power leads for amp

[beastie]

anyone know anything about these super power leads i have seen in the past as anyone got one and is there a differance sorry do not know the name of them but have seen them advertised in the past

[discreet]

If you mean this type of thing

[url="http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&pf_id=1558&customer_id=PAA3005127009047GXRGQUIVLBUSVRQM"]http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&pf_id=1558&customer_id=PAA3005127009047GXRGQUIVLBUSVRQM[/url]

Then IMHO there is no difference, you are being ripped off and any perceived sound improvement is down to the placebo effect. There, I just saved you a few bob!

Edited November 8, 2011 by discreet

[Ou7shined]

If you are on about those ultra expensive leads made only from pure or precious metals etc. then I think most people will agree that any benefits will be negligible and completely lost in a live situation. Some guys claim to hear the difference in hi-fi set-ups and maybe they have a point but for our purposes they are just one more bit of snake oil to waste our money on.

Edited November 8, 2011 by Ou7shined

[sk8]

what those fantastic leads you then plug into the dirty power supply in the wall.......

[obbm]

If you are going to replace the last 2 metres with a super cable why not do the job properly and use it all the way back to the power station.

[Happy Jack]

Yup - all you need is a notakettle lead.

[bremen]

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1320756686' post='1430862']
If you are going to replace the last 2 metres with a super cable why not do the job properly and use it all the way back to the power station.
[/quote]

Meanwhile: http://gizmodo.com/305549/james-randi-offers-1-million-if-audiophiles-can-prove-7250-speaker-cables-are-better?tag=gadgetscallingbull

[chris_b]

[size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]I don’t know enough about "super" leads to rubbish them. They might make a difference in a "super" hi-fi system but any improvement to us is likely to be lost in the general racket produced by a rock band. [/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=1][/size][/font][/color]
[size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial] [/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=1][/size][/font][/color]
[size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]Always buy good leads. You can hear a difference between cheap rubbish and the good stuff, for example those made up by Dave (OBBM), but the really expensive hi-tech leads are just not warranted in live music, unless you're Dave Gilmore.[/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=1][/size][/font][/color]
[size=4][font=Arial] [/font][/size][font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font]

[bremen]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1320761114' post='1430948']
[size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]... You can hear a difference between cheap rubbish and the good stuff, for example those made up by Dave (OBBM), but the really expensive hi-tech leads are just not warranted in live music, unless you've as much money as Dave Gilmore and need a tax loss.[/font][/color][/size]

[/quote]

Fixed it for ya.

Snake-oil cables are not hi-tech; they are not designed scientifically, just with some pseudo-science and/or misapplication of science (eg audio cables designed to minimise skin effect, a phenomenon that becomes important at many MHz and is irrelevant at audio frequencies).

Edited November 8, 2011 by bremen

[flyfisher]

All good replies above. All I would add it that it's worth paying a few quid extra for a well-made mains cable, with 'heavy-duty cable, proper strain-relief and a well-made, solid mains plug.

It won't transform your sound (no mains cable will) but it'll be mechanically robust and therefore more suited to 'life on the road' and will last longer.

But anything more than an extra few quid and you're buying snake oil.

[leroydiamond]

get a good physically sturdy cable. Those super cables are to be avoided imo. check this out

[url="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/13/russ_accessories/"]http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/13/russ_accessories/[/url]

[4 Strings]

Just another to say its pure fallacy. Yes its the last couple of metres of several hundred miles, also gold plated connectors are only going improve the transmission of an imperfect mains power supply (if indeed they do anything other than look shiny). i'm sure they're built to amazingly high standards but there can be no sonic difference, its impossible, if you read it carefully the Superkord actually make no claims of improved sound quality.

Buy yourself some new strings instead.

[mart]

Seems to be some good sense here. The "last couple of metres" argument seems to me to be the simplest of many reasons as to why these cords can't really do a lot to help. But I suppose some hefty endorsements keep people wanting to believe there's a short-cut to a better sound.

Unfortunately somebody opened up a discussion of these cords on the Warwick forum recently and it turned quite ugly:
[url="http://forum.warwick.de/14-maddrakketts-caffe/15355-music-cord-anybody-tried.html"]http://forum.warwick...body-tried.html[/url]

Edited November 10, 2011 by mart

[flyfisher]

Interesting link. I liked the professor guy who basically seemed to agree with both camps, i.e. such cables can make no difference to the sound but that people are so suggestable that they really think they hear a difference! However, rigorous double-blind trials will usually flush them out when they can't 'know' when the cable is being used.

I guess the problem is that we can't actually scientifically measure what someone really hears because the ultimate mechanism is inside our brains, and we all know how fallible, or easily influenced, that can be.

[mart]

Yep, I liked the professor's comments, although like many a scientist (and I count myself as one for these purposes) he can come across as brutally direct, i.e., rude and insulting!

