Captive mains lead on cd player

[MattSPL]

Ok, ill throw my opinion into the pot

Ive used aftermarket mains cables for about 8 years now. 3 different manufacturers cables, and different models from 2 of those manufacturers.

I believe they do make a difference. Im actually prepared to say that a good mains cable can have a greater effect on a systems sound than speaker cable or interconnects

The cable i have on my cd player contains copper and pure silver(fairly high end). The cable on my pre amp is silver plated copper and fairly budget(about £40).
Yesterday, i decided to swap the 2 cables around(for a test) as it is said that different power cables can have different effect's on source components, pre amps and power amps etc.

Well, some of you will understand my findings, others wont. When i swapped the cables round, bass power and depth completely reduced, to the point where certain bass notes were now almost muted.

So this really does answer the question. CABLES DO NOT ALL SOUND THE SAME

 

[a91gti]

the record spot:ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit:maxflinn:there's no such thing as "a good mains cable" if a component is getting electricity, from the mains, via its standard supplied cable. why/how/ would replacing it with another cable that would also simply act as a transport for said electricity make any difference whatsoever to the performance of said component? i mean,like, huh??

and i mean, like, huh... all metals have the same characteristics when it comes to conducting electricity and like there's no such thing as RFI and delicate electronic circuitry isnt you know affected by such things huh?
this will be my last post on this subject because im sick of the nay sayers stopping people from realising the full potential of their equipment purely on the basis that THEY dont BELIEVE cables can make a positive difference. If you havent got anything nice to say....

Merely having a different opinion isn't the same as not having anything nice to say. Also, the Russell site I linked to earlier gives a pretty good explanation around a lot of this stuff and seems to be based on something that's more than some of the claims expensive wires are supposed to have. By all means, fill your boots, but for all the effort that will be required to do this - some of which sounds pretty dangerous if we're taking damp or wet cloths close to the equipment - as great or more will be had by finding good recordings, or shifting the speakers around. Wire is wire.

How many people actually read the op? The guy asked how to proceed not whether he should.
Why fill the thread with "information" that has no relevance to the op?

 

[Anonymous]

ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit:maxflinn:there's no such thing as "a good mains cable" if a component is getting electricity, from the mains, via its standard supplied cable. why/how/ would replacing it with another cable that would also simply act as a transport for said electricity make any difference whatsoever to the performance of said component? i mean,like, huh??

and i mean, like, huh... all metals have the same characteristics when it comes to conducting electricity and like there's no such thing as RFI and delicate electronic circuitry isnt you know affected by such things huh?
this will be my last post on this subject because im sick of the nay sayers stopping people from realising the full potential of their equipment purely on the basis that THEY dont BELIEVE cables can make a positive difference. If you havent got anything nice to say....why dont the big electronics companies, sony, pioneer, panasonic, etc,etc offer a high end mains cable with their products? because they dont want to? because they dont know how to make them? because they are just plain mean? or perhaps because they already do

 

[kena]

Max, Most (All) of the big companies don't care, "the law of diminishing returns" i'm afraid it would put up the product price i.e You can improve a DACMAGIC by replacing the op-amps so why dont Cambridge just do that at the start .. Naim make a power cord but obviously quality wise they are not in the league as Sony/Pioneer etc. ??

 

[the record spot]

andrewknight:the record spot:ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit:maxflinn:there's no such thing as "a good mains cable" if a component is getting electricity, from the mains, via its standard supplied cable. why/how/ would replacing it with another cable that would also simply act as a transport for said electricity make any difference whatsoever to the performance of said component? i mean,like, huh??

and i mean, like, huh... all metals have the same characteristics when it comes to conducting electricity and like there's no such thing as RFI and delicate electronic circuitry isnt you know affected by such things huh?
this will be my last post on this subject because im sick of the nay sayers stopping people from realising the full potential of their equipment purely on the basis that THEY dont BELIEVE cables can make a positive difference. If you havent got anything nice to say....

Merely having a different opinion isn't the same as not having anything nice to say. Also, the Russell site I linked to earlier gives a pretty good explanation around a lot of this stuff and seems to be based on something that's more than some of the claims expensive wires are supposed to have. By all means, fill your boots, but for all the effort that will be required to do this - some of which sounds pretty dangerous if we're taking damp or wet cloths close to the equipment - as great or more will be had by finding good recordings, or shifting the speakers around. Wire is wire.

How many people actually read the op? The guy asked how to proceed not whether he should.
Why fill the thread with "information" that has no relevance to the op?

Actually, he went on to say that anything would be better, he thought, than what came with the amp originally, thereafter, he mentioned Chord, amongst others. So now we're all in a more informed position as to where he's coming from. Not so much the "how to" more the usual cable talk as before. If it's a project he's after, go build an amp and wire it up with the best cable he can. Plenty of kits out there and knowhow in general on the web.

And lastly, it's an internet forum, not the ideal world. If you can't hack it, buy a newspaper.

EDIT: No offence, but that's the nature of a forum - the topic ebbs and flows, this one seems pretty consistent in line with the original aims. The end result though, I imagine, will be the same as usual.

