Change power cord to the Ultra

[Oatsafteroats]

If you're using an external DAC, it makes absolutely no sense that changing the power cord to the Ultra would make a difference.

Yep, that what what I thought too..

There is no denying it improved the sound of my system. I regularly return hifi gear that does nothing for my set up. This cable is staying.

Happy listening to all believers and non believers

 

[Chris Bolkan]

One way to look at it is there are miles of random overhead aluminum, copper or copper clad steel wire bringing power to your neighborhood. Hundreds of feet of overhead or buried random wire in your neighborhood. More random aluminum or copper wire leading to your service entry. Hopefully the service entry at least meets minimum safety grounding requirements. Then many tens of feet of 14 gage (hopefully 12) copper (but could be aluminum) of the cheapest wire the contractor could buy, leading to the cheapest (hopefully grounded) outlet the contractor could install.

Then you expect a $1000 power cord to take that power 5 feet from the outlet to your device and it is going to make a difference?!?

Come on. Really?

 

[F1 Fan]

If you believe it will make a difference, it will make a difference..

 

[Gerry_Tang]

I don't know why im doing this...since if you don't believe...you don't believe.
Audioholics where are you!? Help


Never mind

 

[Gerry_Tang]

Oh and btw ...mutatis mutandis....YMMV
(obviously)

 

[Chris Bolkan]

There is a significant difference between RF grounding and safety grounding. Safety grounding is what power outlets provide. Chances are an AC outlet will not provide much useful RF grounding. There is nothing a fancy power cord can do to improve RF grounding, because it plugs into a non-RF ground at the outlet. So the entire length of the power cord is still either an RF emitter or an RF susceptibility antenna. If you have honest RF emission or susceptibility issues (conducted or radiated from the power cord) you need to determine if it is common mode or differential and employ an appropriate filter. There is tons of information on the subject on the internet.

I imagine some expensive power cords employ ferrite beads and that may provide benefit in common mode noise situations, but a much less expensive solution is to buy some snap on ferrites and put them on the cord you have.

There is one place I believe a different power cord can really make a difference. Say you have nice 12 gage conductors in a nice 20 amp circuit to your outlet. You want to power a KW+ amplifier for your super inefficient very high end speakers, and the cord running between the outlet and amp is an 18 or 20 gage power cord. Switching to a beefy 12 gage power cord could make an audible difference, improve dynamics and eliminate a fire hazard .

 

[mlsstl]

I posted this in another forum recently. It seems relevant to the current discussion here:

On the issue of subjective listening, I'd like to recommend this book: "A Mind of Its Own - How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives" by Dr. Cordelia Fine. It is a great read and explains in great detail how our brains can fool us. The titles of the nine chapters are pretty self-explanatory:
1. The Vain Brain
2. The Emotional Brain
3. The Immoral Brain
4. The Deluded Brain
5. The Pigheaded Brain
6. The Secretive Brain
7. The Weak-willed Brain
8. The Bigoted Brain
9. The Vulnerable Brain

After reading this, you'll not be surprised by any of the subjective stuff that you read about audio equipment. The only silly thing to me is that so many think they are somehow exempt from this human condition. That said, I'm not overly concerned about the issue. Our day-to-day listening is routinely done in sighted conditions with full awareness of the makes and models of the equipment involved. It is no surprise that the gear's physical appearance, pride of ownership, investment cost and all the advertising and reviews we've read are circulating in our brains as we listen. The net result is that if it makes that person happy, great! Just don't expect others to have the same set of influences circulating in their brain.

 

[Gerry_Tang]

Nice book! Anyway you can have a nice improvement (or SQ change, if you prefer...) also with a few usd worth device. (eg. a CD mat)
Obviously you have to be able to hear it..
Just remember my advice: don't be so sure about things and always allow a certain amount of doubt, even if it "SEEMS" impossible to you (my rule of life, not only audio related)
After that what can i say? be free and let others free to try and judge for themselves.
Hopefully it's not a too difficult task..

 

[harkpabst]

Got that. My brain is "not resolving enough".

Sure.

 

[Gerry_Tang]

Even if that were the case, as long as you enjoy the music you listen to, i see no problem

 

[hoohoohoo]

Got that. My brain is "not resolving enough".

Sure.

Mine is a ferrite choked brain.

 

[Gerry_Tang]

Gotta be honest....I've got ears of steel
So there's hope for all

 

[harkpabst]

That certainly rings a bell here.

 

[Gerry_Tang]

You bet! Imagine that on my bad days I can't even tell the door bell from the phone ring

 

[pieterv1]

Just last week I got to check a Crane Song Avocett IIA at work, which is a highly praised studio monitor controller/DAC.

Guess what kind of power cord came with this €3500 professional piece of equipment? Certainly not a €150 one

 

[moo369]

Are you going to re-wire your house to "better" mains cables?

To gain any noticeable improvement, I had to rewire everything all the way back to the power station, which ended up being quite costly :-(

Worth it though. In critical listening sessions, I'm almost certain I detected more 'air' around the bird noises in The Tweet's seminal "Birdie Song", an significantly improved blackness in the spaces between tracks on the Kidz Bop 50 album

 

[steadyshot]

Significant improvement on my wiim ultra with audioquest z2. Yeah costs alot in comparison but if you want to squeeze everything out of it I would recommend.

Agree . I got the y2 not the z2 and still impressed on the effect of lower noise floor and less distortion , faster cleaner transients , bigger more stable soundstage and smoother sound overall . The sound is more detailed, cleaner and more dynamic and less fatiguing at the same time . So it is less bright but with more details , dynamics and smoothness . Clear effects of lower noise and distortion .
Using the mxn 10 streamer currently as a streaming dac .

 

[dangermouse]

Agree . I got the y2 not the z2 and still impressed on the effect of lower noise floor and less distortion , faster cleaner transients , bigger more stable soundstage and smoother sound overall . The sound is more detailed, cleaner and more dynamic and less fatiguing at the same time . So it is less bright but with more details , dynamics and smoothness . Clear effects of lower noise and distortion .

You really need to use an appropriate smiley to indicate irony.

 

[Bozzz]

You really need to use an appropriate smiley to indicate irony.

I would have gone with a face palm personally.

 

[steadyshot]

You really need to use an appropriate smiley to indicate irony.