Do Power Cables Make a Difference? The Results Surprised Me - Blind Testing the Audioquest NRG-Z3

Head to squarespace.com/cheapaudioman to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code cheapaudioman Audioquest NRG-Z3 howl.me/ciwwRfVIYe7 Audioquest NRG Y3 howl.me/ciwwTsQZ8yH Support the Channel by Shopping on Amazon amzn.to/3W8vsgK Cheap Audio Man Store Front shop.howl.me/cam Join the best hifi community out there! www.patreon.com/cheapaudioman TRY ROON roonlabs.com/r/RTmYWdCP9kitqouBa5pcIw Tidal Deal bit.ly/3siuqSF Amazon Unlimited Music Trial amzn.to/3DRAVj9 Crutchfield shop-links.co/cguPK8XEGmt Best Buy Deals shop-links.co/cf9yDZeYtUH amzn.to/3GkNaop CAM Store (New Products!) bit.ly/30Lgu4K apos.audio/?sca_ref=552340.TY98BPcZ6P massdrop.7eer.net/qnOye5

Nice review. One suggestion, though: it might be worthwhile to run the same test using the stock power cables on both amps to see if the amps themselves sound subtly different. Component tolerances may have a small effect on how each amp sounds.

The placebo effect is incredibly strong. Do more controlled, blind listening. TOTAL GAME CHANGER. I have told friends I switched cables on them, yet did NOTHING in reality... and they reported changes in bass, soundstage, everything.... yet nothing truly changed.

Have you first tested if the amps sounded exactly the same with the same power cord? Amplifiers do sound different.

Yeah, you really need to use the same chain so you account for unit variation. You can't use two different amps even if they're the same model, you have to use one amp, the only thing that should change is the thing you're testing (the power chord).

Fun test! Thanks for putting in the time! We'll never get tired of A/B comparisons 🙂

Sound doesn't travel through power cords, and the power supply converts everything coming from the wall to DC and filters it. The cord physically can't make a difference in sound, and it's a silly thing to encourage people to spend hundreds of dollars on. Any system that would actually be affected by using a different power cord is an indication of a really bad design, not a good power cord. Audiophile power cords are the original audio snake oil, so I don't know why this is still even a thing.

perfect timing.. i was on Audioquest web page looking at power cables.. i went straight to the most expensive.. i thought i better youtube these and see what everyone is saying about these cables.. your video was the first to pop up .. thanks for the info on these ..

I appreciate that he took the time to do this and his honesty about getting it wrong. Here are some things he could have done to make this a better test: Run the two cables to a switch and then into one amp. This way you would be using the same amp and interconnect cables. Even if they were the same make and model of amp, manufacturing inconsistencies exist, and the interconnect cables could have different amounts of EMI if they aren’t in exactly the same position. You also wouldn't have to worry about volume matching. You would need to have someone else switch between the two cables and sometimes not switch at all. It would have to be done outside the listeners field of view (that’s why it’s called a "blind" test) . Not knowing which cable is on which amp isn’t enough because once you formulate ideas about A or B based on one of the tests, you will have biases in future tests when you know that you are listening to the same equipment you heard in previous tests. You should listen to a fairly large number of sound clips and decide for each one if there is a difference and if so, which you like better. Once you have a large enough sample size, you can calculate the statistical significance of the number of times you accurately identified that there was a change and how consistently you favored one cable.

This is hilarious, been on motorcycle forums for years and they're constantly debating the merits of different motor oils, just getting into home audio since purchasing a pair of Magnepan speakers, and the levels of minutia are astounding, keep up the good work

Omg that's hilarious. You're doing the Lord's work Randy. Us peasants buying Amazon cables are grateful for your research

It was really a great blind test. Thank you. Unfortunately this kind of tests is very rare on YouTube.

Nice video, Randy. I think it would be cool if you do a double blind test, using the same chain. One person to set it up, one person to make the switch, and you be the listener.

As others have pointed out, no two electronic components are exactly the same. To validate your impressions, you could’ve swapped amp A with B (all inputs, outputs and power cables) and then see if you still thought the same about amp A vs B. In case the more bass now was in amp A (which was previously hooked up as amp B) then you would know that the amps themselves are more different than the power cables. If however amp B had the more bass also with the swapped cables, then you know that the power cables may have had something to do with it. I suspect the former scenario though, i.e. that the amps are more different than the cables.

For my setup my audio equipment is powered from a power outlet hookup to my Tesla. Nothing beats that setup. If you own a Tesla you must try it.

In general, the higher the quality of components, the more easily differences in sound will be to detect. Cumulative additions can also make a big difference. But for AC driven systems, quality starts at the wall.

This shows that once we make up our mind, our mind tends to gather evidences to support its fixated decision! However, irrespective of results, its interesting that power cables did make (edit: perceptible) differences in audio!! Eidt: Am sure two similar cables painted different and priced differently , would also sound, perceptibly , different!

Yup, those two amps exhibit unit variation as is to be expected from complex electronic devices, especially not very expensive ones. Second failing of your test is that you always knew when you were listening to A or B. This is not the way to perform a double blind test. You could have done that test half properly even with two amps if you had someone swapping (or not) the cables between the amps randomly and then checking out if you could tell cable A from B consistently... People do not realise what a double test entails...

That was very interesting. Seems like something worth looking into once you have taken care of all the basic changes that make huge differences; placement, room treatment, etc.

I use the green dot hospital grade cords. They pop up at the thrift pretty often. Heavy gauge, strain relief plug ends and thick nickel plating on polished terminals. If it's good enough for an EKG machine it's good enough for my audio