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Special power chords for your amp improves sound?

#21
WOW!
Gonna have to share this with fellow instrumentation engineers at work so we can put all these OVERBUDGET cables on power feeds to control systems, analyzers, co-gen comm links to the grid, and UPS feeds!!! No more noise in the signals!

Has anyone put a Dranetz(http://www.dranetz.com/product-services/current-dranetz-products/dranetz-hdpq-xplorer/) on these to see what magical waveforms appear on there "out" end versus the power inlet side?
 
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#22
walterw said:
i find a nice E major power chord makes my amp sound great ;)

as for power cables, all that matters is if it's a big enough wire gauge to carry the current without getting hot. all too many are 18g even if they have thick insulation, so if you find a 16g or even a 14g cable then use it, confident in the knowledge that you've got the best-possible cable back there.

i like the idea of the mercury magnetics cable because they're honest about it, claiming no more for it than that it's as big as the wiring in the walls (14g); that plus being bright red (so it doesn't get lost so easily) and not charging so much for it makes it a pretty good idea in my book.
Click to expand...

I bought a roll of 10 gauge wire and used that for speakers for decades. It may have been over kill and didn't fit every hole.

But it worked.
 
#25
I was getting some grreeeaaat sounds out of my amp a little while ago with some power chords. :bassist:


But really, it's hard to introduce outside noise into a power conduit unless your runs are waaaaay longer than the typical power cable is. And probably only if it's extra lightweight to boot.

In fact, the only way for a normal short cable to be less than ideal is thru faulty design, by accident or on purpose. It's copper wire and connecting terminals. That's it. The solitary thing that may vary in cables (that are made by humans and not drunk sea snails) is the gauge, and lower/wider gauges both distribute heat better and carry somewhat higher resistance than higher/thinner ones. Small changes in resistance, mind you, but having a 0-gauge cable would suck (the power). 10's kind of pushing it for some music applications IMO, but apparently it can still work fine. 14 vs 16 or 18, the only difference you'll notice is in the temperature of the cable.

So, you won't see me spending more than a few bucks on one. A nice extension cable is worth a bit, but hell...the extra power cables I get from buying the occasional power supply or chassis for my computer builds are all perfectly viable running from the wall to my amp head.
 
#26
Real Soon said:
...lower/wider gauges both distribute heat better and carry somewhat higher resistance than higher/thinner ones. Small changes in resistance, mind you, but having a 0-gauge cable would suck (the power).
Click to expand...
huh?

i think the fatter cable has lower resistance, not higher (negligible as it may be). it really is better all around, up to the point past which going bigger makes no more difference.
 
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#27
walterw said:
huh?

i think the fatter cable has lower resistance, not higher (negligible as it may be). it really is better all around, up to the point past which going bigger makes no more difference.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got that entirely ass-backwards. Haha...lemme go find what on earth I was thinking of, and shut my trap until then. I feel like there was some beneficial application for higher-gauge wires, maybe not in power situations though.
 
#28
have you heard about the $485 volume knob?
It does seem ridiculous, but I hate to completely disregard the endorsement of so many highly regarded musicians. At least not without doing blind listening tests and some measurements. Would also like to find out more about the technical and science side of these products which I'm sure I can find somewhere on the website.
Wire gauge certainly is an issue. The power cable has to be rated for the current draw. It is also no secret that power from the mains is noisy, or at least can be noisy. There are probably other factors, like the properties of the conductor.
That said, there may a difference...although I am skeptical that it is a huge difference. Then again, I have been surprised before.
 
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#34
power_chord_table.gif
 
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#37
If you really want to get your electrons moving at full speed, you're supposed to buy quantum purifiers, 99.99999999% pure & cryogenically re-aligned copper cable employing quad-helix uber Litz braid; cable isolation risers and flux capacitors filled with emu oil and hemp fibers- and a partridge in a pear tree.
 
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#40
walterw said:
i find a nice E major power chord makes my amp sound great ;)

as for power cables, all that matters is if it's a big enough wire gauge to carry the current without getting hot. all too many are 18g even if they have thick insulation, so if you find a 16g or even a 14g cable then use it, confident in the knowledge that you've got the best-possible cable back there.

i like the idea of the mercury magnetics cable because they're honest about it, claiming no more for it than that it's as big as the wiring in the walls (14g); that plus being bright red (so it doesn't get lost so easily) and not charging so much for it makes it a pretty good idea in my book.
Click to expand...


^this. Talk to an electrical engineer. After they're done laughing, they'll simply tell you figure out how many amperes you will be drawing and then use the appropriate gauge. Geez, are artists that hard up to shill bunk like this?
 

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