Power cords? suggestions?

[ryan4blu]

hey, just wondering whats out there for power cords for amps and receivers? whats good and whats not? any recommendations or expiriences? thanks

[repete66211]

I don't understand the question. What's wrong with the power cords that come with the amp/receiver? Or are you asking about surge protectors/power strips?

[ryan4blu]

Originally Posted by repete66211

I don't understand the question. What's wrong with the power cords that come with the amp/receiver? Or are you asking about surge protectors/power strips?

my power cord for my receiver barely reaches my power condition, had to move things around to make it work. want to buy a long and possibly better performing cord for it. i have read on here that there are perfomance cords you can buy, wanted to get some opinions or suggestions here.

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by ryan4blu

my power cord for my receiver barely reaches my power condition, had to move things around to make it work. want to buy a long and possibly better performing cord for it. i have read on here that there are perfomance cords you can buy, wanted to get some opinions or suggestions here.

My opinion: "Performance" power cords are 100% snake oil. I have seen no evidence to suggest otherwise. Should such evidence surface I would be happy to amend my position. Note: Testimonials and personal anecdotes do not constitute evidence for this any more than they do for weight loss products or any other scam out there.

Just buy a longer cord that is thick enough to handle the load.

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by repete66211

My opinion: "Performance" power cords are 100% snake oil. I have seen no evidence to suggest otherwise. Should such evidence surface I would be happy to amend my position. Note: Testimonials and personal anecdotes do not constitute evidence for this any more than they do for weight loss products or any other scam out there.

Just buy a longer cord that is thick enough to handle the load.

Sorry to disappoint you, but, I whole heartily disagree with you. It is not snake oil, but the benefit is much dependent upon the sensitivity and the revealing nature of the equipment in the system. With a very sensitive and extremely revealing system differences in ICs, speaker cables, coax cables, and Power Cords can most definitely be recognized.

But, I do not wish to get into a shoving match. As to the question of Power cords, consider the length and the cost of the associated components before considering spending the money. Try to let us know the value of the equipment and also how much that you think that you would wish to spend.

Rich

[azncarbos]

Are you talking about something like this?

http://www.grantfidelity.com/site/PC15

or the Monster Powerline 300

if you willing to fork over the $$$ then those are probably the one you are looking for but if you are looking to extend the cord then I would look for a different gauge cable and longer one...I know monoprice has few...

[kpkelley]

Just like anything else related to your home theatre, there is always something better...

The Aluminata AC Power Cord

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

Sorry to disappoint you, but, I whole heartily disagree with you. It is not snake oil, but the benefit is much dependent upon the sensitivity and the revealing nature of the equipment in the system. With a very sensitive and extremely revealing system differences in ICs, speaker cables, coax cables, and Power Cords can most definitely be recognized.

But, I do not wish to get into a shoving match. As to the question of Power cords, consider the length and the cost of the associated components before considering spending the money. Try to let us know the value of the equipment and also how much that you think that you would wish to spend.

Rich

Rich, I don't want to turn this into a shoving match either, but in ideal conditions (i.e. a vacuum) you can probably create a situation in which a dressed up $300 strip of copper performs marginally better than a $5 strip of the same copper. Perhaps this difference would be quantifiable in some way, but I seriously doubt if you would be able to improve make a real world improvement in such a way that is humanly perceptible.

Assuming the power cord is of decent build quality, what percent of its performance would you say is based on nothing more than length and guage?

Originally Posted by kpkelley

Just like anything else related to your home theatre, there is always something better...

The Aluminata AC Power Cord

Perhaps such a cord would offer a perceptible improvement, but my question is, how can the average consumer tell the difference between a better cord and snake oil?

[ZIPPO]

I think "westom" should chime in on this . It'd be interesting hearing his take on power cords.

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by repete66211

Perhaps such a cord would offer a perceptible improvement, but my question is, how can the average consumer tell the difference between a better cord and snake oil?

The average consumer, with average to good components, who most likely hasn't updated their other wiring, would probably not notice a difference because some other component or wire will strike it out of balance.

That cord btw is much more than $300.

[Show spoiler]$3499 MSRP

[Steve]

Without getting into the ongoing debate above, OP if you just want a longer cable without spending a fortune check out CablesToGo.

