Power Cords & effect sound?

**417 - Alnico** · June 2nd, 2009, 04:10 PM

Tell me what You think of this.

"As unlikely as it seems that the last six feet of power cord can improve a high-voltage AC signal that has already been "conditioned" by many miles of utility company wire, the MusicCord-PRO cable has a positive effect on the sound of your amp."

ESP Power Cords Product Trade Journal Reviews Essence Reference MusicCord Music Cord Music Cable Cables Guitar Bass cord Keyboard Instrument cable Amp Amplifier AC Power Cord Chord Pro Audio High-End Audio Home Theater ESP Audio Video Cables Cords

**Cal Weldon** · June 2nd, 2009, 04:37 PM

Believe what you like about the last six feet of wire. I think it's so far down the list so as not to register until everything else with your system is complete. We all know our systems are never complete so...

I actually won a "special" power cord at a raffle. My laughter made me unpopular. I think I hurt some audiophools feelings. hehe

**Audio_by_Goodwill** · June 2nd, 2009, 05:01 PM

I think a special cord is silly, on the other hand, I beleive having good connections could certainly be an advantage........ good tight connections at the screw terminals on the back of the outlet, good fitting outlet/plug, and tight connections at the electrical panel.

**klausesser** · June 2nd, 2009, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Cal Weldon

My laughter made me unpopular.
I think I hurt some audiophools feelings. hehe

Good man! :-))

best, Klaus

**Altec19** · June 2nd, 2009, 05:24 PM

The Audiophile's motto: "I spent money on it therefore it sounds better."

**Old Guy** · June 2nd, 2009, 08:43 PM

Good solid connections, as has been said. There are $800 power cords out there...silly.

If you want to hear a difference, you will.

I've gotten pretty "live and let live" about wire...but there is an old saying, 90% of everything is crap... applies to wire claims. Just as it applies to speaker claims, amplifier claims...

In a perfect world i would have solid platinum wires to all my stuff...hey, I LIKE platinum...

**417 - Alnico** · June 2nd, 2009, 09:21 PM

I have a few cords that actually have 'Shielded' cut into the cord along with all the other info supplied; Eg, FT2 ... 75 c ... SVT etc...

My newest cord actually says

"Shielded Wonderful" ..........Sheilded...so maybe the Chinese are now hip to this market.
Can't say I hear a difference.

**wws944** · June 4th, 2009, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by 417 - Alnico

Tell me what You think of this.

"As unlikely as it seems that the last six feet of power cord can improve a high-voltage AC signal that has already been "conditioned" by many miles of utility company wire, the MusicCord-PRO cable has a positive effect on the sound of your amp."

Who knows - he might have heard a difference. Maybe plugging in the new $1600 power cord took some of the tarnish off the $0.59 40 year old outlet in his wall.

I love the wording in these ads:

"... These power cords retailed for $1599 last year. I got a bunch on a closeout and I am selling them with No RESERVE!"

Translation: We only sold a couple to some trust fund babies before the stock market crashed. Now we are stuck with a ****load of them.

They have a new model that you can buy for $800 now. I will be putting some of those in my Ebay store soon. They are even better than these, but these cost a LOT less.

Translation: We couldn't sell them at half the price either.

Email me if you want to buy the latest ones and I’ll get some listed, meantime I am selling these which were $1599 last year at NO RESERVE!

Translation: We need to dump this stuff quick, before our wives find out how much we invested in this venture.

The reason the 220V versions of the cord use 12 gauge wire instead of 10 gauge wire is that 220V is inherently twice as efficient as 120V, so there is no need to go thicker than this. Furtermore, the 220V fittings are not made to handle thicker wires well, and adding thicker wires to the 220V versions of the cable would add undesirable levels of capacitance to the cord. So it’s not as though the 220V customers are getting less—those cords actually cost us more to make due to the higher cost of the fittings.

Translation: (I'm not sure where to start on this one...) Maybe that anyone with a clue knows that a $5 dryer cord from Home Depot would give the same performance?

" ... Against the generic competition, though, the differences were clearly audible. The sound got tighter and more refined with the ESP's, with more sparkle in the upper register and more presence and power in the lows. The upper mids seem to awaken, imparting a sense of improved clarity and spaciousness."

Why does this sound like every audio component review I've ever read over the past 30-something years? I swear that if Julian Hirsch were still alive, he'd have a 'hot key' on his keyboard with those sentences ready to go for his next review.

Finally:

Originally Posted by onextwo

here's an interesting article about wires and audio.

Speaker Wire

Roger speaks truth. He is also a pretty helpful guy. (He helped me awhile back with some stuff on my ML-1C speakers - which I bought back in the mid-70s.)

My house was built in 1950, and had a lot of electrical problems too. I solved the problem by running a dedicated 20 amp circuit from the panel to the audio equipment.

**417 - Alnico** · June 7th, 2009, 03:46 PM

So are these guys saying that even if you have a bunch of Power Conditioners etc.. that that last few feet of Power cable could Negate the whole Lot? Thanks for all the replies.

**oface1** · June 7th, 2009, 09:21 PM

nope,,, all snake oil to me,, garbage in/ garbage out....

I would make sure you have good, clean power to start, wonder how many are shelling out good $$$ on cords and such , when they need a good electrician to come and check their power lines????? Bet'cha would save a lot this way.......

But if you wanna spend $800-$1500 in cords, by all means, you are obliged to do so......

Never understood all the hoopla over cords and such....... Guess I am not as much of an audiophool as I lead my self to think I was.....

-chris