procedures and results he

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...s-12-2004.html

interesting because, in this case, a reviewer (Jason Victor Serinus) who'd
positively reviewed the 'sound' of expensive power cords ($2500 Nordost
Valhalla -- which , he reported, only sounded good after break-in) ,
participated in the ABX, and wrote up the report.

Mr. Serinus had also praised the Bedini Dual Beam UltraClarifier, as sheer
a piece of quackery as ever was marketed to audiophiles.

Even though his acceptance of the scientific method, and the results
obtained thereby, appears grudging at best, I trust that henceforth he
will be more cautious in drawing conclusions about audible difference from
unconctolled sighted comparison.

Steven Sullivan wrote:
procedures and results he

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...s-12-2004.html

interesting because, in this case, a reviewer (Jason Victor Serinus) who'd
positively reviewed the 'sound' of expensive power cords ($2500 Nordost
Valhalla -- which , he reported, only sounded good after break-in) ,
participated in the ABX, and wrote up the report.

Mr. Serinus had also praised the Bedini Dual Beam UltraClarifier, as sheer
a piece of quackery as ever was marketed to audiophiles.

Even though his acceptance of the scientific method, and the results
obtained thereby, appears grudging at best, I trust that henceforth he
will be more cautious in drawing conclusions about audible difference from
unconctolled sighted comparison.

What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway? I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire
that was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have
some sort of magical difference.

Mike

"What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway? I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire that
was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have some
sort of magical difference."

After having eliminated all of the bits and parts by applying tweeks to
them, powercord wire was what was left. One real area of tweeky audio was
the turntable where individual action might hit upon some previously
unknown trick/technique which addressed it's many inherent sources of
problems in translating mechanical motion into electrical signal. With
the advent of the cd that world collapsed for most audiophiles. I think
one will find that is the era when wire came into the picture as all that
energy was adapted to finding something to replace the previous area where
an individual could make a difference by tweeking a complex system.

Michael Dombrowski wrote:


What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway? I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire
that was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have
some sort of magical difference.


I read this analogy on a hi-fi forum (most definitely non technical!)
where the posters believed in such things.

It went something like

"Adding a filter to the tap in the kitchen sink for drinking water helps
remove the impurities accumulated along the way from the water source to
the home".

On 8 Dec 2004 00:50:46 GMT, Michael Dombrowski
wrote:

Steven Sullivan wrote:
procedures and results he

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...s-12-2004.html

interesting because, in this case, a reviewer (Jason Victor Serinus) who'd
positively reviewed the 'sound' of expensive power cords ($2500 Nordost
Valhalla -- which , he reported, only sounded good after break-in) ,
participated in the ABX, and wrote up the report.

Mr. Serinus had also praised the Bedini Dual Beam UltraClarifier, as sheer
a piece of quackery as ever was marketed to audiophiles.

Even though his acceptance of the scientific method, and the results
obtained thereby, appears grudging at best, I trust that henceforth he
will be more cautious in drawing conclusions about audible difference from
unconctolled sighted comparison.

What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway? I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire
that was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have
some sort of magical difference.

Mike

Personally, I don't buy into the "magic" power cord either. But, in
answer to your question, I believe the expensive power cord is only
benificial when used in conjunction with quality grade electrical
outlets, and Power Conditioner.

You're being too unkind.

This author seems to have conducted an exemplary experiment and been
brutally honest about the result. It's hard to eat humble pie in
public, and to do so is worthy of high praise.

One fault of the article is that it gives time to the "Are Blind Tests
Reliable?" question, which is little more than solipsism. How else
are we to discover whether a blind test is reliable, except with
another blind test? But that is a small fault in the context of the
whole piece.

Andrew.

You can remove the water filter and see the crud which travels in the pipes.

Power cords do a "de minimis" amount of filtering, after all they do have
inductance and capacitance.

The problem with crud on your power line is better dealt with an EMI
filter -- the type used in a switching power supply -- if you snapshot your
mains voltage with a spectrum analyzer over the course of a day you can see
the perturbations -- harmonics of the 60Hz, noise, spikes etc. -- all
interjected at various hours. While a SMPS filter main purpose is to prevent
EMI from being radiated back to the wall outlet it works in both directions.

Under normal circumstances I reject the notion of "regulation" the +/- rails
of a power amplifier -- but in the case of a really noisy mains voltage an
EMI filter and linear regulation (with high speed/low noise error amps like
the AD825 or AD797) will make a difference -- .

At any rate, if power lines were so important companies like Keithley
Instruments or Agilent would pack them with their femto-ammeters.

"Tat Chan" wrote in message
...
Michael Dombrowski wrote:


What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway? I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire
that was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have
some sort of magical difference.


I read this analogy on a hi-fi forum (most definitely non technical!)
where the posters believed in such things.

It went something like

"Adding a filter to the tap in the kitchen sink for drinking water helps
remove the impurities accumulated along the way from the water source to
the home".