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by repete66211

Rich, I don't want to turn this into a shoving match either, but in ideal conditions (i.e. a vacuum) you can probably create a situation in which a dressed up $300 strip of copper performs marginally better than a $5 strip of the same copper. Perhaps this difference would be quantifiable in some way, but I seriously doubt if you would be able to improve make a real world improvement in such a way that is humanly perceptible.

Assuming the power cord is of decent build quality, what percent of its performance would you say is based on nothing more than length and guage?


Perhaps such a cord would offer a perceptible improvement, but my question is, how can the average consumer tell the difference between a better cord and snake oil?

As I have indicated, the differences will be most noted with a very sensitive and revealing system. The choice of design and materials used in the power cord including the wire design; copper, silver or gold; shielding;, whether there is any filter in the line; etc. will all contribute to the performance. Just as in the case with ICs, Coax cables, and Speaker Cables, not all components and wire "play well together".

As to the percentage improvement I would say perhaps 10 to 15% improvement is possible. That difference can be heard possibly in how solid the bass is, how solid imaging and soundstage and depth, detail, percussive nature of the performance, clarity, how real voices and instruments may sound, etc. But, the difference and the value to the buyer/listener has to decide for themselves if they can hear it is the cost worth the performance improvement. For someone making the investment in a Power Cord, my suggestion is to buy if at all possible with a return policy if you are unable to "hear" or "see" any difference for the better.

Rich

[Steve]

OP......Have you been scared away?

[ryan4blu]

i was just asking some opinions didnt want to create a pissing match

see my sig for what i got. was going to use the cord for my pio elite receiver. needed some more length and i just thought why not check out a performance cord while im at it. thats all

some say there is a difference, but will i notice it? i noticed a huge difference in adding my Emo amp, but i do realize that is a huge improvement. was considering also for my power conditioner and emo amp. but i heard those cords are plenty good for them.

[Hammie]

Emotiva has inexpensive power cords that are a bit more robust than the ones that came with your gear. They have a 2m (6 feet) and 4m (12 feet) option.

[phantompwr]

The wire that is feeding power to the receptacle you are plugging into is at most 12 gauge wire, so there really isn't any benefit to buying a power cord that is thicker than that. Most good power cords are 14 gauge wire, which should be enough to comfortably handle any receiver. If you look at the store it should specify the gauge, and it should be written somewhere on the power cord itself.
I think the most important factor in reducing noise to your equipment is to make sure you have one common ground for all your equipment. That means you should be plugging every part of your system into the same outlet.

[Johk]

You could always go the DIY way.

Anyway, many will question the improvements of powercords. Since the improvements are not necessarily easy to qualify and quantify and depend on your gear and what you are listening to...

Like Rich suggested, if you could try an upgraded powercord with your system then you could be the judge if it's worth it or not!

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by Johk

You could always go the DIY way.

Anyway, many will question the improvements of powercords. Since the improvements are not necessarily easy to qualify and quantify and depend on your gear and what you are listening to...

Like Rich suggested, if you could try an upgraded powercord with your system then you could be the judge if it's worth it or not!

And sometimes you just like pretty looking things.

[peterng]

Originally Posted by ryan4blu

hey, just wondering whats out there for power cords for amps and receivers? whats good and whats not? any recommendations or expiriences? thanks

Radioshack has them all ...check it out ...

[rded]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

The average consumer, with average to good components, who most likely hasn't updated their other wiring, would probably not notice a difference because some other component or wire will strike it out of balance.

That cord btw is much more than $300.

[Show spoiler]$3499 MSRP

Speaking of power cords...Let me chime in: The last time I was over at my dealer he had me listen to his System which consists of Dynaudio Sapphires, Burmester Stack(CDP,Pre, Amp, Power Center) with all Nordost Valhalla cabling we're talking about over 85k in gear. For sh*ts and he switched between a Nordost Valhalla power cord(3k) to the Odin power cord(10k) on the Burmester CDP and had me listen to the difference. The verdict, the sound stage had increased and the micro dynamics are more evident with the Odin power cord. He did this 3-4 times using different CDs as reference.We kept the volume and settings the same. Mind you the lag time between change was at a little over 5 seconds. No blind folds needed my friends

Now I'm not saying go out and purchase $10,000 power cords but yes they MAKE A DIFFERENCE.