How to Test Power Cables & Interconnects?

[marce]

Don't forget the importance of a 25/20mm fuse as well!

Pass Labs supply power leads that will supply the required current and are safe...

https://www.stereophile.com/content/nelson-pass-seminar-cas6

[sandyk]

33 minutes ago, marce said:

Don't forget the importance of a 25/20mm fuse as well!

Pass Labs supply power leads that will supply the required current and are safe...

https://www.stereophile.com/content/nelson-pass-seminar-cas6

 

I am simply reporting what myself, Audiophile Neuroscience and 2 other friends reported hearing on this occasion using equipment far higher in resolution (and affordability) than you would normally have access to.

If I was setting this up I certainly wouldn't have powered them  from a cheap Bunnings Power Board in line either .

 Neither can I verify that the initial power cables tested were as originally supplied with the Pass amplifiers, as it was all supplied by a local  Dealer in a prestigious Sydney suburb.

 

 

[semente]

On 10/4/2019 at 12:59 PM, pkane2001 said:

 

Hitting pause may be a bit misleading as many source components, DACs, preamps, even amps, mute their output when detecting no signal or very low-level signal. If you pause, you may not be measuring much of your system.

 

I use an analog to digital converter (ADC) to capture the output of a DAC or preamp (or headphone amp) using a PC and then analyze it using some freely available tools, like REW. This gives me a much better idea of the system performance, noise, and distortions. Some good, inexpensive ADCs are available on the pro market from companies like Focusrite, Apogee, and others.

 

Here's a headphone amp I measured recently using a 1kHz signal (all done by the awesome REW tool):

You can see that there is more noise at the lower frequencies (tilted noise floor)  and a whole lot of 60Hz main-line buzz and harmonics in the signal. Gives me a good idea of what I need to address first  But beyond that, once I figure out a way to resolve the noise, I can measure again and compare directly to the previous results to know if my fix actually helped.

 

 

Would you mind measuring a fancy vs. a kettle cable?

[pkane2001]

1 hour ago, semente said:

 

Would you mind measuring a fancy vs. a kettle cable?

 

I’ve done some interconnect measurements before, none too fancy, but there were measurable differences, well below audibility range. I’ve never felt the need or the desire to measure power cables, but if I happen to have a fancy one available, I could try to measure it.

[Ralf11]

10 hours ago, Blackmorec said:

I'm an audiophile not a physicist, so I don't have tools to measure EMI/RFI etc. nor do I have the interest in measuring everything whenever I do an upgrade. What I am interested in doing is removing limitations and faults from my system, that cause disturbance to the listening experience. I can do so simply by trying various configurations and products and judge whether they are having the desired effect. 

Of course I believe that power cables will change the sound. This has been true every time I've made a comparison. But some will change the sound for the better and some for the worse, so my key task is to identify the former and avoid the latter. Some will claim that I imagine the differences based on my belief....a kind of confirmation bias. This basically means that the differences aren't real and are only in my mind. It that were true, then the reproducibility of these imaginings is truly remarkable. Essentially I am able to imagine the exact same thing day after day, week after week and even with gaps of several months. That ability surely makes me some kind of genius with remarkable powers of recall?  

The problem here isn't in believing that power cables make a difference....the problem is exactly the opposite as its a belief that will prevent the believer from ever achieving a great sounding system as opposed to 'average' or 'adequate' 

 

 

The problem here is most certainly your believing that power cables make a difference

 

Using a proper blind test will eliminate that bais (just as it would eliminate the bias that power cables do not make a difference in SQ).

 

Based on physics, it is highly unlikely that the power cable can have any effects whatsoever since there is a nice big transformer between it and the audio circuits.  If you do not understand what a transformer does, there are wikis and other explanations all over the internet.

 

Nonetheless, a blind test is proof of any pudding.

[Ralf11]

and, still waiting for 4est to post his system

 

which I am sure is not mid-grade👻

[sandyk]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

Nonetheless, a blind test is proof of any pudding.

 

And the results  ONLY accepted when they confirm your own beliefs !

[Ralf11]

guess again, muffy

[fas42]

Ah, dear - the endless need to prove that something that "can't possibly make a difference!!" has to be snake oil ... the principle is amazingly simple: most audio rigs are far too sensitive to interference effects; adjust by some means the spectrum, and levels of that interference ... the sound changes. Whether it has improved, or degraded, is an entirely different question ...

[tmtomh]

5 hours ago, sandyk said:

 

And the results  ONLY accepted when they confirm your own beliefs !

 

As your posts amply demonstrate.

[sandyk]

51 minutes ago, tmtomh said:

 

As your posts amply demonstrate.

At least I had proper DBT sessions arranged and performed by a well qualified E.E , but I have yet to see the results from ANY DBT sessions performed by yourself or fellow E.E.s of this forum, and I doubt that I ever will.

 Of course , you feel you don't need to do this, as you and a fellow small group of qualified members believe that you are always 100% correct with every statement you make pertaining to Electronics,  despite numerous members in the Music Servers section of the forum demonstrating otherwise .