• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Only $2,000 to improve your amp's performance

#83
I find it hard to believe that Wooten would risk his reputation for a payday. Nothing he's done in his career has made it seem (to me) that he is going to start doing promo spots for products he doesn't believe in.

So, either... 1) he didn't endorse these 2) he's an idiot 3) they don't work and he wants a payday 4) they work to his ears

Assuming 1 isn't true and given his reputation alone, I would be willing to listen with open ears to a $109 power cord. I just have other things I would spend that money on first, like, lessons.
 
#84
dukaruk said:
I find it hard to believe that Wooten would risk his reputation for a payday. Nothing he's done in his career has made it seem (to me) that he is going to start doing promo spots for products he doesn't believe in.

So, either... 1) he didn't endorse these 2) he's an idiot 3) they don't work and he wants a payday 4) they work to his ears
Click to expand...

Or 5) even with no attempt to deceive, he's just fooling himself, or being fooled. I don't think that makes him an idiot. Virtuosos aren't immune to delusion, or to hearing what they want or expect to hear.
 
#85
dukaruk said:
I find it hard to believe that Wooten would risk his reputation for a payday. Nothing he's done in his career has made it seem (to me) that he is going to start doing promo spots for products he doesn't believe in.

So, either... 1) he didn't endorse these 2) he's an idiot 3) they don't work and he wants a payday 4) they work to his ears

Assuming 1 isn't true and given his reputation alone, I would be willing to listen with open ears to a $109 power cord. I just have other things I would spend that money on first, like, lessons.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's as simple as that. I think he would want to believe, however, and that eliminates all objectivity. Not to dis Harkte, but do you think VW went in search of the perfect tone and ended up there? Initially, I remember him saying in interviews, that they approached him, and how nice they were, and how they took care of him. Good for him.
 
#88
This does bring up an interesting point, however. I think there is sufficient reason to use "Hospital-grade" plugs on live equipment, though I doubt many musicians do.

Hospital grade says nothing about the quality of the cord, as it were, but it does say something about the amount of pressure that a plug exerts on an outlet, and how difficult it is to accidentally unplug it.

Of course, hospital cords can be had in reasonable lengths for under $20.
 
#90
Limeman said:
But even if it were, the idea behind using multiple smaller gauge cables is the elimination of phase distortion/shifts within our hearing range. According to ESP, large diameter cable, such as single 14-awg, allows for these distortions to be audible well within our hearing range. The smaller 20-awg cable apparently have no such phase shifts until well past human hearing at 27 kHz. Take a read of their white paper. Interesting.
Click to expand...

:crying:

--
Aaron (Electrical Engineer)
 
#91
Limeman said:
"Romex", meaning generic plastic-coated cable? I am doubtful that is the quality of copper cable being used. But even if it were, the idea behind using multiple smaller gauge cables is the elimination of phase distortion/shifts within our hearing range. According to ESP, large diameter cable, such as single 14-awg, allows for these distortions to be audible well within our hearing range. The smaller 20-awg cable apparently have no such phase shifts until well past human hearing at 27 kHz. Take a read of their white paper. Interesting.
Click to expand...

Interesting is one word for it. Utter nonsense is a better descriptor. It might be impressive to the layman, but it's an insult to anyone who knows how electricity actually works.

My first question for them would be just where do these alleged distortions in the mains supply manifest themselves in the audio circuit after rectification and filtering in the power supply?

My second question to ESP might be "where is the data that supports any of your claims?" I'm not talking about anecdotal evidence either. So your AC cable is vibrating? Let's see the accelerometer plots to support that. And yes, transformers do vibrate, except it's not the wire vibrating, it's the iron core (look up magnetostriction). This concept does not apply to cables unless they have magnetic cores... ;)

This is just the tip of the iceberg...


-Mark (also an electrical engineer) ;)
 
#93
I've auditioned a bunch of high end power cables costing up to $5k on a system with better resolution than any bass rig and not one of them sounded any different than a regular computer IEC cable.

Nordost
Cardas
Crystal
Furutech
Virtual Dynamics

etc.

That being said, I haven't tried the ESP cable so I'm not going to make any comment on whether it works or not, though my training and direct experiences with other fancy power cables leaves me extremely skeptical.
 
#94
aborgman said:
:crying:

--
Aaron (Electrical Engineer)
Click to expand...

Mark Reccord said:
Interesting is one word for it. Utter nonsense is a better descriptor. It might be impressive to the layman, but it's an insult to anyone who knows how electricity actually works.

My first question for them would be just where do these alleged distortions in the mains supply manifest themselves in the audio circuit after rectification and filtering in the power supply?

My second question to ESP might be "where is the data that supports any of your claims?" I'm not talking about anecdotal evidence either. So your AC cable is vibrating? Let's see the accelerometer plots to support that. And yes, transformers do vibrate, except it's not the wire vibrating, it's the iron core (look up magnetostriction). This concept does not apply to cables unless they have magnetic cores... ;)

This is just the tip of the iceberg...


-Mark (also an electrical engineer) ;)
Click to expand...

I noticed that neither of you guys said "electrical engineer with golden ears". Thus, given that it's audiophile grade products we are discussing, you are simply not qualified to judge them. :p
 
#97
I purposely inject noise into my power lines at up to 200mbs and have yet to hear any difference.
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/PLK300
The same power lines I have my pc gear for recording plugged into.

I suppose if I heard something, and measured it, like with an amplifier or PC sound card, then I would stop using that amplifier and return as being badly designed or just plain broken.
 
#99
Mark Reccord said:
Interesting is one word for it. Utter nonsense is a better descriptor. It might be impressive to the layman, but it's an insult to anyone who knows how electricity actually works.

My first question for them would be just where do these alleged distortions in the mains supply manifest themselves in the audio circuit after rectification and filtering in the power supply?

My second question to ESP might be "where is the data that supports any of your claims?" I'm not talking about anecdotal evidence either. So your AC cable is vibrating? Let's see the accelerometer plots to support that. And yes, transformers do vibrate, except it's not the wire vibrating, it's the iron core (look up magnetostriction). This concept does not apply to cables unless they have magnetic cores... ;)

This is just the tip of the iceberg...


-Mark (also an electrical engineer) ;)
Click to expand...

OK... now this is what I was hoping for. A real discussion about the "possibility". Mark - why don't you email them and ask your questions?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back