All of my power cables are very good quality aftermarket cables.
Out of boredom and curiosity, I replaced the light gauge cable on my PST with a heavier one.
Both cables are from the same mfr, have the same design, materials,etc.; just different gauge.
With the heavier gauge, I notice overall better sound from my PST.
I believe the lighter gauge should handle all of the current requirements of the PST, so what about the PST could make it happier with a heavier gauge pc? (I know–it could just be my imagination)
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Not knowing what you mean by PST equipment wise…
I would venture to say that the heavier gauge deliver
current more smoothly…if PST is a source the effect
would be there (not your imagination) just not as
big an effect as a high current amp would draw…
Just my .02
Best wishes
Have you eliminated the possibility of assembly and termination variations between the two regardless of wire gauge?
Yes.
The new PS Audio transport
Years ago when I was exploring power cables I started out with a number of manufacturers and liked the PS Audio better than most. I started trying cables in the entire line . . . AC-3, then AC-5 then AC-10 and AC-12. I found every component, transport (then PerfectWave Transport), DAC, preamp, amp. . . they all sounded better with the AC-12 than any of the others, so I eventually got AC-12 for each component. Though BAV power cords come close, no other cord has unseated these though I haven’t tried a lot because I am very very happy with the AC-12.
Based on your personal experience what do you think is the basis for the sonic difference?
I believe it depends on what the power cable is designed to do. The power cables I use, in/out of my P12, are 8 gauge with good connectors and the manufacturer states they have “Integrated noise filtering technology”. When I first installed my PST, I hoped I could get away with using my cheaper DIY 12 gauge power cable, but after the PST and HDMI cable break-in period, I was still hearing a harshness on intense peaks in the music (at moderate listening levels). Alas, I had to spend a few hundred on another power cable to match the others - and after break-in of that cable, the harshness was gone. I believe the PST, like most components, creates noise that goes back into the AC. I believe the wire gauge (after a point) does not matter as much for a low draw component like the PST or DS DAC.
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Lower resistance, for one thing, I’d reckon.
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This is why I use the high current versions of cables. I noticed the digital, low current versions consistently sound less full.
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Vee, perhaps the ability to pass current with the ebb and flow of
music dynamics…is where the difference lies…
Your perceptions in my .02 you are correct…
Don’t know. As the cable mfr said, the smaller gauge cable should easily pass all the current that a transport could demand. Therein lies the question.
I recently upgraded the power cord to my Stellar Power Plant from a cheap Hosa 14 AWG to a 12 AWG Avius Series by Cullen Cable. The Cullen cost me ten times what the Hosa cost me. So far, the sound seems better, but unfortunately the burn in has been slow.
Big wire is like a big engine. There’s no replacement for displacement. Lots of leftover power availability.
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@rower30
Wait—why don’t I ask Mr Cable???
Galen, can you kindly share some thoughts.
And feel free to tell me that the larger cable improvement on a transport is all in my imagination.
No great insight from me. I just do the data. A bigger power cord reduces the resistance between two spots in the AC chain. Resistance times any “noise” in the mains line generates a voltage. That voltage is hash on the ground we sometimes hear as hum on a turntable, as an example. The higher the ground differential point to point the louder the hum (no ground wire verses connecting one is a gross example).
If noise in the AC power ground COULD have an impact, it is because of ground plane differential resistance. If the ground was EXACTLY the same everywhere, we could not generate a voltage as we’d have “zero” resistance times anything is zero. A perfect ground is an exact reference point at “zero”.
Bigger AWG power cable might mitigate that noise issue. Some cables exhibit high RF immunity and shunt that into the dielectric dissipation factor through the loss tangent providing a lower impedance path for RF noise to be absorbed verses travel along the cable very far as frequency rises.
Best,
Galen Gareis
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Thanks Galen. I’ll just leave it as a happy mystery. 
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