What good power cords can do

oliverstoned wrote: Philéas wrote: I'm sure it's all about whether one wants to hear a difference or not. Oliver wants to hear a difference, so he does, while Mike doesn't want to hear a difference, and so does not hear any difference. Don't underestimate the power of prejudice.      On one hand, you have a vague buzzing, on another you have a clean and articulate bass line. Placebo effect?

No - shameless exaggeration beyond any reality.

    Shunyata Research Hydra8 power conditioner


Michael Fremer wrote about the Shunyata Research Hydra 8 in January 2004 (Vol.27 No.1):

Despite the Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista kW's choke-regulated power supplies, and perhaps because of the amount of current these amplifiers pull, their performance was enhanced to an enormous and quite surprising degree by plugging them into Shunyata Research's entirely passive Hydra 8 power-distribution device ($1995).

During my first month of auditioning the kWs, they drew power from the original Hydra. When I was ready to check out the new Hydra 8, I unplugged the original Hydra and plugged the kWs directly into my dedicated line's Hubbell hospital-grade receptacles.

The difference was not subtle. The kWs' basic sonic performance remained, but the picture lost cohesion, the highs had a touch of grain, and the bass seemed in a slightly different time zone—as if these revealing amps were putting my ears in touch with the quality of juice from Rockland Electric's grid. After letting the kWs warm up for another day and continuing to hear the same sound, I turned them off and plugged them into the new Hydra 8, which, as instructed, I'd broken in using a dehumidifier (though I was told an electric fan would work too). The Hydra 8 was connected to the wall with a Shunyata Research Andromeda vX heavy-duty AC cord. Damn if the system didn't return to its former coherent glory, only more so.

There's no space here to go into the technology or theories behind the Hydra 8's operation, but you should give it a try. It's every bit as effective as its supporters say it is, and despite my initial skepticism, I've fallen in line. The Hydra 8 is an amazing product.

Cables were important, but for this review, the Shunyata Research Hydra 8 was the real key to musical satisfaction.—Michael Fremer


    

Edited by oliverstoned - January 18 2007 at 09:16

Power filters (also used in studio, with products such as "La boite noire") proceed exactly from the same idea: provide the purest power to the devices.
There are several technologies for power filtering: simple power isolation, (what i use, with 2 to 3 filtering stage for drive/converters (CD) which pollute a lot because of die-cutting power alimentations which re-inject a lot of electric pollution within the system through interconnects. It results in a huge gain on all parameters). Active filtering like the ones evoke up -however UPS products don't work on a musical level and eat the dynamic- which makes a clean wave AC, like said up.

You can't imagine how transparent good hifi systems can be, cause you base on your experience with poor "systems".

^ ok, but that's just what a good power supply does. Power supplies are not designed to only be able to handle perfect sine wave AC - they are built to handle real live AC.

Philéas wrote: I'm sure it's all about whether one wants to hear a difference or not. Oliver wants to hear a difference, so he does, while Mike doesn't want to hear a difference, and so does not hear any difference. Don't underestimate the power of prejudice.

Very true. But in my case the problem's also that I know a lot about electronics, acoustics etc. ... and this prevents me from taking some of the audiophile theories seriously, including the "magic" power cords. There are (next to) no hard facts, no proof that they actually have an effect on the sound - only some audiophiles who claim that the hear a striking difference. When I compare 16bit digital audio to 24bit digital audio then it's obvious that there could be a remarkable difference, but with a simple power cord with no active circuitry which costs €3000 ... sorry, I'm not buying it.

The point is: If there is a really remarkable difference in quality like it is described in the article, most people would recognize it in listening tests ... but they can't. If they could, the companies holding the patents would be conducting these tests all the time ... but they don't. There is a simple way to prove that it works - but they refuse. Go figure.

I'm sure it's all about whether one wants to hear a difference or not. Oliver wants to hear a difference, so he does, while Mike doesn't want to hear a difference, and so does not hear any difference. Don't underestimate the power of prejudice.

    Have a look here:

http://www.combak.net/X-DCSMReview.htm

oliverstoned wrote: Ive heard, while you have not...and the studios are not bought by powercables companies. I even worked in a studio for two years (engineering, recording, mixing). And know that we're are all in extremely polluted environements (with all the waves). Moreover, an unshielded cable is an antenna. Whatever is picked up by a power cord is filtered out by the power supply. Even the best shielded cord cannot prevent any pollution - the pollution has to be filtered, which is the job of the power supply. The more transparent the system is, the more you hear that. But i let you with your certitudes and your plastic boxes as hifi system. 1. My main boxes are made of wood and 2. I hear plenty of detail on my system. Allow me to use the same reasoning as you always do: I trust my ears!

A former collegue of mine has dedicated a whole site to uncovering myths from the audiophile world, using the laws of electronics and physics as his starting point. It's in dutch unfortunately, but does contain some remarks about power cables.
2 bottom lines there:

1. Polarity of the plugs can be an issue, resulting in a humming noise. If that is the case, insert the plug rotated by 180 degrees. Happens mainly in earthed sockets.
2. Apart from this, only when you have sever external disturbances (resulting in noise on the power line) you need to replace your cord or add some additional electronics between the cable and you equipments transformer.

But, if you're happy with these cables, I won't stop you. May the sound be with you.