"Rutgar" wrote in message
...
On 8 Dec 2004 00:50:46 GMT, Michael Dombrowski
wrote:

Steven Sullivan wrote:
procedures and results he

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...s-12-2004.html

interesting because, in this case, a reviewer (Jason Victor Serinus)
who'd
positively reviewed the 'sound' of expensive power cords ($2500 Nordost
Valhalla -- which , he reported, only sounded good after break-in) ,
participated in the ABX, and wrote up the report.

Mr. Serinus had also praised the Bedini Dual Beam UltraClarifier, as
sheer
a piece of quackery as ever was marketed to audiophiles.

Even though his acceptance of the scientific method, and the results
obtained thereby, appears grudging at best, I trust that henceforth he
will be more cautious in drawing conclusions about audible difference
from
unconctolled sighted comparison.

What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway? I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire
that was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have
some sort of magical difference.

Mike

Personally, I don't buy into the "magic" power cord either. But, in
answer to your question, I believe the expensive power cord is only
benificial when used in conjunction with quality grade electrical
outlets, and Power Conditioner.

There is no reason for any of those things to make a difference. Since it
is well known what the properties of wire are, it is equally well known that
unless one cord is very different in gauge, it will not affect the sound.
Power conditioners are likewise not going to affect the sound, they can only
be useful if your power company or your wiring are not sufficient or tend to
spike.

"Personally, I don't buy into the "magic" power cord either. But, in
answer to your question, I believe the expensive power cord is only
benificial when used in conjunction with quality grade electrical
outlets, and Power Conditioner."

Do you mean the quality outlets and conditioner mess up the current and
the wire fixes it? This is a variation on the "one needs equipment of
high enough resolution to hear it" school of appology. If the current is
fixed up to the power cord, what fixes it in the many feet in the
transformer after the cord?

On 9 Dec 2004 03:22:50 GMT, wrote:

"Personally, I don't buy into the "magic" power cord either. But, in
answer to your question, I believe the expensive power cord is only
benificial when used in conjunction with quality grade electrical
outlets, and Power Conditioner."

Do you mean the quality outlets and conditioner mess up the current and
the wire fixes it? This is a variation on the "one needs equipment of
high enough resolution to hear it" school of appology. If the current is
fixed up to the power cord, what fixes it in the many feet in the
transformer after the cord?

Er, where did I say that outlets and conditioners mess up the
current? The original poster asked how an expensive power cord would
make a difference after miles of "lowest bidder" power lines. I
merely said, that the intent is to use the expensive power cord, along
with an "expensive" outlet, and power conditioner. I also said,
that "I" don't really buy into this belief. I was just re-stating
"magic power cord" dogma.

Michael Dombrowski wrote:

Steven Sullivan wrote:
procedures and results he

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...s-12-2004.html

interesting because, in this case, a reviewer (Jason Victor Serinus) who'd
positively reviewed the 'sound' of expensive power cords ($2500 Nordost
Valhalla -- which , he reported, only sounded good after break-in) ,
participated in the ABX, and wrote up the report.

Mr. Serinus had also praised the Bedini Dual Beam UltraClarifier, as sheer
a piece of quackery as ever was marketed to audiophiles.

Even though his acceptance of the scientific method, and the results
obtained thereby, appears grudging at best, I trust that henceforth he
will be more cautious in drawing conclusions about audible difference from
unconctolled sighted comparison.

What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway?

Getting rich quick !

I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire
that was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have
some sort of magical difference.

It doesn't. Not least ( logically ) for the reason you state - but also because any decent power
supply in audio gear has no influence on the audio path in the way suggested by the snake oil
merchants. It ( the psu ) might badly influence the sound of some really cheap Asian **** computer
speakers or whatever - but no esoteric power cord will improve that anyway.

It's just pandering to the 'pseudo-science' believers and relegates real science to the bin. It's
expedient for magazines not to tell the truth since that would diminish their advertising revenue.


Graham

Tat Chan wrote:

Michael Dombrowski wrote:

What the heck was the logic behind expensive power cords anyway? I can't
begin to fathom why, after traveling for miles and miles through wire
that was provided by the lowest bidder, the last three feet would have
some sort of magical difference.


I read this analogy on a hi-fi forum (most definitely non technical!)
where the posters believed in such things.

It went something like

"Adding a filter to the tap in the kitchen sink for drinking water helps
remove the impurities accumulated along the way from the water source to
the home".

Actually, adding an EMI ( electro magnetic interference ) filter may not be a
bad thing if you have a noisy mains supply. No bad thing to have a surge
arrestor too. Transients - typically 'spikes' - on the ac supply can indeed
break into the audio path and cause clicks. These items will cost you maybe
$25 if purchased sensibly. That's an entirely different matter from power
cords though.


Graham

You can accomplish both surge protection and EMI filtering by using a
"Brick Wall" surge protector. For more information, go to
http://www.brickwall.com. I own one but am not in any way connected
with the company.


---MIKE---

On 12 Dec 2004 18:02:42 GMT, (---MIKE---)
wrote:

You can accomplish both surge protection and EMI filtering by using a
"Brick Wall" surge protector. For more information, go to
http://www.brickwall.com. I own one but am not in any way connected
with the company.


---MIKE---


The vendor for Brick Wall, Zero Surge, make a virtually identical set
of series surge protectors for considerably less money.