ESP MusicCord

[JimmyM]

Jimmy if you are willing to test drive one of the ESP power cords in any scenario you fill possible.

I will have the company send you one to do such a test.

And you post you results. What ever they may be.

Jauqo, I greatly appreciate the offer, but Rich has already sent me his to try out. And I will try it out and be as objective as possible.

However, it looks like the best I'm going to be able to arrange at my house is a blind test, not double blind. Hope this is acceptable to everyone, but unless someone knows something I don't, there's just no way I can arrange a double blind test without buying stuff, and that ain't gonna happen

 

[JAUQO III-X]

You're very welcome Jimmy.

 

[WalterBush]

You can answer what I've been trying to find out - what guage wire is typically used in residential / commercial installations? Any idea what guage wire is in a typical power cord? My google skills found answers all over the place, so it's good to find someone who would know. My theory is that if I did hear a difference and I have no scientific claim other than I'm pretty sure I heard a difference then my theory is that the typical power cords are really crap.

Thanks!

It depends on the circuit and local building codes. The vast majority of wire used in residential an commercial construction is 12 guage. A close second (in residential work, anyway) is 14, which gets used on circuits that are rated at less than 20 amps. Most IEC cords are 16 or 18 guage. 14 guage IEC cables are notably thicker, and 12 gauge IEC cables look huge. My suspicion is that the ESP cords are heavier, i.e. 14 or 12, but that won't affect the current, just heat dissapation; either the cable dissapates heat, or it trips a breaker (or, in worst case scenario, melts and catches the cable jacket on fire). The signal itself wouldn't change.

One of the reasons I'm skeptical of power cord claims is that the difference between guages, or even types of copper doesn't change the current or alter the waveform at all; that happens inside the amp. Using a metal besides copper can have some effect on a signal, but my understanding is that most power supply designs would quickly negate that change. Even different brands of Romex, using different grades of copper, different manufacturing methods, and with differing trace element amounts don't affect your wall current for squat.

Yeah, typical power cords are crap, but the same could be said for the 18 guage wiring that's inside your light fixture. It's thin, it's flimsy, and more prone to breakage than, say, a copper buss bar, but changing from one to the other won't affect the functionality of the light, just the durability. The same goes for the wiring inside your cabinet. It's pathetically tiny in most cases, but the speakers still work...and people still spend big bucks on high-end speaker cables hoping to get better sound while ignoring the tiny wires in their cabinet, made from the same stuff that goes in light fixtures.

If you're shopping for durability, my opinion is always spend the extra dollar. I'm just a bit skeptical about claims that more expensive cables make things sound better when it comes to dealing with 120 VAC. I just don't see how it could happen without electronics of some sort, and I don't see how anything a cable does, wouldn't be undone by an amp's power supply. Either you have 120 VAC and the circuit needed to draw enough power for your amp, or you have brownouts (or failure in digital devices) due to lack of voltage or tripped breakers.

 

[seamonkey]

Jimmy if you are willing to test drive one of the ESP power cords in any scenario you fill possible.

I will have the company send you one to do such a test.

And you post you results. What ever they may be.

Hard to stay impartial. Bias can creep in. And the manufacturer will likely hand select.

Consumer Reports takes no advertising and buys anything the same as any consumer would. And they've been successful at getting some products off the market.

 

[Jack]

............. It's different and if someone asks me about it I'm cemented in their long term memory........

You are most definitely cemented in mine.


Subscribed for Jimmy's results.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

Hard to stay impartial. Bias can creep in. And the manufacturer will likely hand select.

Consumer Reports takes no advertising and buys anything the same as any consumer would. And they've been successful at getting some products off the market.

Jimmy isn't associated with the company at all. That's one of the reasons I offered to get one to him.

The other reason being that I trust his end findings.

 

[seamonkey]

Yeah, typical power cords are crap,

Here we are in a positive latch speakon connection age with friction fit office chords. The connector is good for 12.5 amps. This is great for class-d but no way for other amps and their potential current draw.

QSC's top of the line amp doesn't have a removable power cord.

 

[Sliderbass]

You're just jealous of my Dr Bass cab. Heh.

Please don't pick and choose one statement and dwell on that. Look at my statements as a whole. I hear a difference, not a lot but a difference. I could just be my imagination but it works for me. Sonic qualities aside, it's an extremely well built cable. I had a cheapo cable that was out of specs or something wiggle out of my amp while I was playing so I'm happy to pay $109 for a high quality cable that I can depend on regardless of any sonic qualities. The cable I bought for my amp was to have a cord that I can depend on, the one for my pedalboard is a conversation starter. I didn't hear any difference with the MusicCord hooked up to the pedalboard.

If you got a cab directly from Marc, you should share your secret...and yes I am jealous. That's another thread.

