Interesting question, and I have one suggestion. Buy a pair of Transcendent Sound T8 OTL monos for around $4000 and forget about power cords. Bruce Rozenblitz says that his design is such that a $5 stock power cord is no different than a mucho dinero power cord. And I have verified it to my satisfaction. The sound is the same (and wonderful sound it is) with his stock power cords or fancy (read expensive) cords.
Amp+Cords or New Amp, best bang for $$$
If I have ONLY $4k to spend on an amp, should I get a less expensive amp and put the rest to Power Cords or should I spend the whole enchilada on an amp. I currently have a BAT VK-500 with BAT PAK and PS Audio Lab Cables but am very curious about the Levinson 333. This isn't necessarily about my specific choices, but rather the wisdom of spending $1k or more on cables prior to upgrading an amp. I sometimes wonder if it isn't a lot like those hopped-up toyotas. Like many of you, I use Audiogon as my listenening room so I'm looking for some feed-back prior to "using my ears" to decide. FYI- Sonic Frontiers T3/P3, BAT Vk5i, Dynaudio Confidence 5, Kimber KCTG ICs and Cardas Golden Cross Speaker Cables.