It’s the time of year for saving money!
Full disclosure: I use aftermarket power cables in my system but not for the reason that you might think. In my setup, I have each and every electronic component rack-mounted in one of two Middle Atlantic eight-foot-tall equipment racks. Each component gets its own custom-designed face place (Middle Atlantic does a great job making these for pretty much every component ever made) and is plugged into a power system that offers enterprise-class outlets up and down the rack by the dozens.
The advantage to the aftermarket AC power cables that I use is their short length and overall flexibility. Cable clutter is cut down to a minimum, which allows my team more room to tie down the other cables using wire ties so that the end result gives you that “computer farm” look of a professionally installed rack. But this isn’t the reason why audiophiles change their AC cables.
Let me back up a bit and tell you about a recent phone call that I got from an enthusiastic “true believer” audiophile manufacturer who makes super-fancy, pretty expensive, aftermarket AC power cables. He got me on the phone and asked me to test his product.
I thanked him for his offer but politely tried to share with him my skepticism about the category from the audiophile and videophile perspective. I told him that I personally know some of the best audiophile electronics (specifically amp) designers personally and that – love them or hate them – they are about the most extreme designers that I know.
When Dan D’agostino and I talk about Twin Turbo Porsche 911s, we quickly get into the art of eking out the Nth degree of performance from said super-powerful exotic cars. You see, some guys go to major extremes in modifying their cars. New “waste gates, springs and a performance chip” is the fastest and easiest way to go from a lot of horsepower to a lot more horsepower in a Twin Turbo 911.
But next comes more costly exhaust upgrades, removal of the AC system, dumping of the spare tire, ripping out the stereo and carpet. Anything that is heavy has to go if you are going to go extreme with a 911 race car. Some even replace the Porsche badge with a lookalike logoed sticker to save even the smallest bit of weight. Anybody that goes to these levels of extremes to get more power down in the dyno is, by definition, extreme. Would that same person, when designing an audiophile component, leave performance on the table by not selecting the best power cable as part of what is likely to be a high four-figure or even five-figure component, I asked?
The caller lashed back at me: “If you only would test this with a top-performing video display like an OLED or top video projector, you would be converted.” To which I asked, “Have you taken your cables to Joel Silver at the ISF to measure the effect of your power cables on video? If so, what light meter and calibration tools did he use? What did he conclude?” To which he retorted, “I don’t need to measure our cables for audio or video because all we need to know is what our customers tell us in their user reviews.”
We’ve all heard this pitch before if you’ve been around the audiophile hobby long enough, which is there is literally no testing or measurable science behind what we are talking about, just “true believer” faith needed. Personally, I need the science…
So the conversation went over like a screen door in a submarine, but a week or two later I was still thinking about the concept of AC power cables and how they affect audiophile systems, so I called my favorite AV cable designer, David Salz from Wireworld, and asked him to give me an education on the matter. He took a deep breath and started in on his personal/professional journey into the world of aftermarket AC cables.
To be clear, he is a fan, but it took him a while to really figure out what was going on in the controversial category. As he explained, the main issue to me is there is often a lot of noise in one’s AC power system in our homes for various reasons. There can be a noisy, crappy power grid like we have here in California, causing all sorts of maladies. There are then long runs of copper that, especially in older homes, can attract or propagate AC noise that can mess with a good audiophile system. Even details like lower-than-hospital-grade outlets or issues as small as a loose screw or a bad connection in a wall outlet can create issues that we can hear and likely even measure.
None of this is good news if you are seeking the most from your audio system – and who here isn’t? In a perfect world, we all would have our audiophile systems sitting on a dedicated battery backup system from, say, Tesla and that power would come from solar panels directly into our listening rooms and hopefully would ultimately provide very clean AC power for our electronics. But that isn’t very realistic in 2020, nor is it how nearly every audiophile sets up their rig. Some have power regeneration products and I have personally heard the positive effects of these expensive components, but they tend to be limited in power thus the need for a lot of them to get a powerful system rocking much more clean power.
David Salz went on to discuss the role of the power supply and how the internal power supply of many of the best performing amps can deal with a lot of AC power issues. That’s a lot of what we pay for with very expensive, audiophile grade power amps in the real world. With that said, lesser amps or amps with less-sophisticated power supplies can have issues, thus can sound a little less awesome, but of course can save us some bucks along the way.