No knock against you in any way. If it works for you, that's all that really counts. I have not seen the same results but that's OK.

 

[kuys]

It's kinda cool that you know more about the cord than I do but I am physically touching it and can hear the results but you are calling me crazy even though you have had no physical experience with it. I find that ironic.

Your not crazy. Your simply misguided and don't understand how your brain works.

An example, Do you know how vision works? In pertaining to watching something in motion?

Well, as rudimentary an explanation I can give is this; Your eyes (rods/cones) take rapid-fire snapshots of what you are looking at but there is still a blank space in-between these "photos". Your brain then "makes crap up" to glue these images together. To give the illusion of the continuous vision.

You'd may be surprised to find out the brain does this with quite a few other things as well. As your test demonstrated. No one is going to argue that you heard a difference. We are simply pointing out that more than likely you simply heard something because you wanted to and your brain responded in kind.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Aesthetics are important. Your speaker designs, for example, are not very appealing to the eye. If you put more thought into the visual you would sell a lot more.

That's where we definitely part company. I couldn't give a rat's patootie about how my cabs look. All that matters is how they sound. But if you're going to pick on someone's speakers based on how they look, try Dave Wilson. IMO these have a look not even their mother could love:
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And they're only $167,000.
But that's for a pair.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

Bill have you heard those cabs before? And if so how did they sound?



Thanks.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Bill have you heard those cabs before? And if so how did they sound?



Thanks.

I haven't and frankly I find the notion of anyone spending even $8,000 on a home hi-fi speaker to be silly, and $80,000 downright offensive. But I suppose if you're going to do so you want to be sure that it looks so unique that someone's bound to ask you how much you paid for them, so you can get your money's worth.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

I haven't and frankly I find the notion of anyone spending even $8,000 on a home hi-fi speaker to be silly, and $80,000 downright offensive. But I suppose if you're going to do so you want to be sure that it looks so unique that someone's bound to ask you how much you paid for them, so you can get your money's worth.

Yes that price tag if hefty. But we all know that some one will spend the money.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

That's where we definitely part company. I couldn't give a rat's patootie about how my cabs look. All that matters is how they sound. But if you're going to pick on someone's speakers based on how they look, try Dave Wilson. IMO these have a look not even their mother could love:

Yeah, medical office x-ray machine. Ugh.

I used to not care what things looked like but about ten years ago I developed an automated server provisioning system for Solaris servers. At the same time another crew in our company developed a system for Windows automated server provisioning. The system I developed was rock solid, easily extensible, easily maintained, required no additional server purchases and developed in about two weeks. The other system was developed by a team of six over months. I chose to keep the html interface to my system simple so you could use any browser on any desktop. The other system used ActiveX controls and had little lights that would change from red to yellow to green. The executives loved their system and those guys ended up with promotions. My system hasn't had any code updates in 7 years and is still in use but nobody cares. It was then that I decided that looks are important. Perception is Reality. Definitely not to the point of form favoring function and I'll always keep the underlying code tight, but a little bit of lipstick goes a long way.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

QSC's top of the line amp doesn't have a removable power cord.

The PL380 does now. It's detachable with a Neutrik powerCON. The amp's power cord was originally non-detachable because the necessary powerCON hadn't yet completed UL testing.

Typical power cords suitable for typical power amps are actually pretty good, and most are certainly equal in performance to a $100+ power cord of comparable length, perhaps not in appearance. It doesn't cost much to make a really superb power cord; it can be done for less than $5 each, and less if they're mass produced. ESP and some other companies tout magical properties of power cords, and they snag the wallets of a few believers. It just goes to show that knowledge can have financial benefit for even us bass players.

 

[JimmyM]

That's where we definitely part company. I couldn't give a rat's patootie about how my cabs look. All that matters is how they sound. But if you're going to pick on someone's speakers based on how they look, try Dave Wilson. IMO these have a look not even their mother could love:
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And they're only $167,000.
But that's for a pair.

Call me crazy but I like that look. I don't like it $167,000 worth, though.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Call me crazy but I like that look. I don't like it $167,000 worth, though.

I wouldn't watch Dr. Who with those in the same room. Who knows how they would react.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

I wouldn't watch Dr. Who with those in the same room. Who knows how they would react.

Daleks for sure. There's no sonic reason for the look, it's purely marketing, the theory being if they looked like other speakers then they could only be priced like other speakers. Not coincidentally that also applies to the subject of the topic at hand.

 

[Epidrake]

The Wilsons also come in a beautiful wood finish and piano black. Interesting that you would show the ugliest version. They do sound great BTW. I couldn't and wouldn't buy them, but whatever.

 

[chadds]

The Wilsons also come in a beautiful wood finish and piano black. Interesting that you would show the ugliest version. They do sound great BTW. I couldn't and wouldn't buy them, but whatever.

Davros made him show that version.