|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
73.229.29.71
In Reply to: RE: Why Use Any Power Cord? posted by cawson@onetel.com on July 19, 2017 at 03:24:42
The output stage from my iPod is Class D and it runs off batteries nearly all day long! No power cord required. ;-)
Note: Batteries present their own set of problems but they make for nice marketing spin to differentiate some products. Running off battery power is no guarantee that the amp sounds better than others that require power cords.
Follow Ups:
The output stage from my iPod is Class D and it runs off batteries nearly all day long!
I'll retire the Harmonic Technology cords for the VTL amps when it becomes practical to get a 500 joule, 550V battery source. :)
> Running off battery power is no guarantee that the amp sounds better than others that require power cords.
I'm not suggesting it does. However it will eliminate the problems that costly power cables and mains conditioners are bought for. If you save a few thousand by doing away with these, that cash could buy a much better amp than the one that requires fancy cables and conditioners.
They don't make a difference if you believe they don't make a difference AND you have confidence in the reproductive capabilities of your system.Throw out the confidence and disbelief creeps in.
Remember stereo reproduction is ALL an illusion... A wonderful illusion that allows us to experience the artistry of the finest, greatest... or no so renown musicians and allow us to be moved. The Artist and producers create a product from real and imagined performances created live or over various time and or geographic venues that somewhere along the line manifests itself in two somewhat correlated voltage signals. Those signals are convolved with the impulse responses of the remaining analog electronics, loudspeaker crossover and drivers which all exhibit noise, linear and non-linear behavior. The acoustic output is further convolved (in a rather nasty fashion) by the cabinet and baffle (apologies to planar owners) and the rooms acoustic impulse responses, also in a linear and non-linear fashion.
The pressure signals that reach our ears would not be recognized if compared to the sound of a live performer, but still that signal is pushed through God's wonderfully created bizarre middle ear and after some modulation and digitization there, electrical and chemical processes trigger several parts of our brain, which goes about trying to classify the sound, analytically and emotionally. On the best of days we believe in the illusion, and Natalie and her Dad, are (impossibly) singing "Unforgettable" in harmony for me in my basement.
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius
Edits: 07/19/17
Textbook definition of "expectation bias". :)
I didn't know what to expect when I first heard Kimber Palladians in JWC's system over fifteen years ago.
After he lent them to me for a weekend audition in my system, I got it. ;)
I tend to hear more differences among analog interconnects vs speaker cables. Not much noticeable in power cords but I use an AC power regenerator for all of my source components. And lastly digital cables.And.... I will not succumb to audiophile peer pressure, recommended components reviews, and myths that generally correlate cable performance as being proportional to price.
If one has to critically listen and strain to hear a difference, it's probably imagination (and expectation bias) taking over. ;-)
Edits: 07/20/17
I'm happy with Walmart optical cables, I make make or alter existing cables to fit better for aesthetic purposes. Some which have failed over time, as have some of my other connections.
I have experience a lot of my own expectation bias in my 4.5 decades of audio. I have never cared to try a different power cord, and for fun I have woven CAT5 speaker cables and used Solid Romex in a blind speaker cable comparison. My humble main system MMG with Crown power amps are using 4 pole SpeakOn cables from Guitar Center (the cheaper ones).
I will be the first to admit that my mind is easily fooled into believing the reproduction is real (as long and the producers didn't screw up the mix - which they seem to do a lot of the time). I am so eager to get to "you are there" Nirvana that I've set up several surround modes in my receiver to aid in the conception of a live image. I use to use my old Advent Digital delay system for this. My HK receiver has 17 modes to choose from - every one programmed to provide a near identical level at the listening seat. The optimum settings reside in the liner notes of my CD's and LP's. I wish I had more control over the side loudspeaker delays - and I haven't yet been happy with the few times I have tried 7 channels.
I am also starting to remaster some of my albums as I put them on to a digital server. This is time consuming, but it is amazing how you can take a poorly produced album of a great performance an give it new life with a little more or less stereo spread and dynamic expansion.
IMO, If the audiophile market was not so fixated on stereo only reproduction systems, the tools are available with DSP's today to make a phenomenal real time "image processor" where with a few knobs and sliders and 4 or mode channels of output and a little reverb we would all enjoy the "obsession" a little more without arguing the validity of DBT's.
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius
I'm not driven by price alone either.
Five of mine are DIY in the under $100 variety and none break four digits like quite a few do.
"I'm not suggesting it does. However it will eliminate the problems that costly power cables and mains conditioners are bought for. If you save a few thousand by doing away with these, that cash could buy a much better amp than the one that requires fancy cables and conditioners."Possibly true, and I do get your point. However, not all amps require thousands of dollars in additional power conditioners, power cords, and interconnects to sound great.
As with everything in this hobby, beyond a certain point it's all a matter of minute diminishing returns as well as a sprinkling of 'marketing spin' to help differentiate one's product offering from the crowd.
As an aside, I once owned a $1000 battery powered phono preamp. It sounded noticeably worse than a comparably priced phono preamp that ran off a cheap AC wall wart power source. So much for their 'battery powered' marketing spin. The battery obviously didn't make up for the less than stellar phono preamp itself. Go figure.
Edits: 07/19/17
"I'm not suggesting it does. However it will eliminate the problems that costly power cables and mains conditioners are bought for. If you save a few thousand by doing away with these, that cash could buy a much better amp than the one that requires fancy cables and conditioners."
> Possibly true, and I do get your point. However, not all amps require thousands of dollars in additional power conditioners, power cords, and interconnects to sound great.
I agree that it's often totally unnecessary to spend large sums on cables, particularly power cords and conditioners, although I gather that US mains supply is far worse than UK.
I'd agree also with the post that suggested that if you have to listen hard to hear any difference, the differences you think you hear are almost certainly imaginary! If you really want to hear a rattle in your car, you will hear one, even if it's in your imagination.
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: