Cord to power conditioner advice required

[Choco]

I have a power conditioner that came with a premium power lead that is unfortunately 200mm too short. I have had to plug it into a standard power board to get the extra length.  Does anyone know if the lead into the unit matters? given the clean power is what comes out the other side. I am unsure whether to buy a fairly expensive longer lead for the wall to the conditioner, or put the money towards better quality leads from the conditioner to my components. Would appreciate some advice , as this is way over my head.

[Neo]

If buying new then borrow the cable and try for yourself. Amazes me that people need validation, it’s almost impossible to have any two setups that are exactly the same. There is always a variation of sorts. 
So best to experiment yourself, learn and listen, enjoy.

To your initial question yes it’s a good idea to place a good lead from wall to the power distribution component, it does make a difference. So is upgrading the leads from said power distribution component.
Neo
 

Edited October 8, 2024 by Neo

[POV]

3 hours ago, Neo said:

yes it’s a good idea to place a good lead from wall to the power distribution component, it does make a difference.

 

What difference does it make?

[Neo]

9 minutes ago, POV said:

 

What difference does it make?

Makes a great difference 

Neo

[POV]

4 minutes ago, Neo said:

Makes a great difference 

Neo

 

OK, you are telling the OP that it makes a difference, surely it would make sense to qualify what you believe this difference is or what in your estimation the OP could expect from such a change, should they follow your advice?

[Kirby66]

11 hours ago, Choco said:

Does anyone know if the lead into the unit matters?

Hi @Choco, I'm looking at doing the same thing for a different reason so have been researching and the weight of opinion seems to be that the power cord into the unit is the most important one ie: if you were only going to change one that is the one to change.

[POV]

Guys, try to think this through rather than listen to random opinion on the internet.  

The power cable that connects the wall to the power conditioner cannot make a difference to anything, provided it is serviceable, compliant with Australian standards and designed for the current demands of the conditioner.  The conditioner is either filtering, regenerating or both and if they were so sensitive that the type of cable connecting them to the wall could make a difference then the design of the component itself is extremely questionable.  If the power cable connecting the device to the wall makes an appreciable difference to the output side of the conditioner then how on earth is it going to deal with the range of variation and distortion that may be present on the input side on any given day or night?

 

Don’t fall for the marketing.  

[rantan]

11 hours ago, POV said:

 

What difference does it make?

Absolutely no difference at all.

With that said, it is apparent that many people actually believe they make an improvement. I wish them well and respect their choice completely.

 

 

Such is the power of marketing and FOMO.

[Choco]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I guess the best option is to just try it all, and see how it sounds.

[Addicted to music]

18 hours ago, POV said:

 

What difference does it make?

 

Zero!   none!    only difference is that it will empty your pockets.    Better to upgrade something else in the chain that has more weight,  like room dampening,  speakers or electronics such as amplifiers etc.

[evil c]

18 minutes ago, Choco said:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I guess the best option is to just try it all, and see how it sounds.

Yes best to ignore much of the advice on here, many have selective bias on these type of subjects!

[POV]

Just now, evil c said:

Yes best to ignore much of the advice on here, many have selective bias on these type of subjects!

Some things are very well understood and there is no mystery.  I believe we have a responsibility to help people to understand the many areas of this hobby that are truly snake oil, and help inexperienced folks to avoid, and direct their money at things that actually will make a difference for them.

[Snoopy8]

20 minutes ago, Choco said:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I guess the best option is to just try it all, and see how it sounds.

You have touched a topic that gets jumped upon.  As a result, you will see little by way of positive responses. So best to try for yourself and keep quiet...

[POV]

29 minutes ago, Choco said:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I guess the best option is to just try it all, and see how it sounds.

Sure, you just need to be really aware of how fallible our senses are.  One of the things that keeps manufacturers of products like audiophile power cables in business is people that lay down their cash, and consequently want to believe and to hear a difference.  Then they fire up their system, and lo and behold they hear things (greater dynamics, blacker background, improved transients etc etc).  So then they report back to forums like this that cable x or fuse y made a big difference to their system and the cycle of convincing others to waste their money continues. 

 

There are very few mysteries in audio reproduction, but many folks are very, very invested in everything always remaining subjective.  I believe we can do better as a community than feed this.

Edited October 9, 2024 by POV

[evil c]

- - - -

Edited October 9, 2024 by evil c

[POV]

23 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

You have touched a topic that gets jumped upon.  As a result, you will see little by way of positive responses. So best to try for yourself and keep quiet...