Here is where the audible effect of audiophile aftermarket cables comes into play. As we change the electrical parameters of a power cord, we change the character of the powerline noise and harmonics that tend to pass through component power supplies and mix with the music. Those changes are mostly show up as added brightness in various portions of the upper midrange to lower treble. Even though the goal of upgrade power cords is to minimize those effects, many just shift them to a different frequency range. David’s Wireworld AC power cables have gotten rave reviews, specifically from the pro audio and audiophile community, but for slightly different reasons. He found through his research and testing that making cables pretty much the opposite of his “cables that don’t change the sound” philosophy, in that AC power cables that are “absorbent” are good for ridding the AC power system of noise, can have a positive effect. Who knew?
Now, on an intellectual mission to dig deeper into the electronics side of things, I spoke with people like Nelson Pass from Pass Labs and Walter Schofield at Krell about their take on the topic of power cables. Much as David Salz mentioned in my call with him, the electronics people focus on the world where they can control things, which tends to be in their electronics. Both suggested that they use very, very high-quality AC power cables for their amps. Nelson said that some of his dealers, when receiving an amp back from a demo, are sometimes missing the removable cable as the audiophiles swiped it. Perhaps it was an oversight or perhaps a compliment. I think Nelson took it as the latter. Walter mentioned that they have used Krell products with aftermarket cables and they, just like analog cables, have an effect on the sound that is clearly audible. By no means does Krell skimp on the power cables that they use, as they are well shielded and well-made components as you would expect from a high-end brand.
In the end, there is a place of AC power cables but to suggest that they are a total game changer is like saying that your record cleaner has made all of the difference in your room that you’ve never done a lick of room treatment in. That outlook is just very cart-before-the-horse. David’s advice (and trust me, he wants to sell you power cables as he does with recording studios) is to make sure that your AC power is in good shape coming into your room. Perhaps a service call to your electrician to add one or two 20 amp circuits to your equipment rack complete with very high quality outlets and some new (super-quiet) lighting cans on silent dimmers all might be a good start? I would add to David’s excellent advice that while AC power regeneration is cool beans, making sure you invest in the best-made electronics with top-level power supplies will definitely help your system. Experimenting with AC power cables after that might still make a difference, but there are other topics you want to have covered before you start prying the badge off of your $200,000 Porsche 911.
Have you experimented with AC power cables in your system? What upgrades have you made to your electrical system? Let us know in the comments below.
What is the simplest way to measure the before and after effects of these cables?
I am thinking of a simple plug-in device that shows a before and after “noise” measurement. Just like with cars where you stick them on a dyno to measure HP/TQ. Then it becomes more tangible and less philosophical.
I thoroughly agree, “tangible,” rather than “philosophical,” is far better when it comes to audio. Less fun, perhaps, but more useful if you’re trying to get the best sound for the $$$.
The best way to do it would be to look at the effect of the AC cord on the signal coming out of the amplifier. The power supply of almost any Class AB amp will have fairly large storage capacitors (typically bypassed with smaller capacitors, which can be better at filtering RF), and thus will have far greater noise filtering than the negligible amount of parallel capacitance and series inductance in an AC cord. So even if the AC cord has a measurable effect, it may be insignificant when compared with the effects of the amp’s power supply.
A Class D amp will have an output filter that is specifically designed to remove RF (which in these amps is likely ~100 dB higher in magnitude than anything coming in through the AC line) — unless it’s a very cheap, filter-free Class D amp, which assumes the speaker will be inductive at the ~250kHz carrier frequency of the amp. And that raises another point — conventional loudspeakers can’t reproduce this high-frequency noise in the first place because it’s filtered out by voice coil inductance and the mechanical damping of the tweeter.
Which then makes me think we should look at the effects of the AC cord on the output of the speaker, but the noise removed (or not) by the AC cord would likely be far below the noise floor of the speaker measurement.
So it’d be tough to prove a tangible effect here. Not impossible, though.
Well, with cars it’s measured at the wheels, so the further towards the speaker the better. Then you can work your way back up the chain. This tool would overlay the measurements after playing a fixed set of test tones before and after and look for various differences. If no differences exist then it should not be audible (right?), if differences do exist – which subjectively sounds better?
Jerry, I was sent an $8000 power cord from a vendor that swore I would notice a difference in my studio. It didn’t. When you realize that the wire just inside your amplifier or component is 12 gauge stranded wire headed to the circuit board of the power supply, you realize that power cables are a hoax. As a guy that has worked in studios for most of my professional career, I’ve never seen and expensive audiophile cable coming from the wall to any device.
When I started recording my computers always gave me a cassette like noise floor of about -60db. It was then that I started to figure out what I could do.
