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In Reply to: RE: Is it worthwhile to use expensive cable for PPP? posted by artcheng@netvigator.com on October 05, 2007 at 20:24:28
In case you haven't figured this out, I'm not a big advocate of expensive power cords. The rationale behind them is not compelling IMO. It seems to me that designing a cord to carry current at a fixed and known frequency and at a relatively high voltage is a much simpler proposition than designing interconnect and speaker cables that must carry a wide range of frequencies at low voltages, typically over longer distances. And it doesn't help that every power cord manufacturer has its die-hard supporters even though they use widely differing design philosophies.
But I am a believer in cumulative effects. I have yet to be convinced that an expensive power cord will make a difference I can hear even though many people claim they make a big difference. The same is true for power conditioning and a number of other upgrades and "tweaks." However, I can accept the possibility that each of these may offer subtle improvements I can't hear individually, but when combined, result in an improvement I can hear. Unfortunately, it would be difficult or impossible to test this objectively. A-B comparisons between components to detect subtle differences become less and less effective as the time interval between listening to each grows. Speaker comparisons using switches are easy because the change is immediate. Trying to do that with a bunch of power cords is more difficult because of the time required to switch out the cords and -- in my case -- wait for my Lexicon to go through the diagnostic tests it does when it first powers up, and then wait for my amps to come on.
The upshot of all this is that if I were spending $2K on an AC regenerator, I wouldn't hesitate to spend another $50-100 on a good power cord. If you like to DIY, you might consider making a power cord. There is at least one company that sells the components needed to make high-end power cords. It might not save you much, but the enjoyment factor might be much higher if you like that sort of thing. ;-)
I should point out that while my attempts to hear differences attributable to using a good cord (an xStream Prelude SC in my case) failed to produce a difference I could hear, my listening situation is different than most, and certainly different than yours. I live alone in a house, so no one is using any power when I'm involved in critical listening. The A/C might be running, but the sound emanating from the registers makes it difficult or impossible to hear any detrimental effects line noise from the A/C might have on my audio system. My refrigerator is the only other appliance that might be running when I'm listening, and unfortunately, I can hear that too. LOL My schedule is such that I pretty much do all of my critical listening after 11pm, and most of it after 1am, when everyone in my neighborhood is probably asleep and their air conditioning is on minimally. All this combined may result in me having fairly clean power right out of the wall. My schedule also means that during critical listening periods there are no cars driving around, no kids playing in the neighborhood, no lawnmowers or weedeaters, or other audible noise originating outside my house. When the A/C and refrigerator are off it's dead quite inside. I often wonder how much of the difference people hear in their systems at different times of the day is the result of noise pollution and how much is from noise in the power line. I guess you'll find out after you install the PPP. ;-)
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