Anyone using aftermarket AC cords?

[Yannick]

My opinion :

power is not a music signal.
I made my power chords, they're not .99 each but about $5 cause I used decent wire with enough copper and ditto plugs.

I do agree that some .99$ standard chords have a strange blend of something that could resemble a thin copper wire in them ...

Paying $300 for some kind of wonder cable seems pretty foolish to me. Better to invest in a decent earthing rod, and heavy gauge cable up to the street and maybe some sort of power conditioner (to remove all those nasty harmonics).

Anecdote : we were setting up a studio monitor demo in my studio (30 people were invited) : Link K50 monitors/Link speaker cable/Bryston 3bSST/Benchmarkmedia DAC1/Link silver interconnects (they come out of a 747...) (Link speaker/interconnect cable is actually cheaper then those $300 power cables).
Some distributor of audiophile hifi gear asked 30' before the beginning if he could show his newest power chords (we were finished setting up ...). Prices were between $300 and $500.
We put highend power chords to the DAC1, one to the Bryston and even one to the CD transport.
Switched everything on, and within 30 seconds the distributor asked if he could put away his cords again - it sucked bigtime.

Conclusion : if those things really change the sound drastically then they are really doing something with your power supply, like choking it, or something other that's even worse.

If you want to know : dynamics were gone, bottom end extension gone, imaging worse, depth completely gone, etc.
Well, it suddenly sounded like an 'audiophile' setup

Of course one could argue one brand of $300 power cable isn't the other ...

[edmann]

Originally posted by warhead
Hell even folks with high end surround systems decked out in the classiest audiophile gear are just pluggin' stock cables into the wall.

Actually I think it is the hi-end home system owners (non-musicians, or: people who have lots of disposable cash) who basically support this niche

[Kent]

I love this kind of stuff:

"The Pandora is the world's first mechanically tuneable power cord._ It has been experimentally proven to our satisfaction that physical/mechanical parameters define 50-90% of the sound of almost ALL audio components."


It would also be proven to my satisfaction if I was thinking of charging 300 bones!
This reminds me of the modern day "Earth is Flat" people. You can't change peoples minds. You must first get them to want to change.
I've always preferred the 'scientifically proven' approach.

[Dave Martin]

I would use more after market cords if I had them- not for sonic reasons (I dunno about those), but because 1 foot IEC cables are neater than 2 meter cables.

[MattiMattMatt]

Dan/Dot,

I've noticed you posted a few threads on hi-fi topics like those speaker cone thingies, and now the a/c cords. Just curious, do you sell these things or have any relationship to companies like Requisite Audio?

Alternatively, I was wondering if you were putting together some sort of article or review and are engaged in some sort of research?

Thanks,

MattiMattMatt

[bobmaus]

Well, I have also been using the Requisite AC, Guitar & Mic cables.

On the AC cable, it does make a dramatic difference, I find more impressive on digital gear. Tried on my Yammie Motif and was impressed with the way the D/A improved. The Pwr Grand never sounded better. Using on Yammie AW4416, same noticable change, wider sound stage, better imaging and tighter bass.

The audio cables are very easy to demo and hear the immediate difference by just switching out your fav guitar or mic cable against the Requisite.

I don't think these things are mandatory to make record good music, but they sure can delight a "seasoned" listener with a higher level of quality, particularly in the digital realm. btw, I do use the pwr cords with my SA-3s (analog) and they also sound better, but not as much as the digital stuff. Accumulatively, these cables can mean a massive improvement all around, but it will cost ya.

Bob

[Jack Pettit]

I bought special a/c cords from Volex for 2 reasons.
1 Coiling up power cords that were too long didn't seem like a
good idea and I could buy special lengths.
2 They had a foil and braid ground that looked good.

They were more than Radio Shack but just a few bucks more.

[faeflora]

Originally posted by Berolzheimer
Aah, I knew someone would ask this, and it's a good question. The answer's pretty simple though, I recorded a consistent acoustic source with my interface powered with the standard AC cable, and then with the Requisite cable(s) (plural since we were comparing various prototypes) and several other brands, and then lined up the various recordings in PT and compared them. The mic & line level cables were tested in much the same way.
Comparing the AC cable on my mixer was not hard, as switching AC cables on that only takes a few seconds, and it's easy to hear the difference when listening to music with only a few seconds between hearings. Especially since the difference is not at all subtle.

