Well CE is on a roll here. I have to say that many years ago I would have completely backed up his logic. CE's arguments make quite a bit of sense. As an electrical engineer myself, I can present hundreds of sound arguments to why these things cannot make a sonic difference. (Sometimes knowledge is not what it seems
)
Like CE, many years ago I too presented the same exact "logical" arguments such as "why not have the power company run your special wiring all the way back to the power generator?". That argument is very sound, but indeed wrong
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Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, here's the rub: Power cables, wire choices, outlet choices and insulation DO make an audible difference in a high end system ! I know, I've spent the last 5 years making my own cables and have found significant differences in materials, etc (I now don't let my degree get in the way of my education
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The problem with the above aforementioned snake oil type of argument is that there are tens of thousands of audiophiles who swear they have heard the differences in power cables, dedicated lines, insulation choices and even outlets! Those audiophiles have backed up their experience with over a million dollars in total for these types of tweaks! Additionally, every high end reviewer (over 120+) is in complete agreement with these sonic improvments by virtue that they too have heard the differneces! (except one sole idiot - Peter Azcel, who has "proven" that all good amplifiers sound identical - perhaps he is related to the late Julian Hirsch of the old rag Stereo Review, who "proved" that all cd players sound the same in a "Scientific Test"
).
CE, you've got to ask yourself some questions here:
How can over 75+ cable companies can sell thousands of power cords each and every month to audiophiles if these cables don't make a difference
Why are so many audiophiles "upgrading" and spending upwards of $500 on power cords alone
Is everybody deaf and just hearing things, even in double blind verifiable comparisons
Is the world filled with nothing but snake oil cable companies who are are in a grand conspiracy to sell us expensive cables and other power accesories that don't make a differnce
All of them are crooked
Can you really buy this concept
Why are there thousands of postings on Audio Asylum and Audiogon about cables, comparisions, outlets along with material selections for DIY cables too
Is everyone off their rocker
(Those forums have the bulk of the most veteran audiophiles in the world today
)
BTW: I DO beleive that there ARE companies that DO rip people off with B.S. type of audiophile products, but these are NOT the norm in my experience. Those companies typically do not last very long. The competition is too stiff and the internet is too powerfull of an information source. Indeed, audiophiles use their ears a hell of a lot more than Bose owners!
One last important thing to note: I've been to more than a few "audiophiles" houses to find that their set-up is not capable of producing the soundstage cues, ambience decay or ultimate resolution to fully appreciate the differences between cables, outlets and alike. Indeed, my original system from my college days (Hafler amp,pre-amp and Polk's top speakers) is still owned by one of my buddies. A year ago we fooled around with his power cables and outlets trying to tweak it and the differences were NOT audible !!!!!! Of course his system is far from perfect, but we were both shocked as we tried to add some power tweaks to his system only to discover that the resolution of his system was inadequate to show these differences
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