The importance of power cables

You’re thinking of Amir at ASR.

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No, I never think of him! :slight_smile:

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My recollection of Julian Hirsch, or how he was characterized at the time, was that amplifiers all sounded the same. It was a style of equipment reviewing I left behind for Stereophile with J Gordon Holt and the early days of Harry Pearson’s The Absolute Sound. Pre-internet our options were rather poor, and Stereophile or The Absolute Sound offered reviews as entertainment to my way of thinking. Julian was more of a Jack Webb approach. There is an aspect to this hobby that is not measurable.

Amir at ASR doesn’t rate and isn’t worthy of mentioned as far as I am concerned. Others may feel differently and that’s fine.

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Ha! That’s two in one day, as I roll on the floor in laughter! I do appreciate your sense of style. :grin:

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Hi. Ted Smith is the chief digital designer at PS Audio. He is not trying to sell anything but fantastic sounding music!

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He did have a bias when it came to amps. As I remember it went along the lines that if they measured the same then they should sound the same.

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You said it better than I could at the moment, and summed it up as I recall it. i do miss HP and the drama, Julian not so much.

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I don’t think anyone questions that water treatment is a viable process, but that’s because it actively improves the quality of the water. I think the analogy to power falls short because, at least in my opinion, nothing in a power cord is capable of improving the power it receives from the receptacle and feeds to our devices. While some may view that as a radical statement, and worthy of a cable-denying flat-earther, I hasten to add that I do, in fact, see value in specialist power cords, assuming they’re carefully designed and constructed.

The reason I see value in power cords that I admit I do not believe will improve the quality of the electricity is this: I view the cord not as a device intended to improve the power, but as a device intended to limit further degradation of the power. Yes, our power has been subject to all kinds of vagaries between the generating station and our wall receptacle. But if we’re interested in getting the best sound we can from our equipment, that fact doesn’t negate the value in trying to help it complete its path with the least amount of further damage possible.

In fact, I view all cables that way. Do the least damage possible and the sound will benefit.

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Amen to that.

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Perfectly explained

I was a power cable skeptic from many years ago. After dropping about $20K on my system and being very happy with it, I decided to give upgraded power cables a try. I certainly didn’t mind dropping a few hundred if they improved the sound.

So I picked up a few modestly priced cords, mostly on loaner from local audio stores. Tried them in my system and they seemed to make a difference. A bit finer resolution, quieter background. Switched them back out and perceived that I lost those improvements.

However, being a university researcher and holding advanced degrees in statistics, I had to put them, and my ears, to the test. Devised a blind comparison with the aid of a friend, who also felt he could hear differences. In the blind comparisons, all of those perceived differences just vanished into the air. It was a fascinating experience. For both of us once we didn’t know which cord was being used, we couldn’t discern even the tiniest difference between them. Not on preamps, power amps, CD players, or DACs.

So to this day, I use Tripp Lite heavy duty computer cables. 14 AWG. $7.75 each in 3’ lengths on Amazon. I think they are overkill but well made.

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And you are saving a whole lot of money. :grin:

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What gauge is the power cord shipped with BHK300 monoblocks?

I believe it is 14 AWG (working from memory)

Thanks. Thought it was 12 be couldn’t remember.

Working from memory is always sketchy with me but 14 AWG is rated for 15 amps and I do remember them being bigger than standard 16 AWG cords. I swapped them out pretty quickly with a 10 AWG version from Belden.

This thread was enough inspiration to order a Dragon power cable for my P20. Lol. Nick at TMR and their 60 day refund policy pushed me off the edge. Maybe @DarrenMyers shares some responsibility.

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Nick helped me get the HDMI Dragon. Very happy. PS Audio’s exposure to this cable line is a plus.

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How many moreare you in for after using one?

I am good for now with cables. AQ HDMI, Iconoclast silver interconnects, and SR Alpha cords.