The best standard power cord?

quote:

I think the key is thinking in terms of not how bad the wire further up the chain is but how good could it be if it were improved (proven by by improving that last little bit called the power cord.)

Sounds to me like you're the one worrying too much about wire, Dave... have you noticed, during your time in IT, how much the performance of a PC soundcard improves with different power chords?

Abby,

I've never heard a PC soundcard worth using muchless trying to improve with a power cord or anything else.

Regarding my preference in power cords, I use the free ones that came with my gear.

Regarding my quote from the past, I still stand behind it.

BTW, I'm not the one getting angry over others having a power cord discussion. I wonder if you misunderstood my earlier post? I wasn't making light of anyone's frustration over power cords or AC distribution, rather worrying about what others do within this hobby. If a subset of hobbyists wish to set their rigs on fire with gasoline and a torch, have at it, so long as you don't harm anyone.


regards,

dave

dave wrote:

quote:

Regarding my preference in power cords, I use the free ones that came with my gear

Hi dave,
This is what this discussion were ment to be about. Because Naim has different standard cables, and it would be interesting to hear if any user had find some which is superior. Maybe the recent standard called 'xxxx' is better than the standard from 5 years ago called 'yyyyy'?

In the case of LINN one of their recent standard cables is called 'Tongyuan' and is by far superior to the 'Ching Cheng' supplied with LINN 10 years ago. The difference is fundamental and upgrading cost peanuts.

I'm with you Efraim. I've found myself somewhat undecided between the Volex/Mayor and Tibias supplied by the Naim factory over the years for the US market. I'm going to revisit all the combinations in the near future after making some recent improvements to system setup which I hope will make the differences more profound. At the moment it's almost a toss-up with a slight preference to the Mayor and Volex vs the Tibia. Don't get me wrong, the differences between all were clear, just not extremely important. That may change now.

FWIW, many years ago I experimented with my Linn system's power cords after getting a tip from our distributor. I replaced the factory cords with exactly the same brand and spec wire and plugs only one wire gauge larger. Slight improvement at a very low cost.

regards,

dave

best: Tongyuan supplied with the box (writing is in direction from box to wall)
next best: thicker cable (Tibia) supplied with 500 series box (writing is in direction from wall to box)
worst by far: thicker cable (Tibia) supplied separately by Naim dealer (writing is in direction from box to wall)

YMMV.........

Lo Efraim. I have 5 inch silver round things which i stick in the hole of my cd5 and then press the play button and enjoy the following noise.

Sorry mate! Don't mean to sound like a t**t, but i do feel you are in danger of missing the point.

Unless something is obviously wrong, might I suggest you stick all cables in to a common ground, plug in, and focus on the songs?

Paul [mongo], Top post!

Best, Chris

mongo,
It is all about attention to detail in your installation to make your very expensive kit to make the most. I will also have my second hand NACA5 resoldered by a real pro to know there is no weak links. Installation is a very large % of your end result.
In every test I do don't give a shit about air, soundstage, treble, bas or stuff like that. I take songs I don't know by heart and do a A-A-B demo, is the music better with 'X' or with 'Y'. No Hifi mumbo jumbo, just better music.

Hi Efraim. Totally agree with you. Attention to detail in installation is clearly important with any gear. Probably more so as it gets more expensive.

Lay out the boxes to best effect, make sure all connections are as clean as possible and properly star earthed, all tightening done effectively, with cables dressed correctly. But then just stop. Know that it's done, forget it and enjoy the fruits of the above detailed labour.

Best of luck withn the experiments if you can't though. Paul.

mongo wrote:

quote:

But then just stop. Know that it's done, forget it and enjoy the fruits of the above detailed labour.

I agree. I just haven't reached that point yet.

I stringed it up to get it running but now when it's burn in I want to make those final details perfect.

There is also one other big benefit of knowing which of your standard power cords that sounds best. Because you could move the best sounding cables towards the source.

Well no one can fault your dedication!

Hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction soon.

Indeed, then this thread might go away!

