Power cabling is often treated as an afterthought, specified to code, but not to the performance demands of a high‑resolution audio system.

Most discussions focus narrowly on minimizing voltage drop, as if a power cable were just a thicker extension cord. In practice, the challenges are broader and more subtle:

• Ground is not just a safety conductor. Many designs treat the ground only as a path to trip breakers, ignoring its equally critical role in defining the system’s electrical reference. A noisy, high‑impedance, or inconsistently bonded ground lets the “zero” point wander. Both analog and digital circuits then operate against a moving target, increasing susceptibility to hum, RF contamination, jitter, and low‑level modulation.

• Reference stability is as important as raw voltage. Power supplies do not see only “120 V” or “230 V”; they see real‑world line impedance, asymmetries between line/neutral/ground, and superimposed noise from the grid and from other components. Instability or pollution at the reference (ground) can leak directly into clock networks, gain stages, and D/A or A/D conversion.

• Instantaneous vs. continuous current delivery. Many cables are rated only for continuous current and basic thermal safety. High‑end audio systems, however, demand both high instantaneous and continuous current delivery. Large transient current draws from power amplifiers or dynamic loads can momentarily stress line impedance, connections, and conductor geometry. If the cable’s resistance, inductance, or contact integrity are marginal, the result can be subtle compression, softening of dynamics, or increased noise—long before you reach any safety limit.

In short, conventional power cords are usually engineered to pass inspection, not to optimize reference stability, noise behavior, and dynamic current delivery in a high‑resolution environment. The shortcomings are not about “magic” but about ignoring the very parameters—ground quality, line impedance, HF/RF contamination, and transient current behavior that directly shape what your components can ultimately reveal.