Propeller Head Plaza

Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

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RE: So

Posted by tomservo on June 18, 2010 at 20:18:29:
“You have no experience in the topic at hand.”
In that I have never done this test with power cords, no
If you mean am I familiar with human nature or hearing and designing electronics for audio or space shuttle use and it’s emi/rfi requirements, or if my current job for the last 15 years designing loudspeakers requires an in depth understanding and measurement of the same things and also requires critical listening, then Yes.

Relevant to this, I have been involved with a number of such tests of both speaker cables and amplifiers, at least with amplifiers, there were some differences one could still reliably hear “without knowing” .
Until such a test is done with power cables, it is highly possible they would be subject to the same wishful expectations internal to ones ears vs external, like most of the cable testers were.

“More than likely, the switcher shared a common ground where you were comparing all the cables to all the cables regardless of the position or you had some spectacular pops when switching was done.”

Not at all, the lights were small, battery powered, connected to a dedicated set of the relay contacts, there was no sound other than the contactor / relay switching.
It really was exactly as I described, after being "clear", essentially no one could identify the special cables they brought vs zip cord after the indicators were switched off.

Fwiw, all one needs are a pair of DPDT relays with 25 Amp contacts and appropriate power supply and on/off toggle switch and 4 or 6 sets of speaker terminals or AC receptacles, you can be fancy and add the lights with a pair of 3PDT relays (less common as surplus). Make similar unit wired with twisted pair, in a metal case with RCA connectors and you can compare audio cables too.
With a program like ARTA, you can measure “it” to see what it looks like relative to cable etc.

"Do you have experience in the topic at hand?"
Have you ever tried listening with out prior knowledge and depended entirely on your ears?
That is what blind testing is .