Professional cable-makers don’t need to be "outsmarted" in order for DIY to improve on manufactured offerings at certain price points. Cables consist of materials, geometry, shielding, damping, and connectors and while some designs sound better than others, and some cables are constructed better than others, it is not like building the space shuttle. One area where I find DIY to fall short is in the spacing, twisting, and braiding, which will not be as uniform when done by hand as it will when the cable is made on a machine.
This can be overcome by terminating pre-manufactured bulk cable made by companies such as Furutech, Neotech, Oyaide, Acrolink, LessLoss, DH Labs, etc. There are even a couple of less expensive Asian bulk cable products that provide a pretty good bang for the buck (but others that don’t so be careful). By assembling cables from good quality premanufactured bulk cable and high quality connectors, it is possible for a DIY’er to achieve better sound at a lower price point than with commercial offerings.
To the OP, at your price point, I suggest doing some research here and at Audio Asylum and then purchasing a good bulk power cable and terminating it with something affordable like this, which uses copper conductors.
This can be overcome by terminating pre-manufactured bulk cable made by companies such as Furutech, Neotech, Oyaide, Acrolink, LessLoss, DH Labs, etc. There are even a couple of less expensive Asian bulk cable products that provide a pretty good bang for the buck (but others that don’t so be careful). By assembling cables from good quality premanufactured bulk cable and high quality connectors, it is possible for a DIY’er to achieve better sound at a lower price point than with commercial offerings.
To the OP, at your price point, I suggest doing some research here and at Audio Asylum and then purchasing a good bulk power cable and terminating it with something affordable like this, which uses copper conductors.