Was this a double blind test? If not, your test(s) was useless.

[faeflora]

Originally posted by Dot
The difference was mainly in the midrange, where the Golden Sound put across a cleaner sounds, whereas the Requisite cable on the DAC1 makes the soundstage bloom more.

What's that stench? I think there's an audiophile among us.

[faeflora]

Originally posted by heinz
not to be overly redundant, but maybe someone can speak to the SCIENCE aspect of this improved-power-cord theory?

Huh? Shutup! Don't distract us from the blooming!

[faeflora]

Originally posted by Dave Martin
I would use more after market cords if I had them- not for sonic reasons (I dunno about those), but because 1 foot IEC cables are neater than 2 meter cables.

Dave, here's some 1 foot cords:

1 footers

Here's a useful 1 foot extension:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=1038

[heinz]

Originally posted by faeflora
Huh? Shutup! Don't distract us from the blooming!

Well, this quote on his power cords from the Vans Evers site clears it all up for me:

"How does it do this? We work in the mechanical-resonant realm. In so doing, we have developed a working theory that produces repeatable results. We don’t know for sure why it works, just that it does! "

Bloom on!

[faeflora]

Originally posted by heinz
Well, this quote on his power cords from the Vans Evers site clears it all up for me:

"How does it do this? We work in the mechanical-resonant realm. In so doing, we have developed a working theory that produces repeatable results. We don’t know for sure why it works, just that it does! "

Bloom on!

It "JUST WORKS".

Kinda like nuclear power.

Amazing huh?

Danny's so mechanoresonant that he just spontaneously creates this shit!

Wait, not shit, I mean working theories.

Genious!

GENIOUS!

[TheTruffleKing]

Well, plastic-jacketed romex with 12-guage solid copper is what's used for 20 amp home and sometimes commercial wiring. 12 guage solid or stranded copper THHN, run through conduit, is more commonly used for commercial applications on a 20 amp circuit. I believe every piece of gear I've ever bought has come with an 18-guage stranded copper cord. I still don't know exactly how these Requisite cords are different.

Dan, would you cut one open and let us know what's inside?

[faeflora]

Originally posted by TheTruffleKing

Dan, would you cut one open and let us know what's inside?

I doubt he'd want to do that! He'd disturb the ions!

[toledo3]

Originally posted by Yannick
My opinion :
Better to invest in a decent earthing rod, and heavy gauge cable up to the street and maybe some sort of power conditioner (to remove all those nasty harmonics).

That is the crux. Is some jackass is using standard gauge wiring in their wall and thinks that they should go waste money on one of these cords, they are ****lN GOOFY!

[De chromium cob]

Originally posted by faeflora
Huh? Shutup! Don't distract us from the blooming!

Thats some funny shit!

[Ted Nightshade]

Seriously, do you plug all these hi-bone AC cords into a hi-bone powerstrip too?

This from a guy with a 85 pound power strip- technically, an Equi=Tech power conditioner. It has a big old toroidal transformer in it. It doesn't do a blessed thing at home, where I have an off-grid power system with burly, burly line run 200' to the house, and oversize Romex in the walls. I take it on gigs to help protect the kit and mellow out weirdness in the AC there.

Thanks for the DIY links. One power cord coming out of each rack is the goal!

This is not to dismiss expensive cables but- I got the box too, this time massive RCA cables, each leg in a separate cable bigger than any of my 30 amp AC cables. Apparently they cost over $1000 each new. Did the shootout- no, it wasn't a blind test. Cheap old thin RCA, 70's vintage; This trick hogleg stuff; Canare. All other cables were Canare. Power cords stock.

The result: Asphalt. No really folks, the ultra trick stuff sounded damn similar to the cheapo vintage thin RCA cord. Seemed to exagerrate the mids, at the expense of all else.. Cheapo vintage was preferable overall. Canare just smoked 'em both. I will not believe that a blindfold test would yield a different result.

