Do power cables make a difference to sound quality?

Well, that says it all.

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What evidence, proof or assurance do I need instead of my own enjoyement and experience? I havenā€™t done this for 20+ years to please internet forum engineers with measurements. I aim to please myself with the best possible music listening experience I can possibly achieve with my budget and other limitations like space. All the science, theories, whitepapers and studies go to trash bin on that exact moment when I, with my own ears and senses, experience something better with power cable a vs power cable b. And believe me, Iā€™ve seen and read all the ASR/Archimago etc. reviews there is and it hasnā€™t changed a thing and never will.

@patouskii fair enough then.

I can only conclude then, that some folks are a very easy sell.

I think I know what you mean, I had similar experience when I had a Naim Pre/Amp.

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I always leave everything on. Roonserver, hqplayer, naaā€™s, DACs, preamps, amps, I donā€™t even sleep my hard drives.

Only thing I do is wake my iPad and change the input to the hqplayer zone. :partying_face:

My cables have definitely gone well into the burn in period.

I donā€™t think many want the path to end. :wink:

Do power cables make a difference to sound quality?

In good humour, in my experience, discussions and responses to these sort of questions follow some of these kind of pathsā€¦

1. I have actually tried different cables and :-

a) I found that they made a difference to me in my system.
Do you have any evidence to back that up?
What do you mean?
Well have you done any ABX testing in accordance with scientifically accepted principals?
er ā€¦no. I just tried them and heard a difference. It was very clear to me and Iā€™m happy with my purchase. In fact so did my wife and sheā€™s doesnā€™t like hifi anyway. She actually asked if Iā€™d been out and bought new speakers!
Ah, well without properly peer reviewed data, that is simply expectation bias so you think you heard a difference but actually you didnā€™t.
But I did.
You didnā€™t. Youā€™re confused. It happens to lots of people who donā€™t understand the science.
Whatever dude. Iā€™m good. I trust my ears. Itā€™s all I have and all I need.

b) I tried them and then didnā€™t make a difference so:-
i) I sent them back
ii) I kept them anyway as they look nice and just in case they do make a difference but my ears havenā€™t yet fully tuned into that difference?

2. Iā€™ve not tried different cables as :-

a) The science says there is no meaningful difference that can be heard and I believe the science.
Ah yes, but science doesnā€™t have all the answers. The human ear is an amazing instrument and there are ā€œthingsā€ that science canā€™t yet measure or explain.
No I mean actual science. You know, like the guys who who put the James Watt Telescope in a weird stationary orbit 1 million miles away, so that it will be able to see into the oldest and furthest reaches of the universe. You think that science canā€™t measure better than the human ear can? Havenā€™t you not even seen the McGurk effect on TicTok where your ear hears baaa or faaa depending purely on which mouth you are looking at? How can you trust what your ears hear when they can so easily be deceived?

b) Itā€™s all snake-oil and I have made it my mission in life to root-out snake-oil whenever I can in order to fight the great fight against the snail-oil merchants of this world as it troubles me that some random person on the internet might spent their hard-earned money on something that I donā€™t agree with.

c) My system sounds fine and lifeā€™s is too short.

3. What do people think about MQA?

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I like the JWT reference!

(BTW, that kind of assumes we can tell the Earth is not flat, by looking back from 1M miles away. We donā€™t need to keep doing that however, do we? ā€œBut what do you have to lose?ā€ Well, we just set out to peek into the Big Bang, and thatā€™s what weā€™re going to do.)

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So it seems, ASR has definitely sold you the idea that measurements are all that matters in this highly subjective hobby of music and audio. Pretty sad and miserable if you ask me. But to each their own I guess.

I donā€™t need ASR to sell me anything. I call it education, or expertise, or whatever you like. If I had an audio analyser, Iā€™d do it myself.

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We all have audio analysers attached to our head, two of them. Maybe try using them? After all everything you listen to runs through them.

I think it depends on what you measure. Perhaps power cables (and other bits of audiophoolery) are the audio equivalent of ā€˜go fasterā€™ stripes ā€“ they do have an effect, but not the one that is claimed.

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None of the senses meet the criteria of a measuring device. I doubt you donā€™t know that already so youā€™re just playing games now.

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But our in built analysers are worse than something bought off Wish.

Do other parameters come into play with this? By swapping cables will the contacts get a clean? Will disconnecting power cables discharge the system and make a difference when itā€™s reattached? Will cable dressing be inadvertently improved and a signal cable be moved away from a power? Speakers may be moved by ferreting around behind them.
Iā€™m no scientist so asking the question. Itā€™s prompted from many years with turntables and dressing cables to cure hum.

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While Iā€™m with you on an objective approach to this hobby, Iā€™m not sure that ā€œeasy sellā€ is entirely fair. @patouskii has simply taken a different approach that works for them. In many ways itā€™s more universal, after all, we all listen in the end. Iā€™m with you on the ā€œears cannot be trustedā€ train but itā€™s impossible to take them out of the equation alsoā€¦

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Absolutely, you canā€™t take your ears out of the equation, and you canā€™t blame people for hearing a difference between different types of cable (router, hard drive, and so on). But you can point out that, a) there is absolutely no logical or scientific explanation as to how a cable could make a difference in SQ, and b), that human nature and physiology being what they are, perceiving a difference when no such difference exists is to be expected.

Does it matter in this context? I think so, but YMMV.

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Why would you want to? Perfectly fine to base decisions on hearing only. And only is the important part. Eyes closed, no clue about which device or cable is currently playing.

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We should all strive to make rational, scientifically based decisions whenever applicable. My issue is that a lot of the hardcore objectivists are doing the equivalent of photobombing somebodies instagram shot.

I have been thinking as to why a cheap power strip beats an expensive audiophile one, it could be something to do grounding because Naim has been very particular about it.