I tried upgrade powercords just recently for the first time. Previously content with computer cords. I heard a noticeable and obvious improvement in almost every aspect of the sound. The two PCs are priced at 25% of the cost of the amps. Outrageous, but they work to my ears and it makes sense scientifically too. Although I believe soldering the wall romex directly to the power transformer would be even better but illegal unless you bolt down the amp to the house frame.
So how exactly does it make sense scientifically? Are we talking about the quality of the connection or the quality of the wire or both? I find it fascinating that a $500-1000 cord is just doing the job that ordinary wall romex soldered to the transformer would do. Don't they tend to brag about how special the wire is? If it's the quality of the connection, well, Frank's is built in, so that would suggest an inherent superiority to me.
Binding posts are critical part in the signal chain. Anywhere you have a disconnectable connection you are asking for trouble in increased resistance at non-soldered contact, potential corrosion, and potential for creating EMI/RF through microscopic arcing.
All of which, I would think, is taken care of by quality locking banana plugs (or spades) inserted into a gold-plated (good conducting, non-corroding) post. I guess I'll read up on why solid copper for a fraction of an inch in a circuit makes such a big difference.
These kinds of subtle tweaks are most obvious when the rest of the system is transparent enough to reveal the changes. Speaker posts make no difference on a $300 HT receiver, that's why they are nickel plated stamped steel covered in plastic.
No, I would think if you're going to defend ultra-expensive speaker posts you have to take the position that they will make a difference across the board. Provided your speakers can reproduce the difference, a higher-grade binding post ought to pass signal better on a $300 receiver just the same as a $5000 amp. If the weakness is the connection between the amp and speakers, then logic dictates it will degrade ANY component's signal. Or am I missing something.
If I had those same speaker posts on my 100watt tube monoblock amps playing into sensitive low distortion full range speakers I would easily be able to hear the difference. Maybe not as obvious upgrading from the already good enough ones on AVA equipment to cardas all copper rhodium plated, less bang for the buck. I know that the posts on the Moscode amp are incredible, easily as good as anything in the aftermarket. Large, machined solid copper, knurled, easy to use. I used to have a link for aftermarket seller of them, but can't find it now, my point is they are not cheap! AVA is built to a price, it's not trying to be a Ferrari, instead focused on superb value.
All this would be fine if these things were ever spoken of or treated as "subtle tweaks." But no one EVER says "the machined solid knurled copper rhodium plated posts made a subtle difference in my sound quality, which my subtle speakers [not to mention the rest of my - what, reference grade? - equipment] were capable of revealing." Because your sources had better be tip-top, too, I would think. Not only that, how the heck does anyone KNOW how these particular posts "sound" on the Moscode amp? Other than maybe George Kaye I suppose, who might have ever heard a Moscode amp without them. A signal passes through conductive material on its way from one component to the next. Gold vs. copper. Or silver. I'm to believe the solid copper half-inch along a circuit will provide a more transparent midrange and extended highs, as opposed to, you know, the actual quality of the amplification of the signal doing those things. It's just an awful lot to believe. Not that there may not be some very slight differences. I assume there are, though I doubt I could hear them reliably (I mean, what if the refrigerator suddenly cut on?). But people tend to speak in terms of good vs. bad here.
It is fair to compare AVA's amp to one costing 2.5 times more money because AVA advertises it to be comparable to higher priced equipment. Zybar's short comparison hints once again that Frank is a straight shooter and knows what he has created and knows it can hold its own.
And it would be very interesting to know which corners Frank knows, in his own mind, he has cut that may make the difference between his amp and the more expensive one. Is it all about the cost of parts, or does it boil down to engineering know-how and "physiognomical" decisions?