BTW, I love blindfold tests! Most times I can readily and repeatedly distinguish the two things tested- most times they are pretty obviously different, at least to me. Usually the idea when I can get them is that two pieces of kit, two speakers, two cords, a cord with adapter vs. just a cord, are so close you can't tell- usually I can tell. Says more about what's tested than me, I'm quite sure.

Too bad I live too far from y'all to be guinea pig- I enjoy that.

Anyway, just because those spendy cables were crap, doesn't mean they all are, and I want to rewire the AC on my racks anyway, DIY and affordable. Let the battle rage.

[toledo3]

Originally posted by Ted Nightshade
Seriously, do you plug all these hi-bone AC cords into a hi-bone powerstrip too?

This from a guy with a 85 pound power strip- technically, an Equi=Tech power conditioner. It has a big old toroidal transformer in it. It doesn't do a blessed thing at home, where I have an off-grid power system with burly, burly line run 200' to the house, and oversize Romex in the walls. I take it on gigs to help protect the kit and mellow out weirdness in the AC there.

Thanks for the DIY links. One power cord coming out of each rack is the goal!

This is not to dismiss expensive cables but- I got the box too, this time massive RCA cables, each leg in a separate cable bigger than any of my 30 amp AC cables. Apparently they cost over $1000 each new. Did the shootout- no, it wasn't a blind test. Cheap old thin RCA, 70's vintage; This trick hogleg stuff; Canare. All other cables were Canare. Power cords stock.

The result: Asphalt. No really folks, the ultra trick stuff sounded damn similar to the cheapo vintage thin RCA cord. Seemed to exagerrate the mids, at the expense of all else.. Cheapo vintage was preferable overall. Canare just smoked 'em both. I will not believe that a blindfold test would yield a different result.

BTW, I love blindfold tests! Most times I can readily and repeatedly distinguish the two things tested- most times they are pretty obviously different, at least to me. Usually the idea when I can get them is that two pieces of kit, two speakers, two cords, a cord with adapter vs. just a cord, are so close you can't tell- usually I can tell. Says more about what's tested than me, I'm quite sure.

Too bad I live too far from y'all to be guinea pig- I enjoy that.

Anyway, just because those spendy cables were crap, doesn't mean they all are, and I want to rewire the AC on my racks anyway, DIY and affordable. Let the battle rage.

My uncle has an equitech box! He was a government nuclear physicist, and he uses one of those boxes for all his ham radio and tube equipment. He is always ordering crap like this. His comment to me was that he got it to be easier on the equipment, not for any sonic qualities.... by the same toke, he isn't really that much of an over the top audiophile.... I hope I inherit his mcintosh and sennheiser headphones though.

The equitech power box is impressive. It is one of the cleanest, best built pieces of gear I have seen. It is cool to see a power box built to that kind of standard.

[Jax]

"If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink."

Kent, you're nuts! But in a good way... or at least in a way that doesn't do anybody any harm, as far as I know!

[Kent]

Originally posted by heinz
Well, this quote on his power cords from the Vans Evers site clears it all up for me:

"How does it do this? We work in the mechanical-resonant realm. In so doing, we have developed a working theory that produces repeatable results. We don’t know for sure why it works, just that it does! "

I think the only repeatable result is cash in pocket. I would be willing to bet the manufacturing costs are somewhere around $10 a pop. Maybe a little more for the wooden dongle thing since aborigines carve them. The harmonic balance of the southern poles negates the northern hemisphere's ultra-sonic-robot-doodoo-power... ah, fergeddit.

[Ted Nightshade]

Originally posted by toledo3
My uncle has an equitech box! He was a government nuclear physicist, and he uses one of those boxes for all his ham radio and tube equipment. He is always ordering crap like this. His comment to me was that he got it to be easier on the equipment, not for any sonic qualities.... by the same toke, he isn't really that much of an over the top audiophile.... I hope I inherit his mcintosh and sennheiser headphones though.

The equitech power box is impressive. It is one of the cleanest, best built pieces of gear I have seen. It is cool to see a power box built to that kind of standard.

They're great folks too, and oddly enough their shop is not far away in most rural State of Jefferson. They told me I was maybe their 3rd walk in customer... got the tour and saw the happy workers on the benches and the testimonials from major studios all over the walls. These people were THRILLED! The ones writing the testimonials, I mean.