 

[Anonymous]

kena:
Max, Most (All) of the big companies don't care, "the law of diminishing returns" i'm afraid it would put up the product price i.e You can improve a DACMAGIC by replacing the op-amps so why dont Cambridge just do that at the start .. Naim make a power cord but obviously quality wise they are not in the league as Sony/Pioneer etc. ??

oh i dont know kena, take hdtv's as an example.. if a high grade mains cable could?? enhance the performance of them, then surely some of the manufacturers would include them?

at least with their high end sets, there is little between the various top tv's, and reviewers scrutinise them so closely, any performance edge could be the difference between one tv getting the 5 star plaudits and selling well and another getting run of the mill marks and not selling well, or only selling well because it was subsequently reduced in price to compete..

these mains cables cannot be expensive to produce, especcially for the likes of sony, samsung, who could buy the materials in bulk very cheaply (they probably already do), and probably outsource their manufacture for peanuts to the likes of china, why wouldnt they do that? it just doesnt make sense for me, with big money at stake, if better mains cables led to better performance, sales, they would be used imo..

 

[kena]

Well I admit I never noticed any picture quality difference changing mains leads on my Panny, but I was a power lead disbeliever until I bought a couple of RA Yello's for £15 Each when they were being discontinued and I was amazed at the difference when connectwed to my pre/power amp. I will also say that the cables would be quite expensive to produce compared to the supplied because the supplier makes them for every appliance under the sun.

But what the heck I'm sure I said I'd never reply to a cable thread ever again .. obviously had a few too many

 

[Anonymous]

kena:
Well I admit I never noticed any picture quality difference changing mains leads on my Panny, but I was a power lead disbeliever until I bought a couple of RA Yello's for £15 Each when they were being discontinued and I was amazed at the difference when connectwed to my pre/power amp. I will also say that the cables would be quite expensive to produce compared to the supplied because the supplier makes them for every appliance under the sun.

But what the heck I'm sure I said I'd never reply to a cable thread ever again .. obviously had a few too many

you mean alcohol

.. on a monday? and your on the whfi forums? i hope the mods dont read that

 

[kena]

S*** it's Monday...where was... Oh nevermind!!

 

[aliEnRIK]

bluedjdaz2010:Crossie:

Cut off the mains cable about 3 inches (7.5cm) from where it enters your equipment and wire on a male IEC plug as shown. This is the advice given by Russ Andrews.

Is certainly an easier method that ive considered in the past but would this method actually be an 'upgrade' though?

I did this with my denon av amp which made the biggest difference out of all of my equipment (Suprisingly). Bass in particular sounded far better

 

[Anonymous]

I see ive created some topic here 😉

I have decided to go with the IEC socket in the end as it will look much tidy and will allow upgrades to the mains cable in the future if ever the need

In terms of cutting out the hole for the IEC socket ive found a sheet metal cutter which will cut the rectangular hole without a lot of mess

Im now going to order the parts needed and will post back when ive done the job 🙂

 

[MattSPL]

bluedjdaz2010:
I see ive created some topic here 😉

I have decided to go with the IEC socket in the end as it will look much tidy and will allow upgrades to the mains cable in the future if ever the need

In terms of cutting out the hole for the IEC socket ive found a sheet metal cutter which will cut the rectangular hole without a lot of mess

Im now going to order the parts needed and will post back when ive done the job 🙂

Great news. Keep us posted

 

[a91gti]

the record spot:andrewknight:the record spot:ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit:maxflinn:there's no such thing as "a good mains cable" if a component is getting electricity, from the mains, via its standard supplied cable. why/how/ would replacing it with another cable that would also simply act as a transport for said electricity make any difference whatsoever to the performance of said component? i mean,like, huh??

and i mean, like, huh... all metals have the same characteristics when it comes to conducting electricity and like there's no such thing as RFI and delicate electronic circuitry isnt you know affected by such things huh?
this will be my last post on this subject because im sick of the nay sayers stopping people from realising the full potential of their equipment purely on the basis that THEY dont BELIEVE cables can make a positive difference. If you havent got anything nice to say....

Merely having a different opinion isn't the same as not having anything nice to say. Also, the Russell site I linked to earlier gives a pretty good explanation around a lot of this stuff and seems to be based on something that's more than some of the claims expensive wires are supposed to have. By all means, fill your boots, but for all the effort that will be required to do this - some of which sounds pretty dangerous if we're taking damp or wet cloths close to the equipment - as great or more will be had by finding good recordings, or shifting the speakers around. Wire is wire.

How many people actually read the op? The guy asked how to proceed not whether he should.
Why fill the thread with "information" that has no relevance to the op?

Actually, he went on to say that anything would be better, he thought, than what came with the amp originally, thereafter, he mentioned Chord, amongst others. So now we're all in a more informed position as to where he's coming from. Not so much the "how to" more the usual cable talk as before. If it's a project he's after, go build an amp and wire it up with the best cable he can. Plenty of kits out there and knowhow in general on the web.

And lastly, it's an internet forum, not the ideal world. If you can't hack it, buy a newspaper.

EDIT: No offence, but that's the nature of a forum - the topic ebbs and flows, this one seems pretty consistent in line with the original aims. The end result though, I imagine, will be the same as usual.
No offence taken and none meant. Just gets on my *** when a guy asks a simple question and another debate about wire starts up. I enjoy debate as much as the next guy (much more so than some folk around here do) but the whole wire thing just won't go away. Futile anger I know but thats life I guess.