Do power cords effect tone?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TX6Strings
  • Start date Start date
TX6Strings

TX6Strings

Well-known member
Crazy question guys. I’ve got a BE100, 101b, Mark IV. Utilizing one specific power cable my amps sound great. Using any of the other cables I have slowly make my amps sound like I’m running too much gain or have terrible fret buzz. Just noisy, harsh and shitty sounding. Going back to the “good” cable, after playing for a while the amps clear up.

I’ve tried using a power conditioner/filter surge protector with no luck. I’ve tried using a battery back up with no luck. I’ve tried using other outlets in the house on separate breakers with no luck. I went so far as to buy another power cord of the same spec (not manufacturer as they only sell wholesale) with no luck.

I never had this problem until I started using the Furman power conditioner/surge protector. Is it possible the amps were all damaged? And why does this one particular cable work?

I guess my next step is to take the amp to someone else’s house and see if it’s something with the overall wiring in the house?

Any ideas or experience would be great appreciated as I don’t know what I’d do if this particular power cord craps out on me.
 
TX6Strings said:
I’m serious dude. After about an hour the amps are completely unusable.
Click to expand...
Have you tested voltage out of the Furman? Only way I could see it, or your house AC damaging an amp is if AC was excessively high. Do you make a habit of leaving amps plugged into outlets during storms? Power spikes/surges can reek hell on components, and I don't think the amp has to be powered on necessarily for that to occur. Just leaving an amp, or any electronics, plugged into mains power during storms can fuck shit up.
 
MetalHeadMike said:
Have you tested voltage out of the Furman? Only way I could see it, or your house AC damaging an amp is if AC was excessively high. Do you make a habit of leaving amps plugged into outlets during storms? Power spikes/surges can reek hell on components, and I don't think the amp has to be powered on necessarily for that to occur. Just leaving an amp, or any electronics, plugged into mains power during storms can fuck shit up.
Click to expand...
I got rid of the Furman. I have been guilty of leaving the amps plugged in but it doesn’t explain by one specific cord works.
 
I had an amp shipped to me with one of those Mercury power cords lol. I tried it with a 2204, and it seemed a bit brighter using the Mercury cord vs a normal one. Lol. I will say that one wall in my jam room, those outlets are much noisier than the rest of the room. I do have a variac that I use as the wall voltage does vary a bit day to day. House was built in 2011 so it's not very old.
 
Wrong forum for that question LOL I kid I kid. Honestly, if your power is inconsistent or dirty it definitely has an effect on tone. A lockout I used to jam in with my band had the worst power ever and my amps always sounded like shit there. Didn't figure it out until I searched a similar question to yours on the interweb. I experimented with different power cords at home one time and did not notice any difference whatsoever.
 
id be happier than a hog in shit if i found a magical power cable. id be affraid to use it and wear it out
 
Unless they really fucking suck, no.

Conventional wisdom from times of yore when EMI and RFI were bigger problems is that you shouldn't run power cables and cables carrying a signal parallel to one another. They should only cross at one point, as close to perpendicular as possible. If you are running them parallel, that could be the cause of any noise, though it's doubtful with modern cords.

With modern shielded cables, this is rarely an issue, but you see some top end rigs where they do it, just in case.
 
Unless you have dog ears or are comparing especially craptastic cables, most average quality cables under 15 feet should be indistinguishable.
 
Maybe something defective with the other cables.

I've had batches of those IEC cables that have faulty terminals, fit too loose.
 
The biological coherence of the inductive resistance in each cable can create a subatomic flux capacitance up to 100th of an inch the circumference of each cable, therefore a metabolic reaction can occur in the frequency range of the A note. Have you tried to avoid the A note and see if it gets better?

I'm just fucking around...sounds like a weird issue with perhaps several bad cables.
 
B1ADE873-7BAD-4FAA-BAEB-368021FEE1BF.jpeg


I didn’t even need to A/B in order to immediately hear and feel the improvement this Colossal power cable brought to the table. For reference, the black power cable plugged in beside it is a fairly thick 14 awg (same length at 3 ft) and the Colossal dwarfs it.
 
If you have a power cable of sufficient gauge, assuming it is in good condition, no expensive super heavy gauge boo-teek cable is going to make ANY DIFFERENCE TO YOUR TONE WHATSOEVER. That is a fact. Ask an electronic engineer if you don't believe me. You are not going to get "better" or "more" power to your amp. Think about it. The wiring in your house that feeds your sockets will be 14 or at most 12 gauge. A short length of cable between the socket and your amp is not going to magically make your amp sound better. Anyone saying any different is just being illogical.
 
This thread is killing me ?

An amp is drawing just a few amps, at most,
 
If you wan't to test this. Check the plate voltage of your amp while running a signal through it.

If you have a higher plate voltage with your boutique cable vs your shitty cable. Then you're on to something.
 
CNutz said:
This thread is killing me ?

An amp is drawing just a few amps, at most,
Click to expand...
This. For reference, amps are badass, but even the shittiest Microwave draws way more current.

Many high end power conditioners have real time load current readouts, if you must know for maximum cork sniffery. I have one of the ART ones that does, cool piece of gear. My recording computer, pedalboard, two different amps, and a power amp for passive studio monitors still draws substantially less than a Microwave.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top