Will replacing my AC cord with a more expensive one make any difference?

HiFi Guy said:
Imagine the look I got when I handed our electrician 2 PS Audio outlets and explained that I wanted a dedicated line run from the circuit breaker box to the outlets and that I wanted the line to be on its own circuit breaker. Dude looked at me like the cheese had slid off my cracker.

My wife’s comment: “Don’t ask questions, just do it.” 😂😂😂😂😂

Related is that her parents can’t use their ceiling fan while watching TV. The fan motor dumps a bunch of crap back in the power line that screws up the picture. We don’t have that problem.
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I do have a blank space or two…
 
I’m jealous of you all and your good but cheap power conditioners. Cheapest I could find in 2020 was €500 and it now retails for €1050. There is a new ifi one since for €700 but that’s really the lowest priced effective one.
 
Angsty said:
I’m not a big believer in magic power cords; it must be the engineer in me. My position is that I strongly doubt that a designer of a quality audio component would compromise its performance with something as simple as a power cord. The packaged power cords are fit for purpose.
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I don’t know. I’m weary of snake oil too. Shielding and stuff will definitely help with signals. Some of the more expensive options are more than just a cord. Most of my equipment has the same kind of cord as everything else that has a detachable cable, I’m not sure they’re fitted as much as they meet spec.

I’ve even look a couple of pieces of kit recently where the manufacturer recommends a power supply upgrade. The EAT phono stage I am eying for example.

I’m gonna enjoy my NAD for a bit when it gets here but I plan on tweaking some cables and stuff.
 
Angsty said:
I’m not a big believer in magic power cords; it must be the engineer in me. My position is that I strongly doubt that a designer of a quality audio component would compromise its performance with something as simple as a power cord. The packaged power cords are fit for purpose.
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I know it's one of "those" subjects, but, I tend to look at it this way. If you're a manufacturer and you have a product line with 5 levels and you need to make each one fall into a certain price point to cover all budgets, what corners do you cut without compromising too much?

A power cords purpose is simple, to deliver power to the unit, there's fundamentally only one way to do this, so materials come into play, and that's where the difference lies. Again, I get it, a power cord is a power cord, and yes, the packaged cord is fit for purpose, but, to my argument, the packaged power cord with my $500 CDT, is very different from the one that came with my Prima Luna for instance, so, I, don't believe manufacturers are just reaching into the power cord bin and they're all the same, so to speak ;)

Of course, this is a "Tale as old as time.........." LOL
 
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AnthonyI said:
I know it's one of "those" subjects, but, I tend to look at it this way. If you're a manufacturer and you have a product line with 5 levels and you need to make each one fall into a certain price point to cover all budgets, what corners do you cut without compromising too much?

A power cords purpose is simple, to deliver power to the unit, there's fundamentally only one way to do this, so materials come into play, and that's where the difference lies. Again, I get it, a power cord is a power cord, and yes, the packaged cord is fit for purpose, but, to my argument, the packaged power cord with my $500 CDT, is very different from the one that came with my Prima Luna for instance, so, I, don't believe manufacturers are just reaching into the power cord bin and they're all the same, so to speak ;)

Of course, this is a "Tale as old as time.........." LOL
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Yeah the power chords that came with both my expensive Luna and CDT are exact same 50p OEM IEC power chord that’s attached to my kettle.
 
I do believe that there can be desirable characteristics about power cords that are about more than their ability to effectively deliver power from the wall outlet to a device. A cheap looking cord can cheapen the look of an expensive device.

However, it does not follow that a more impressive cord will more effectively power a device. Pangea cords are certainly more impressive than most stock cords.
 
Angsty said:
I do believe that there can be desirable characteristics about power cords that are about more than their ability to effectively deliver power from the wall outlet to a device. A cheap looking cord can cheapen the look of an expensive device.

However, it does not follow that a more impressive cord will more effectively power a device. Pangea cords are certainly more impressive than most stock cords.
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I have a Pangea cable going into my KingKo. Does it do a better job than a stock cable? Who can tell. Does it look and feel better? Definitely. Is that worth the money? Jury's out. I certainly don't mind having the thing around, but I'm not racing out to buy half a dozen more.
 
kvetcha said:
I have a Pangea cable going into my KingKo. Does it do a better job than a stock cable? Who can tell. Does it look and feel better? Definitely. Is that worth the money? Jury's out. I certainly don't mind having the thing around, but I'm not racing out to buy half a dozen more.
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See that’s why I asked about the outlet. Seems to me possibly enhancing power and getting a tighter connection going through the conditioner would be a bigger bang for the buck and be spread to all equipment not just the one with the cord.
 
Lee Newman said:
See that’s why I asked about the outlet. Seems to me possibly enhancing power and getting a tighter connection going through the conditioner would be a bigger bang for the buck and be spread to all equipment not just the one with the cord.
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For sure. Getting it off a circuit which may contain noisy electrical equipment such as fridge/freezers, table lamps, kettles, toasters, etc. is likely to have a beneficial effect.
 
Joe Mac said:
For sure. Getting it off a circuit which may contain noisy electrical equipment such as fridge/freezers, table lamps, kettles, toasters, etc. is likely to have a beneficial effect.
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I’m pretty sure the circuit it is on is just ceiling lamps that we don’t use. I honestly don’t remember though. The wiring in my house is… um…. Something.
 
Lee Newman said:
I’m pretty sure the circuit it is on is just ceiling lamps that we don’t use. I honestly don’t remember though. The wiring in my house is… um…. Something.
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I think lights are noisy electrics? Who knows. Being in an apartment it’s open plan so every single kitchen appliance is on the same circuit. Also being an apartment means I’m very unlikely to ever change the wiring. I’m pretty sure the ceiling lights have their own circuit.

Edit: Actually I know the sockets are a separate circuit to the ceiling lights because I was listening to music when I swapped the pendant for a 3 bulb fitting and when I changed the outside balcony light and I’m still alive.
 
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Joe Mac said:
I think lights are noisy electrics? Who knows. Being in an apartment it’s open plan so every single kitchen appliance is on the same circuit. Also being an apartment means I’m very unlikely to ever change the wiring. I’m pretty sure the ceiling lights have their own circuit.
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I don’t know. The conditioner definitely stopped any weirdness while the ac was dying from presenting over the system. I’m all for little tweaks to fix this that or the other though.
 
Power cords surprised me. I was firmly in the “cables are snake oil” camp for 30 years. I figured as long as it was decently made and the length I needed, I was good. I had played around with speaker cable and interconnects at low price ranges and not noticed anything. It was a bit of a lark when I got an Audioquest NRG-Y2 for my AppleTV 4K. I was surprised and pleased by the noticeable (to me at least) difference for both audio and video.

That doesn’t mean I think people need to buy them. I just say I’ve noticed a difference and enjoyed it on some components.
 
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