come from eliminating or reducing RF/EMI interference thus purifying the signal. There is noise in our systems that we don't hear until its gone. How many people on this forum have described music coming from blackness and then buy a new PC and talk of an even lower noise floor. If it was black to begin with how much more blacker can it get? None more Blacker - David St. Hubbins

[damacman]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

Yes seriously. For instance, if a piece of equipment is noisy (many are), feeding that noise INTO the line would be a case where it’s the first 4’.

And a power cable with better conductivity and lower resistance would magnify that.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by JBT

No!

Agreed. Also, don't use these works of art to troubleshoot a piece of gear prone to blowing fuses.

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by damacman

And a power cable with better conductivity and lower resistance would magnify that.

I’d agree with you on that. That’s where, IMO, a quality shielded cable can mitigate noise, however, shielding a power cord is another point of contention among cable manufacturers.

I changed my stock 14AWG power cables for $15 shielded 12AWG power cables. For me, they work great. YMMV

[62caddy]

Why stop at the power cord? If you can't trust a manufacturer's ability to properly select something as basic and simple as a power cable, how could you trust it to design/build/source all the other guts that go into a piece of equipment? (Ie: transformers, capacitors, circuit boards, diodes, power supplies, internal wiring, etc etc)

I mean if they can't get a power cord right, do they really have a prayer at the hard stuff?

That's how I see it anyway. Carry on...