Power Cables

Discussion in 'General Audio Discussion' started by cskippy, Mar 18, 2016.

  1. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    Have you tried measuring different power cords to amps & see if there is any difference?

    If they do improve any sonics, the measurements should back it up, right?
     
  2. murray

    murray Friend

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    If that was the case these arguments would not occur. There would be a definitive answer. End of Story.

    Have a read of Jason Stoddard's latest chapter in his "Schiit Happens" book on subjective/objective debates, http://www.head-fi.org/t/701900/sch...-most-improbable-start-up/10335#post_12447731, that covers it pretty well.
     
  3. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    Remember that being able to measure a difference doesn't mean you can hear it. Especially when it's some harmonic 100dB down from the fundamental or there's a hint of jitter on the digital input of your DAC.
     
  4. murray

    murray Friend

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    Another problem with power-related issues is that everyone has different power: national standards, safety earth (or not), local noise, interference, voltage variation, distributions schemes, generators, etc, etc. I think it would be difficult to find any two members who had the "same" input power in both type and quality.
     
  5. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    My dad did this great hack for his speaker set up. First he unscrewed 2 near by wall power outlets then he got the wires from one of the power outlets and snaked the wires over to the other wall outlet then he put both the wires together in parallel = double the current draw from the power wires, then he bought one of those heavy duty 20 amp wall outlet. It really helps power hungry speaker set ups or even just for the stability from the extra headroom. Then if you want you can further improve the power by using a conditioner.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2016
  6. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    Where I live only licensed electricians should ever do this kind of work, if the house burned down and the insurance company found out that some of the wiring was DIY you'd be in a lot of trouble. Lastly - if both the connected outlets were over the same fuse I'm skeptical of any real gains.

    If you're worried about your gear not getting enough amps talk to an electrician about it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2016
  7. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    You are probably right, the idea behind it is similar to using a double guage of wire without having to change out the wiring of the house. But if the wires are a different length from the house main power source it could have some phase issues.

    Some people just change out wall outlet into higher end one.
     
  8. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    Electricity travels at the speed of light so that's not really going to matter, but I was not 100% correct either.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2016
  9. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    I am sure my dad got the phases right then because he didn't have issues like that. Though I did tell him about the fuse thing and he said that he could just simply change it to a high end fuse for audio.
     
  10. Mikoss

    Mikoss Friend

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    Similar results in NA actually. We have a center tapped, single phase transformer, with the center being grounded and used as the neutral. If you accidentally connected two separate 120V circuits, you could create a 240V short circuit. Bad idea.

    Parallel runs will break code... We have stringent rules with regards to 1/0 size minimum, exact same length, etc.

    Running larger wiring is fine, provided that it meets code. This means all the way from the breaker to the receptacle, not homemade parallel runs halfway through. I would strongly urge your dad to pull that out. If there is a short circuit, both breakers could feed the short, which will result in double the available fault current. This larger than usual current will flow through the single conductors in his wall which he hasn't paralleled, and potentially cause a fire.
     
  11. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    Alright not going to argue with you guys, I am going to let him know about it.
     
  12. T.Rainman

    T.Rainman Acquaintance

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    Most countries in Europe (if not all ?) also have 1 'Live' wire (230V/50Hz) and one 'Null'.
    Of course there are houses that also have 3 phase power outlets and it wouldn't be wise to connect 2 different phases (fireworks and blown fuses).

    Otherwise I totally agree with you.
     
  13. johnjen

    johnjen Doesn’t want to be here but keeps posting anyways

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    Yes I have measured different ac power cables and while the results are indirect, as in how do you quantify sonic improvements, they do show a causal relationship.

    This is what I referred to in an earlier post about writing up my results.

    JJ
     
  14. TwoEars

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    I think you're right, what I thought was the standard must have been a special case and not the norm. The norm in the EU does indeed seem to be one live wire vs null just like the US. You learn something new every day.
     
  15. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    From what I gathered, higher end power cord limit less current flow through the cables.

    I would assume this to be an important bottleneck in high powered amps.
     
  16. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    They would be poorly designed amplifiers if that was a bottleneck.
     
  17. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    That or they need to put a higher gauge cable in the box.
     
  18. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Forget the arguments for and against fancy power cables (I'm a firm disbeliever): if your system is less than $10,000 and you've spent more than $50 on a power cable you're doing it wrong.
     
  19. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I recommend sex before power cables. Make sure your system is over $10,000 and that you are getting sex. If not, power cables should be avoided.
     
  20. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Electrical code for 15A circuits is a minimum of 14awg wire and for 20A circuits is a minimum of 12awg wire.

    If you don't want to starve your components, they need power cables of adequate gauge:
    I would recommend getting thicker power cables at least for power distributors and (speaker) amplifiers as they have higher current draw. My APC H15 came with a 12awg cable from the factory. My Shunyata came with a 10awg cable. Additionally, many digital devices (and, in turn, other devices hooked up to the same power distributor) may benefit from power cables that seek to reduce noise from the switching-mode power supplies within the digital device traveling through the cable.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2016

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