Power cords.
This is a touchy subject. We realize that this post will probably make us *zero* friends, and may actually generate some noise-vibration-and-harshness for us.
However, we have committed to treat everybody out there as a best friend who wants to know how to get the best sound. So all we can do is share what we have found to be true.
First, if you are a music lover who does not believe that a power cord can make any difference, we can only say that our listening tests have proven to us that they *can* make audible differences… however, whether those differences are desirable is another question entirely.
So, those of you who object to this entire discussion should probably stop reading at this point. We are not trying to upset anybody.
Here then is our method for getting a power cord that improves your sound:
- Realize that power cords sometimes “do harm”. Even the ones that sound good at first. In our experience, a power cord that creates a positive effect on sound quality usually also creates a negative effect, somewhere in the sound. Sometimes the positive effect is more apparent / easier to spot, and makes it easy to overlook the negatives, which is great — if a power cord brings a smile to your face or a tear to your eye when listening to your favorite music, by all means, enjoy!
- To find the best power cord for you, you either need (A) some extra cash, and time to read reviews and online forums, and then the patience to experiment with various cords, or you need (B) a trusted advisor to point you in the right direction. Which is better? The first option (doing it all yourself) is better. However, not everybody has the time or the cash for that.
- As for finding a trusted advisor, you may have a dealer who you trust, or a friend, or somebody helpful in your local audio group. In addition, we at Backert Labs are happy to help anybody out there who is looking to improve sound quality, and you can always call us with any questions. And if you’re wondering: no, we are not trying to sell you anything in the power cord department.
- Regardless of whether you have relied on an advisor or have chosen to experiment on your own, after you insert a power cord into your system, you should make sure it’s broken in before you judge it. A power cord can take a long time to break in. We are talking, conducting electricity 24 hours a day for 3 or 4 weeks. How do you know when it’s broken in? Usually it’s when you stop hearing changes from listening session to listening session. The changes get smaller and smaller until it settles down.
- Find a few “core tunes” that you will use to compare. If you have the patience to compare more than 3 or 4, that’s great. (We do not.) Make sure that at least one of your core tunes has a very well-recorded vocal. And make sure at least one has well-recorded bass and drums, and is fairly lively (unless you prefer listening to choral music or string quartets, in which case this may not be important for you). We find it important to compare not only tonality, but also rhythm, timing, and “groove”. In fact, for us, power cords more often fail in this last category of sound than any other.
- After listening to the broken-in power cord for a week or so, we recommend taking it out again, and putting back in the cord you were previously using. Obviously, compare using your core tunes. A lot of times, this will reveal the negatives or drawbacks of the new power cord.
It’s step no. 6 that has stopped us from declaring a certain power cord “the winner”. We haven’t tried all power cords, by any means, but we’ve tried several and we always end up returning to our stock power cord, plugged right into the wall. (Power conditioners… that’s another subject.)
We are not trying to push our stock power cords, but in case it’s interesting, here is what we did to decide which power cord to provide with our preamps:
- First, we researched as much as we could on internet forums to see which stock cords listeners preferred.
- Second, we bought the top five cords that were mentioned and praised.
- Third, we listened to each for quite a long time.
- Finally, we decided on our favorite, and tested the effects of break-in. We found that breaking in our favorite stock power cord for at least 30 days improved its performance noticeably. Therefore, with each Backert Labs preamp that we sell, we provide a power cord that has been powering a preamp or power amp for at least 30 days. Sometimes you will see our tag on the cord, which indicates the date that it started to break in.
Since then, we have compared our broken-in stock cords to many very expensive power cords. So far, we have preferred our stock power cord. Is it perfect? No. But to our ears it “does less harm” than many other cords we have heard.
We have also had customers who compared our stock power cord to various highly regarded power cords and have preferred our stock cord. And of course, many prefer other cords, which is great. We just want our customers to be happy.
We hope you found this helpful. If you have questions, you can always contact us at:
