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June 15, 2015 - 3:48pm
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2 AC-related questions
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As a person with 40 years experience in audio, and an extensive technical background, my opinion is that exotic power cords are nothing but snake oil; a total waste of your money.
I'm a carpenter by trade which means I have some familiarity with electricity/wiring, and I admit that the idea of $7000 AC cords doesn't sound aboveboard to me either. If you're after conductivity I can hook a 16 AWG wire to a 30 amp circuit and melt a good pair of linesman's pliers like my plumber did. Wire size, unless small, has no bearing on how much power flows through it. That said, I do know that 14 and 16 gauge lead cords tend to get hotter during serious use compared to a stouter 12 or 10-wire lead. Not sure if that translates to lower amperage audio equipment. I'm more willing to swallow the better speaker/interconnect wire argument than the AC cord argument.
The current in any power cord for audio gear is on the order of 1 to 5 amperes, at the most.
A 14 gauge cord is more than adequate for any equipment except a very large power amplifier, which should have a 12 gauge cord, in order to assure no cord voltage drop.
But all of this is silly when you consider the filtering and voltage regulation that must take place when the AC enters the equipment.
The power supply filtering and regulation circuits of any high-quality electronic equipment are designed to eliminate 99.9% of any anomalous electrical noise that may enter on the power cord, and the size and type of power cord are absolutely insignificant in this regard. You will get just as much RF or other HF garbage with a larger lower cord as you will with a smaller one.
Hi Chuckles
Here's a link to one of my clients who just received his cables today if you would like to look at what he's doing http://tuneland.techno-zone.net/t258p255-tuning-my-musical-journey . I'm finding that a lot of audiophiles after years of heavy cables and line conditioning are going back to simple. One way to be a successful audiophile is to avoid many of the audio-fads. The more simple your system is (electronically speaking) the better chance of hearing more.
michael green
MGA/RoomTune
http://tuneland.techno-zone.net/