I won an MIT Power cord off AudioGon for $50 years ago, probably a $250 value back in that day. My noise floor dropped to near -70db. I knew I was on to something, but not sure exactly what. Was my AC in my house so dirty? Was it cheap IEC cords?
I am now using a Focusrite Scarlett USB box up to 24/192. I then had an electrician friend install two, dedicated 20 amp duplex outlets just for my audio gear. Keeping in mind that if you spend crazy money on $500 ac cords or $500 interconnects for under $200 devices you are heading in the wrong direction. That money would be better spent on better electronics in the first place IMHO.
The next thing I did was buy two, Furman M-LX8 $120 power conditioners and see if that might help. I then went to -80 db on my DAW software for a noise floor. I looked at it again today and with my Focusrite Scarlett line in controls set to 11 O’clock I am (today) at -83db with Mackie 402 VLZ mixer controls (both mic and master) to their lowest settings, but the mixer still on. So I know that now my computer with the Focusrite is pretty quiet. We all know that once you open the mixer (mic preamps) and the mics in the venue the ambient noise of the room takes over. If the HVAC is on it will be noisy. I have tried with some success to get the facilities’ folks to shut that down during the performance, when possible. It really helps. I have 3 Rode NT-1A mics that have only 5 db of self noise, but being large diaphragm mics they can pick up gnat farts at 50 feet, so that can be an issue. Probably the next issue will be a hunt for affordable, quiet mic preamps.
So now I have ordered an IFi Purifier 3 “B” for the input to the Focusrite along with an $89 Audio Quest Forest USB cable that will go from the Focusrite to the Purifier, then out to the computer. Incremental improvements I am hoping. To spend more here really would mean I should need to upgrade the USB interface first to something closer to $1K than where I am. A $500 usb cable here makes no sense to me. The cable will be here Wed, 5/6/2020 and the replacement Purifier probably by next Monday. That is OK as I only want to measure one change at a time anyway.
If this makes an audible improvement then I will have to decide if I can improve the DATA transfer from my Tascam SDHC card recorders ( 6 channel 680-MK2 that can do up to 24/192) or my 2 DR-40’s that do 2496. I will hold on to the IFi Purifier 3 “A” model and insert it into the DATA transfer cables chain INTO the computer and see if that could have any impact. I don’t know if this is a fool’s errand or not. If it does help, I would keep the “A” model and buy it.
So I have more science projects that are affordable tweaks to try and dispel if that happens. I have asked both the engineers at IFi and Tascam about the DATA transfer end and If the IFi Purifier 3 there might matter? I will let you know.
Now at nearly 73 I am much more of a headphone guy and my affordable AKG K-701 are my fav, but I use their closed back K-271s for tracking. Their higher HF is better for me with my HF hearing loss. I am listening more for noise artifacts. I also have a pair of AT-50X’s, but they are little much in the upper bass, but still work great (for me) on classical work. I sent my two pair of Sony 7506’s to my son to use in their church sound booth as they had some brand I had never heard of, but they like the Sony’s better. To me the AKG K-271 at $199 each were better than the $99 Sony’s IMHO. I’m glad they work for him at the church.
Sorry I’m so long winded.
I cannot say for certain that the IFi Purifier 3 “A” is an improvement on Data transfers from my Tascam SDHC card recorders, but I did think that I might have heard an improvement in a redbook file I uploaded. I am still going to keep working at it through the weekend and hope that the IFi Purifier 3 “B” gets here so I can see what it does to my Focusrite Scarlett playback. I am also going to insert my Cloud Lifter into the path from my SE V7 mic into my Mackie 402VLZ4 mixer that I use for my ACX/Audible book reading I do. This device is powered by the phantom power (48Vdc) from the mixer and increases the mic preamp gain by over 20 db. It might give me a lower noise floor from the mic to the Focusrite usb box. It allows me to reduce the gain of the internal mic pre of the Mackie.
I cannot hear any difference between the pretty nice USB cable I was using and the AudioQuest Forest that came this AFT. Now just waiting on the IFi Purifier “B” which is now on the way. I am sending the “A” back as I don’t feel that there is a consensus here on “better” for Data transfers. I will spend that $129 on something else.
IFi got back to me today and said their Purifier 3 only helps on audio playback in real time and will not do any good on Data transmission like from SDHC cards. I appreciate their honesty. My hearing is not totally gone. lol
I do like the IFi Purifier 3 in my Focusrite Scarlett system and I am going to keep the “A” model and put it on my Mac Mini system where I use a Yamaha MG10-XU for audio I/O as it also does 24/192. I found some A to B usb short-block adaptors off Amazon for $6 for 2 that I will use with it and I can always “borrow” the “A” model when on the go. It comes with Micro and Mini short cable adaptors.