One of the guys there really wanted to hear back about what kind of noise and hum reduction I had achieved, but the Equi=Tech was just part of a whole campaign to ferret out hums, buzzes, and hisses. Everything from being careful where the wallwarts were and what cables lay next to which, to transformer DIs and what all. From what I gather, the Equi=Tech is very good at solving certain problems I don't seem to have at home...

[Jax]

For anybody who doesn't see the point of using thicker gauge and/or high end AC cable in light of the crappy or restricted wiring in your walls etc., here's a thread from well over a year ago about very much the same topic:

http://gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...5&pagenumber=2

Check out pages 2 and 3 and what is said by sonic dogg (an electrician), Kent (a studio tech) and myself (a bonehead who wastes too much time doing research when I should be recording music!).

We've been down this road before, but a few new immigrants are traversing the path this time...

And even since the linked thread, I still haven't bought thicker AC cords to try them against 'high end' AC cords!

p.s. - Dave-G, your ability to restate in this current thread, certain phrases of what you said over a year ago - almost *verbatim* - is kinda remarkable or somethin'!

[dave-G]

Originally posted by Jax
p.s. - Dave-G, your ability to restate in this current thread, certain phrases of what you said over a year ago - almost *verbatim* - is kinda remarkable or somethin'!

Jeezus!!! That's a scary trip down lack-of-memory lane... I'm so frickin' predictable!!!

Hey, that window-for-the-choking metaphor was pretty nice, eh?

-dave

[Jax]

Originally posted by bobmaus
Well, I have also been using the Requisite AC, Guitar & Mic cables.

On the AC cable, it does make a dramatic difference, I find more impressive on digital gear. Tried on my Yammie Motif and was impressed with the way the D/A improved. The Pwr Grand never sounded better. Using on Yammie AW4416, same noticable change, wider sound stage, better imaging and tighter bass.

Y'know, it might just mean that the thicker gauge of the high end AC cord is delivering power more efficiently to all the gear you tried it on, which doesn't have much to do with the quality or the price of the AC cord. Thicker gauge tends to improve power delivery to high current drawing gear, like consoles and power amps, but maybe - just maybe - it can make a difference to your other studio gear.

[Dave Martin]

Originally posted by faeflora
Dave, here's some 1 foot cords:

Thanks! I may order a dozen or so...

[David R.]

Well, I have never tried 'high end' power cables. I would love to be in a blind test, if there was nothing better on TV.

One time, in a super duper top end studio, I was in the CR while the engineer was showing off thier $4000 mic cables. I was thinking about what gear I could buy for the $$ they spent on cables.

If you have the $ to blow and it makes you happy, then go for it. From my limited knowledge of electronics, the power cable is not the weakest link. I would rather spend mine elsewhere.

[zimv20]

Originally posted by David R.
I would love to be in a blind test, if there was nothing better on TV.

it sounds like you're pitching a new reality show

[Dot]

Do you do a blind tests between set of guitar strings or guitar picks. Jeez, there's more art to this than anything else. We've been testing and using around 40 mic pres and something like 100 mics over the last year. I don't need blind tests to listen to any of this. I plug something in and use it and decide what I like and don't like about it, and work to find the best applications.

I don't sell gear. I'm not an audiophile. I engineer. I play music. I produce music. I design studios. I review gear. I use. I listen. I use. I listen. You wanna qualify me or disqualify me as an engineer, here's something I recently recorded. http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/mp3/NYBlues.mp3

This is the "High End" forum - so let's not flinch at a few hundred dollars. And the people who are posting in the topic who've had first-hand experience with better AC cables are chiming in that they actually hear not just a subtle difference, but a dramatic difference.

Danny McKinney of Requisite is not an audiophile. He designs and builds some of the highest-quality studio gear in the world. I honestly don't think a guy like Danny would be wasting his time with AC cables if they didn't make a difference.

If you have what you feel is an excellent monitoring system, and you've done all the acoustical work to your room and you think it's as good as you can get it, then you owe it to yourself to find out first-hand what the difference good AC cables can make.

[Kent]

O.K. Let's move it to the "Deep End" forum then...