'Lo Graham. I haven't checked, but I'm fairly certain you're not compelled by anyone/thing to read it?

quote:

Originally posted by Efraim roots:
...I want to make those final details perfect.

There is also one other big benefit of knowing which of your standard power cords that sounds best. Because you could move the best sounding cables towards the source.

Surely the easy solution is to try your mains cables in every combination to see which is best? Though you must give each combination the correct amount of time to warm up before judging.

So, plug everything together in 'arrangement 1', making a note of which mains cable is which.

Switch on and let it warm up until fully on-song (3 days to a week).

Have a good listen. Perhaps make a few written notes.

Switch off. Unplug and replug mains cables to next combination 'arrangement 2' - changing no more than one mains cable at a time, so that you know the effect each brings.

Switch on again and let it warm up until fully on-song (3 days to a week) ensuring this is for the same period as you did before.

Have a good listen (in the interests of fairness, to the same pieces of music, and at the same time of day on the same day of the week to try to get as near as possible to the same power demand conditions on the electricity grid). Make (or not) a few written notes as before, on the same criteria.

Repeat process ad nauseam until all combinations are exhausted. Compare notes and make final judgement/arrangement.

Note: none of this can be done until your equipment is run-in - at least six weeks, though it is likely to continue improve in subtle ways over anything upto six months.

Alternatively, plug-in, sit back and enjoy.

quote:

I stringed it up to get it running but now when it's burn in I want to make those final details perfect.

Ah, so you'll be starting on getting the room acoustics correct then...

quote:

Originally posted by Steve2701:

quote:

I stringed it up to get it running but now when it's burn in I want to make those final details perfect.

Ah, so you'll be starting on getting the room acoustics correct then...

Lol. You evil fellow.

quote:

Originally posted by mongo:
'Lo Graham. I haven't checked, but I'm fairly certain you're not compelled by anyone/thing to read it?

Indeed not, but I just find it dispiriting to read posts from someone who is so obsessed with the sound of his equipment (or, in this case, the peripherals) that he has completely forgotten about listening to the music that it produces.

As such, the thread has a certain fascination for me.

I find it VERY amusing to read posts from the insanely obsessed with the sound of equipment peripherals that they completely forgot about listening to the music. I agree therefore that the thread has a certain fascination for me also.

And if the cloud bursts thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

quote:

Originally posted by Mike-B:
I find it VERY amusing to read posts from the insanely obsessed with the sound of equipment peripherals that they completely forgot about listening to the music. I agree therefore that the thread has a certain fascination for me also.

Same for me. Or it may be that I'm just a troll. Either way .

I find it pretentious some individuals find it distressing folks can't have a hardware discussion. If it were "all about the music" none of us would be here.

For those musically inclined:

get off the cross, we need the wood

- Tom Waits

Not so, discussion of hardware is what this part of the Forum is all about, but the OP here has gone way beyond obsessive. In my opinion, of course.

Music is for listening to either alone or with friends and often at home but boxes, cables, racks and alike are for willy waving in public on forums.

The original psot asked a very specific question. Was their ever a chance of getting a direct and credible answer? No. Assume someone came on and said "Oh yeah; I compared all those cords, then had them re-made with the direction reversed and compared them all again. The results were that Cord "D", reversed was the best." Would it mean anything? Anything at all? No, unless the tests and results were scientifcally and statitically valid. But we know that likely won't happen for this sort of stuff. Proper double blind audio equipment testing is not too popular 'round here for some reason.

The only way for the original poster to work this out is try it themselves, in their system, in their room, with their mains. Everything else is just all of us relating our views, be they borne of experience, training or tests. The forum is for information and entertainment. These sorts of threads ask only for opinions and as such fall clearly into the entertainment area. Thus the notion that some of us just find it amusing.

Sharing information and experience is what this place is for the last time I checked. If some are offended by the discussion of hardware, they do have the option to stay out of the Hifi room altogether or at least threads that offend them.

I'm not 'offended' by this discussion, just rather saddened.

Anyway, I've said my piece and I'm butting out to leave space free for those who find this topic of interest or use to them in their daily lives.

Graham