IFI Purifier 3 sound great through my Mac mini and my Yamaha MG10-XU, so all is well for only $129 each.
The CloudLifter DID help improve the open mic noise floor so it is staying in. Better than -70db so more gain = lower mic preamp noise floor.
Glasses don’t help the blind. He who doesn’t want to learn can’t be taught. Now respond with an ad hominem attack because I’m a cable manufacturer, and must obviously be lying to support my business — right along with the tens or hundreds of thousands of audiophiles, recording engineers, and reviewers who do hear a clear and obvious difference and agree with me.
I do have a Krell amp and I have the Krell power cord. But I think the credit should go to the amp itself. Inside the amp is a huge toroidal transformer. Bigger and better than any I would see in a power conditioner. I can say that my amp is super quite. I have to put my ear up to the tweeter to hear any kind of noise. And I do mean right up to it as if the tweeter was a headphone. I think if you run your RCA cables next to a cheap power cord then yes you can cause issues with RF noise. But I would have to be shown a difference and I don’t think that is happening any time soon.
Absolutely true. There is no substitute for a great power supply. Part of the reason for USB3 is the need for more 5 vdc power. Krell would never do that as it would compromise the overall performance, what every Krell owner expects.
After a few days with various loaners at home, I was more than happy to drop $1700 on a Nordost Frey 2 power cord from my QBase into the wall (the power cords from each component plug into the QBase. Interestingly, I could not discern a difference when using 3rd party cords from my amp or preamp into the QBase. So I guess that means I agree that the first cord from the wall makes a big difference.
Any and all competent amplifiers don’t get any better with better power cords. All that happens within an expensive power cord is that it behaves less like an antenna. I have shown that a DAC only sounds its best when its as free of RF noise as possible: conducted or radiated. You can make an ordinary $10 factory power cord ‘sound’ as good as a $4000 ultra high end power cord by wrapping it in a 90dB RFI/EMI sleeve. (www.audiowise.ca).
FACT: the amplifier always sounds the same …its the DAC, being affected by RF noise, that is changing the sound.
This is revolutionary and it’s absurd no cable manufacturer has recognized this.
An online discussion somewhere about power cords generated the usual comments from naysayers who declared boldly that there was no way, no way a power cord could possibly make any bit of difference for all the usual reasons. And so I put the thinking hat on and tried to understand what might be going on here since some folks obviously do hear a benefit, despite getting shouted down, because, you know, snake oil.
My system sits behind a Furman power conditioner installed for protection from electrical storms. I didn’t buy it for any sonic improvement and I didn’t check to see if there was any. But Furman declare that their devices can and do filter out electrical noise. Many attest to its effectiveness in doing so and improving clarity of audio output in the process. Clue number one.
A point often made by naysayers is that you can’t condition all the power from the generator, but of course you don’t have to. I have a water filter in the kitchen which filters to the taps there. A decent cable might do a similar thing. Clue number two.
Finally, my amp has Hypex nCore class D modules which uses switch mode power supplies. Sub is also class D. In theory, these should be more resistant to noise that traditional power supplies (based on a statement on the Purifi website about switched mode power supply design and class D amplification). Plus it sits behind a power conditioner and hence the opportunity for improvement might be minimal.
And so reasoning that its entirely plausible that only the last drop needs the benefit of any filtering that might occur, plus any additional current that a bigger cable might supply (potentially a long bow that one), but I may hear no difference at all – I invested in the least expensive “audiophile” cable I could find as an experiment.
I was expecting… nothing. And was very surprised to encounter a noticeable difference. I swapped the cable from the amp to the sub which changed the way it responded. I had to turn it down a bit as well. So I bought a second cable to have both devices sitting behind both the power conditioner and the cheap “audiophile” power cords. I am well pleased with what is a marginal gain to be sure, but still a noticeable improvement.
Did I image it? No. Did my wife hear anything? Yes, she asked me what I had changed after I added the cable. I didn’t tell her I had done this either so there goes the placebo theory in her case at least.
What has been learned? If it sounds better to you then it is. Would I invest in a more expensive cable? No. We are talking about marginal gains in my case. Positive and cost effective, but not as significant as stepping up to better speakers lets say. There is no guarantee another cable at any price would make any difference and although I only spent about $70 for both, I feel I got a good result. It could have easily gone the other way as well.