With respect, I think this is pretty unconstructive advice.  The OP came here asking for advice, not for positive responses as per below.  Telling them to just try and keep quiet because a portion of the forum are hyper sensitive is not going to assist in any meaningful way.

 

23 hours ago, Choco said:

I am unsure whether to buy a fairly expensive longer lead for the wall to the conditioner, or put the money towards better quality leads from the conditioner to my components. Would appreciate some advice , as this is way over my head.

 

[Eggmeister]

This is much better when discussing cables...  I've missed it

 

[Addicted to music]

1 hour ago, Addicted to music said:

 

Zero!   none!    only difference is that it will empty your pockets.    Better to upgrade something else in the chain that has more weight,  like room dampening,  speakers or electronics such as amplifiers etc.

 

There is no subjectivity to my comments, it's all objective.  The quality of your components  power supply that mostly consists of a stepdown Transformer and they are mostly isolation Transformer, full bridge rectifier and then connected to a set of PSU filter caps, that supplies the DC rails to power the magic will determined the SQ.   The AC 230/240VAC or 110VAC depending on where you are in the world is not even connected to the circuitry that's producing that waveform that you hear as music.   The items above doesn't even care or give a rats on jitter on 50/60Hz,  or the level of distortion on that 230/240VAC.   the quality of you filter capacitor is vital in providing clean DC rail to the circuitry that does the magic.  

Personally I don't care if you go out and fork out $$$$ on cables,  not my money!  

[Eggmeister]

So, to the folk here with very firm thoughts on the matter, what are the basics of a decent power lead to help the OP out?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2024 by Eggmeister

[Addicted to music]

4 minutes ago, Eggmeister said:

So, to the folk here with very firm thoughts on the matter, what are the basics of a decent power lead to help the OP out?

 

 

 

 

 

Want quality:

 

https://cablesandadapters.com.au/alogic-mf-aus3pc13-02-mc-2m-medical-power-cable-aus-3-pin-mains-plug-male-to-iec-c13-female-orange.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw05i4BhDiARIsAB_2wfDxoaTTd-wwmV7NVRxvAU2kLwEhMJdoC-oo3RW0hBuka-v00uOfBBwaAqgiEALw_wcB

 

 

https://www.radioparts.com.au/product/27752215/K9-2MTMED?CAWELAID=120007580000007168&pid=27752215&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=free+listings&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw05i4BhDiARIsAB_2wfAO7OfT3qT6PXYsk8fcWG7d_993-eEbVi8ToAO_7qv76rOxSeH8jIQaApxyEALw_wcB

 

Of you wanna go cheap: 

 

https://www.bunnings.com.au/jackson-1-2m-replacement-iec-lead_p4420134?store=6425&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw05i4BhDiARIsAB_2wfBVNKLvmw7dMGPx9WaQPswKFnn7tZm5f3BpJnH241n60U5_woEjnioaAgEZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

All these will have the correct certification on them for AUS.

Edited October 9, 2024 by Addicted to music

[POV]

2 minutes ago, Eggmeister said:

So, to the folk here with very firm thoughts on the matter, what are the basics of a decent power lead to help the OP out?

 

 

 

 

Meets Australian standard (identifiable by the regulatory compliance marking that is required under Australian law); of sufficient length to ensure that there is no requirement to stretch it, or exceed bend radius; sufficient current rating for the component being connected to.  Thats it.  

[Eggmeister]

Any shielding ?

[POV]

7 minutes ago, Eggmeister said:

Any shielding ?

As a general rule, for home installations shielding power cables is not required, nor in any way helpful.  Depending on the implementation of the shielding in the power cable, it can actually do more harm than good, though in the vast majority of installations will be irrelevant as the power supplies of the components are more than adequately filtered.

 

In very specific circumstances where the cable is connected to highly sensitive equipment and is operating in a very hostile environment then shielding power cables can be some assistance.  The best plan though is to use shielding as a treatment for indentifiable problems, not as a randomised ‘preventative’ and all of this needs to be done by an electrical engineer with substantial subject matter expertise.

 

I could go into a lot more detail but won’t.  Best plan for home hifi is to stay away from shielded power cables as a rule.

[sir sanders zingmore]

Thread is on moderator approval until everyone calms down...

I really really really don't want to be handing out warnings a few days out from the HiFi show

[Tim D]

For what it’s worth, I put an IsoTek Evo3 Syncro power cable from the wall to my power filter and it made a noticeable improvement.  Very happy with it.