Guest David H Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Great posts, everyone. If replacing your audio equipment's power cord makes a difference, just think what improvements can be made by ripping out drywall and replacing the wiring from your stereo's power receptacle to your home's breaker panel. Don't stop there, you might as well replace that dark-sounding circuit breaker feeding your stereo gear with an audiophile-rated breaker. You know, the one with the zero-crossing detector and healing crystals. That leaves getting the power company to replace that sound stage-narrowing aluminum wire with 99.9999999999% oxygen-free shielded copper cable from the pole-mounted transformer to your house. After all those tasks are complete, you'll lie awake at night wondering, "Is the output impedance of my coal-fired power generation station low enough?" As someone posted earlier (to paraphrase), we know next to nothing about the Nature of Electricity........... Lee P.S. I have found that black painted clothes hangers offer less-wrinkling and creasing of the music than the unpainted hangers. Somehow, the soundstage appears to be hanging about 12 inches from the front wall and 65-68 inches above the floor. Sorry. Lee, I think you are holding back, tell us how you really feel. BTW I love the post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consistent Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 So let's all be honest 'hear'. What do you all use for cables? I make twisted pairs of solid core (1mm) high quality copper conductors highly cleaned in teflon (2 per channel) with Eichmann ends and soldered using Cardas quad. I use similar for speakers but 7 solid core conductors for each channel. I have also done the cat 5 thing with great results after removing the outer casing. Thanks to those that have given us examples. Anybody else for a 'show and tell'? AND why use what you use? Me; becuase its cheap, it works better than anything I have ever used and because 'I did it'! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InVeNtOr Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 to me, being honest, i don't think it has anything to do with actual wire. to me wire is wire is wire. i use a very high quality shield, and that i believe is the difference. i think the rest has little to no results. i redid all my power cables because i wanted exact lengths and no coil ups. i can't stand wires that are too long and stowed somewhere behind something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saturn5 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I installed expensive interconnects and it made my stereo sound better. My car is also faster after a good wash and wax. [] The power of suggestion is amazing. Anyone who's done a comparison and heard a difference - did you swap them yourslelf? I'd be interested in a double-blind test where you didn't know which was which and if you could still tell the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blvdre Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 My car is also faster after a good wash and wax. I know it's impossible, but I swear.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consistent Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 InVeNtOR amen to shorter cables...I think this has a lot to do with what comes out...for the better and yes the dielectric is a key to a good cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 So let's all be honest 'hear'. What do you all use for cables? I make twisted pairs of solid core (1mm) high quality copper conductors highly cleaned in teflon (2 per channel) with Eichmann ends and soldered using Cardas quad. I use similar for speakers but 7 solid core conductors for each channel. I have also done the cat 5 thing with great results after removing the outer casing. Thanks to those that have given us examples. Anybody else for a 'show and tell'? AND why use what you use? Me; becuase its cheap, it works better than anything I have ever used and because 'I did it'! Cheers Here are some I made. They sounded great, but are a bit stiff and hard to work with. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Here are some I made. They sounded great, but are a bit stiff and hard to work with. Bob You crack me up. ROFLMAO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I'd be interested in a double-blind test where you didn't know which was which and if you could still tell the difference.Let's say one was able to pass a double blind ABX...how bout a blind "walk in room" test, where the listener is completely unaware that their spouse swapped cables on them...and then identifying what changed solely by listening...and how bout identifying the physical properties of the cable (or a brand name). I can think of a whole heck of a lot of other things that would pass that test - and ironically many of those items aren't even considered by many of the crazy wire folk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consistent Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 That's the ticket Bob. I see you have an old 55 in there with those coat hangers what 55 is your favourite? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Abolutely hilarious. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 That's the ticket Bob. I see you have an old 55 in there with those coat hangers what 55 is your favourite? Cheers My favorite would be the two piece phase plug version of the K-55V built briefly in the early 80s. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Love the high end, electron directivity control, white insulating paint..... And those special "phase coiled" splices.... [][Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipbarrett Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 For full disclosure here's a set I made today. No fancy marketing shots like Pear but they work just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 So those of you who believe nothing is happening (as known science and current thinking is able to deomonstrate) what sort of cabes do you use...or are they just tinned coat hangers? When I have the choice (which is rare), I'll use Belden 1307A, which is 2 conductor 16ga:http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuPnr6I6Psi5aDwYqwkCTIM%252bcFV3GIVSUY%3d Or Belden 1311A when I need 2 x 12ga:http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuPnr6I6Psi5aDwYqwkCTIMiYi9%252b%252bndkQA%3d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etc6849 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Twisting the power cord has merit. However, I think computer power cables are already twisted as well as any cord to an AV receiver, so what's the point? The computer power cords I've cut were all twisted (I think) and so are those orange electrical cords in long lengths. I believe have even seen cords with foil shielding, but I could be wrong. I think twisting helps keep the power cord's electro magnetic field from interfering with nearby speaker cables. In this manner the field from the black wire should cancel that of the white wire right? However, if you were really concerned, why not add foil shielding to the power cord and ground one end? The foil would not only keep outside signals from getting in, but also prevent the 60Hz E-M field from getting out (only matters if you have speaker wire really close to the power cable). On a similar note, I think twisting speaker wire can also cancel E-M interferance assuming both wires receive the same intereferance. If there truly is an audible difference in the type of wire used, it can be measured electrically and proven through theory or it's not real and is all in the person's head. I don't buy into the whole physics can't explain it stuff. I haven't heard a difference in cables personally, but I think it's possible. Especially if the cable is purposely designed to sound different. You can change dielectrics and modify a cables capacitance and this will shift the cables frequency response. I'm not so sure if a person's ear is good enough to hear the shift in the freq response curve though, but I bet you can measure some difference in reactance accross brands and types of cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InVeNtOr Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 i am not using a shield that anyone on here can buy. i am using stuff that is for aircraft. this shielding to put into perspective is probably $10 (or more) a foot. this shield is used for highly sentisitive equipement. the way i built them is the "flavor 3" way on VHaudio.com. all my devices only use 2 conductors so the iec connector end the shield is butted up to the end, and the plug side, the shield is insterted into the ground pin. all my cables run to my furman, which it uses all 3 conductors, so all the interferience runs into then out of that device. i should post pics of the shield so people can understand what i am using, it's also very heavy, about 5' weighs over a pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consistent Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 What I make Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Shmoe Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Some of the stuff in this thread cracks me up.... I thought I might help & add the following heading, it really might need to be on the front page [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 If you have mono blocks, why not connect the amps directly to the networks with ultra-short cables of a few inches? It would be like not even having speaker cables or any of their supposed defects. Is this better than the $50K cables? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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