Cost effective power cables recommendations, low and high power

What is your equipment? Amplifiers are particularly sensitive to upgraded PC. Depending on the components you have, there may be an optimal brand and cost level to realize the maximum potential of your equipment.

In the case of all wires in high fidelity systems what they sound like will depend on your system. So in one system X brand sounds great in another X brand does not sound good.

Also, and for the life of me, I do not know why… but the character of an interconnect tends to be the same as the character of a power cord. Why they would sound similar is completely beyond me. This is just a casual observation by me. Perhaps others have different experiences.

OP,

Thanks for the equipment list.

I have to agree with @waytoomuchstuff. Best try some… even if you think they are out of your price range… then judge on their performance. It would be too easy to buy too cheap and confirm they don’t make a difference.

If you try a range and hear no difference you can dismiss the expensive ones.

The great thing about wires is that once you have invested in your components, you can make them sound much better with smaller incrementally investments… typically 10 - 20%. But of course your equipment has to be of a certain level and choosing the right cables that match your system is important.

The ridgidity is dependent on the brand. Cardas are not ridged although thick. In general I agree that the emphasis on greater flexibility for components. It is not uncommon this to be true.

Most companies make power cords specifically for amps and also specifically for components. Component power cords are designed for greater noice resistance and the amp ones for greater current capacity.

I recommend just work on one cord… for your amp first. As I mentioned earlier, this typically will make the biggest difference. This makes it simpler. You can use Cableco’s lending library, instead of buying… or have a dealer lend you some. If you don’t get a valuable sound difference out of this… then you are unlikely to get a bigger difference out of one of your components (but it is possible).

Also, when auditioning… well anything. It’s good to do a few quick A / B comparisons and write down the results. But, unless you are really put off my a change, spend a number of continuous hours listening to music (not to the power cord). When you take it out, you will most likely get the best take on the real change in sound. I always switch back to my standard… which over the decades [I have chosen to be DHLabs… to me has always been a good quality budget wire. That is me. You can use Home Depot as your standard if you want.]