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Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

Confused

Hi Ted

What you say genuinely astonishes me. I can understand that unshielded AC cables in the usual tangle of wires at the back of ones rack is likely to upset signal cables, so I'm fully in favour of changing to screened cable. However, when you objectively consider what happens with the AC once inside the equipment, all this talk of megabucks cables makes no logical sense to me. Firstly as suggested before, the wiring between the socket and transformer is unlikely to be much better than what's in OEM cables. Then what happens? The AC goes into a transformer - hundreds of coils of copper wire doubled back on itself - the supply going in and out of the primary winding. This causes a fresh AC supply to be generated in the secondary coil, which has no physical or electrical contact with the primary. One wonders how imperfections in the AC cable can possibly adversely affect this new supply, now in the independent secondary winding. The rest of the equipment's power circuit rectifies, smooths and stores this secondary supply for use by transistors, valves, etc. In other words it tries to mimic a battery. Surely a well designed circuit can cope with an incoming supply deprived of a $1000 cable for the last few feet? As I say, it is astonishing to me that this should be the case and I would dearly like a logical explanation of physics I have may have missed.

I am happy though to believe that a decently designed amplifier is not adversely affected by a standard AC cable in the same way my washing machine washes just as well with an OEM cable as a $1000 one (OK I'm jesting, but you get the point!). Otherwise, as I have suggested earlier, manufacturers would not put up with grotty AC.

Incidentally even Maggie Thatcher, bless her heart (if she actually hadf one), admitted to spending 3 hours a night in bed. Plenty of time to recharge batteries!

I'm off to listen to music via my sub $50 AC cables - doesn't Eva Cassidy have an astonishing voice?

Peter



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