There are a # of manufacturers that market and sell both speaker wire and power cords. They promise upgraded sound, fidelity and other associated audiophile buzzwords such as sound stage, presence, dynamics, etc. Guess what???
Copper is copper, yes 99.9 % of it is the same quality and purity. For short runs under 100 ft. of cable there is no difference that the human ear can detect or identify between different brands or even wire diameter. Pure and simple…SCAM. I know, you went to so in so showroom and you heard a difference between the Godzilla Monsta pubic cable and the fireman garden hose cable attached to a $350,000 pair of street shaker speakers. No doubt you did hear a difference but I can assure you it’s not the cable. It’s total audiophile BS. For runs of 100ft-200ft 14 gauge speaker wire is fine. There is NO audible difference using thicker cable. Over 200 ft one can use 12 gauge. Some of these high end speaker cables cost in excess of 2000.00 bucks. Yes that’s for a pair of 15 ft cables with fancy packaging, lol. Even people who can afford such luxuries don’t like the feeling of getting ripped off. They sell rolls of 10-16 gauge speaker wire in rolls of 25/50/100ft at Home Depot. It’s high quality, attractive and inexpensive.
Ok now we have the power cord fiasco. Insanity at it’s best. Why you ask? I have a Supa doopa telephone pole sized power cord I bought from an esoteric audio dealer in Manhattan. He told me it’s the purist copper money can buy. Comes from a special copper mine in the heart of Newark NJ that no one knows about. The copper is 110% pure with no traces of oxygen or other gases or impurities. I heard the difference myself when the salesman plugged in a computer grade power cord it sounded terrible. I believe you but…I assure you it was not the power cord causing the sonic difference. Let’s just say…..there is a difference between power cords. Ok, your plugging your power cord into a wall socket or main as they call it in Great Britain. What about the house wiring? My house was built in 1963 and has excellent wiring but it’s old. New homes have wiring up to spec but it’s the minimal needed to meet state or city requirements. The power cord is just an EXTENSION of your house wiring going to the wiring in the street, right? Did you have your whole house wired to match your new thigh thick power cord? How about the wiring in the street with birds bouncing up and down on it with the leaky transformer buzzing and humming? And what about all the new fangled wall warts you have plugged in all over your home. Also, don’t forget about the few light sockets or outlets wired in reverse that no one mentions because they never cause a problem. Or how about your neighbor that is using the blender or attic fan. Is your giant power cord gonna stop the interference? Crazy I tell you!
You can read my earlier Coke vs. Pepsi post. People many times hear and see things that are not actually there. Could be wishful thinking that is financially motivated. or a number of other reasons which don’t help you the consumer. If you can hear a difference between various healthy speaker wires or power cords more power to you. Personally I can’t, neither can calibrated scientific instruments, meters or sound gauges. How about a line up of people to identify which it is? Coke or Pepsi? Expensive cable or 99 cent store cable? I would bet on little if zero percent accuracy or consistency in identification. I know…a hidden or missing sound variable which can’t be measured. Hey, anything is possible.
I was a science teacher in my last life. That doesn’t entitle me to poke fun at this cable issue. But, having common sense and logic does. It’s all TOTAL NONSENSE. Go to Home Depot and buy speaker wire. If you want to push it buy their highest gauge cable. I promise you it work as good if not better then all the various esoteric cable out there. It’s what I use… Also, keep the power cord your amplifier came with, your McIntosh won’t know the difference. Neither will your ears.
Home Depot 10 Gauge Speaker Wire/Cable.
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