Can anyone explain expensive mains cables for equipment . . . .

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Fourlegs

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. . . . . when, in order to get to the socket on the wall that the expensive cable is plugged into, the mains electricity has already traveled through several metres of cheap as chips twin and earth copper cable in the walls of the house, never mind the huge length of cable from the house to the nearest transformer.

It's as if we are pretending that the electricity at point of arrival at the socket outlet on the wall is pure and perfect.

Are we just succumbing to a placebo effect whereby we see the expensive flashy cable (and we know how much it has cost) so our little brains tell us that the system must be sounding better?
 
Oh dear, do you have expensive mains cables?
 
Well, ideally, you have a dedicated circuit just for your audio equipment. Many people do, though admittedly a dedicated circuit is even more expensive the a hyped-up Power Cord.

There are also higher quality wall sockets. An industrial or commercial or possibly a hospital grade socket grips like a vise compared to the bargain sockets found in most homes.

Next, keep in mind that on the Electrical Circuit side you have high voltage and low current, on the amplifier side you have low voltage high current. Consequently, the size of the power cord does not really have to be as large as the speaker wire. If we assume 230v on the electrical side and 23v on the Power Amp side, then the input current is 1/10th of the output current.

So, assuming the input (electrical) wire size is has a reasonable margin of current capacity, then it should make no difference on the sound you hear. Keep in mind that the Electrical Power and the Audio Output are disconnected. As long as the power supply has enough reserve to maintain the secondary voltage, then the output sound will be consistent.

As to a replacement Power Cord, that is up to you. If I had a very expensive system, I might consider better power cords, but within reasonable restrain. The cords supplied by the amp manufacturer are more than adequate, but it might be worth a Pound or two to get something nicer. But, the power cord, as I said, is very disconnected from the amplifier output, and can have from very little to next to no effect on the output of the amp.

So, if you are rolling in money, spend what you want on Power Cords, Speaker Wires, and Interconnect Cords. However, if your bank account is a bit more restrained, then save your money, and put it in places that will have a more noticeable effect.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Here is a link to an objective test that I carried out a few years ago to determine the effect of the mains cable on the audio signal.


Upgrading Your Mains | Page 4 | AVForums



Alan

Thanks for that. Obviously I 'm new here and so have a bit of catching up to do on past threads.

However . . . . . . . One thing that asking my starter question in my post has made me wonder is the validity of the placebo effect in HiFi. It certainly works in medicine so why not with the sounds that we hear? If painting the mains cable green makes you think that you can hear a difference in the sound then maybe that is effectively the same thing as there actually being a difference in the sound to the person that believes that there is a difference.

If a certain number of people get relief from their symptoms by swallowing a little blue sugar pill then that is a real effect and which must be down to the way our minds process what we think and believe. Why can't the same sort of thing happen with what we hear from our HiFi? Our minds are just processing the sound waves and our brains interpret the result as 'sound'.

So, if we accept that the brain is doing a huge amount of processing to the sound that we hear then why can't the brain fine tune the sound we think we are hearing if it is tricked into thinking that the sound may be better by painting the mains cable green? ie in a similar way to the way that placebos work.

I'm not sure whether my tongue is pressed in my cheek in saying this or not . . . . I can't quite make my mind up.
 
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Oh, and off thread but can any of you guys tell me how to add a signature for me to list my setup?
 
....the placebo effect in HiFi....

The best tool in a salemans/companies wet dream....
 
Oh, and off thread but can any of you guys tell me how to add a signature for me to list my setup?
Click on your name at the top of the page, go down to 'Settings' on the left and it is the second item.
 
Click on your name at the top of the page, go down to 'Settings' on the left and it is the second item.

Thanks for that info Trollslayer. It appears I need a couple more positive ratings for messages I have posted before I can do that. I wondered why and now I know. :smashin:
 
But, the power cord, as I said, is very disconnected from the amplifier output, and can have from very little to next to no effect on the output of the amp.
Nope. The only effect it will have is NO effect. 'fancy' power cables are a total con. All they do is transmit power - which is why they are called power leads. There's no 'fidelity' reqirement for the transmission of power, it doesn't matter what the mains waveform looks like. The amplifier and all your other electrical components will have filters in them to shield against any noise, all of which is on the mains line. A power lead would have to be rather faulty to add noise of its own.

Just use a kettle lead and get on with enjoying your equipment without worrying about non-issues with high price tags.
 
You can then afford the films you really want!
 
Oh dear, do you have expensive mains cables?

As I said, this will go down the same slippery slope as it has many, many times before. All we need now is Doomlord to chirp in with his dogma. Too late, he's here already.
 
I made-up a Naim Hydra style mains loom for my system, nothing fancy just hefty rhodium plated IEC plugs off t'Bay - it eliminated using a 4-way extension with their crappy wafer thin bus-bars.

A number of peeps here took advantage of Scan selling Monster HTS 1600 powercenters for £30 a few months back.
 
As I said, this will go down the same slippery slope as it has many, many times before. All we need now is Doomlord to chirp in with his dogma. Too late, he's here already.
Science, not dogma ;)
 
I think this subject has been done to death on here and every other audio forum and always ends the same way....
 
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