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1320936800' post='1433427']...I guess the problem is that we can't actually scientifically measure what someone really hears because the ultimate mechanism is inside our brains, and [i]we all know how fallible, or easily influenced, that can be[/i].
[/quote]
True, although I also think a large part of the problem arises from those of us who [i]don't know[/i] how fallible and suggestible our sense of hearing is. And I think serious musicians, in particular, find it hard to be told that their hearing is not the perfect objective thing they like to believe it to be.

Edited November 10, 2011 by mart

[gelfin]

I have worked in the HI Fi industry for many years. I have what I would consider a very high end Hi Fi system. I have probably tried hundreds of different mains, interconnect and speaker cables. Some a few pence per metre and others thousands p metre. Sometimes I can tell in a blind test between various sets. Funny thing is that I often prefer the less expensive. Cables can sound different but high price doesn't usually mean better. ( In a Hi Fi system ) not gig rig.

One of my favourite answers to customers asking what cables they should upgrade to is to tell them to buy some new music a good bottle of wine or favourite tipple and just listen to the MUSIC.

[4 Strings]

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1320963401' post='1433931']
One of my favourite answers to customers asking what cables they should upgrade to is to tell them to buy some new music a good bottle of wine or favourite tipple and just listen to the MUSIC.
[/quote]

Excellent advice, will enjoy the music so much more (and will actually make a difference!)

[flyfisher]

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1320963401' post='1433931']
Sometimes I can tell in a blind test between various sets.
[/quote]
I'm sure you sometimes can. I'd guess it would be about 50% of the time.

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1320963401' post='1433931']
One of my favourite answers to customers asking what cables they should upgrade to is to tell them to buy some new music a good bottle of wine or favourite tipple and just listen to the MUSIC.
[/quote]

That's a great answer!

Speaking of wine, I read somewhere recently that most 'expert' wine buffs can't tell the difference between read and white wine when blindfolded. It was New Scientist I think - a piece about the psychology of perception.

[mart]

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1320963401' post='1433931']...One of my favourite answers to customers asking what cables they should upgrade to is to tell them to buy some new music a good bottle of wine or favourite tipple and just listen to the MUSIC.
[/quote]
+1. That is fantastic advice! We so easily forget the element of enjoyment.

The red/white wine thing is a little surprising. I'll have to do some testing. Lots of testing...

[xgsjx]

I think the wine taste experiment was done with folk who haven't drank wine in their lives?
I'm not a wine drinker, but I used to work in a hotel & got sent on a tasting course & there's a massive difference.

[flyfisher]

Were you blindfolded though?

I've been trying to find the article I referred to but yesterday was recycling bin day and I threw out a pile of magazines.

I found these while searching online though:
[url="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/apr/14/expensive-wine-cheap-plonk-taste"]http://www.guardian....eap-plonk-taste[/url]
[url="http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2007/11/the_subjectivity_of_wine.php"]http://scienceblogs....ity_of_wine.php[/url]

Thing is, since it's our brain that defines our experience of things, then this is not so much a case of being fooled as "really, truly" having a better experience just because, say, the wine has been priced expensively or has been put into a bottle with a highly-prized label.

Come to think of it, people spending £1000s on a mains cable might "really" experience a better sound from their rig, even though a battery of scientific test equipment can prove there is no difference in reality . . . . except we don't see, hear, smell etc reality.

Edited November 11, 2011 by flyfisher

[Ou7shined]

I'm not buying the wine thing either I'm afraid.

Apart from having a natural intolerance to red wine (even rosé) I find it's one of your basic differentials, like red sauce, brown sauce.

About 10-15 years ago I was a bit of a wine bore and could guess with a fair degree of accuracy grapes and country of origin. I hardly ever drink now but I'm sure I could even I can tell the diff (even just by smell) between red and white blindfolded... probably more so now that I don't smoke.

I'm going to give it a try this weekend.

[4 Strings]

I'm sure I could tell red from white too.

But, can we accept that the mains lead thing is totally perception/psychological etc as it is physically impossible to make a difference (unless the mains lead is so poor it can't carry the current reliably and crackles etc or it is dangerously linked somehow to the actual signal - you'd certainly tell the difference then, unless you play with rubber gloves!)?

[KingBollock]

I never drink wine, I can't stand the stuff, but even I can tell the difference between red and white. The smell of red makes me feel really sick.

[Twigman]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1320939963' post='1433508']
like many a scientist (and I count myself as one for these purposes) he can come across as brutally direct, i.e., rude and insulting!

[/quote]

yeah but the other guy (Florin) was a "[i]Profanity removed"[/i] - he deserved it

Edited November 13, 2011 by pantherairsoft
No need to call people names - naughty!