New expensive power cord for amp and no change in sound?

fusebox, 30ga thin wiring through house to outlet, and a 4gs cord will change water to wine? Nope. 

Who uses that?

You're one of the few who are not dealing with expectation bias and realize there is no objective difference between power cables and I applaud you.

@roadcykler  , if you read the OP, he states that he did hear a difference when he replaced the power cord on his preamp.

What I am interested in is whether he heard a difference when he replaced his OEM power cord with the $500 power cord.

I’m with invalid. In my experience, a last 5ft power cord is much more important than in-wall wiring. Like a garden water hose, the nozzle only sees what it’s connected.

I am not arguing about electricity because I don't know much about that subject, but as far as water coming out of a garden hose to a nozzle, if all the plumbing in the house is ancient and gunked up, it will have a detrimental effect on the water pressure at the nozzle connected to the garden hose.  I can tell you that from experience.

Oh looky, earlflynn/skypunk/jerryg123/etc. etc. is back!

Whoaaaa!!  I remember jerryg123!  He used to send me "love letters"!

 After a couple of weeks of daily use I hear no change in the sound quality from a $500 cord. I don’t want to name it for fear of getting my thread deleted. You would know it or at least be aware of the company. Did I throw away several thousand dollars?

. . . and am I misunderstanding you? It reads to me as if you once replaced the OEM cord with a $500 cord and then recently replaced the $500 cord with one costing way more than that?  Or have I got that wrong, and the upgrade that you just made that you are hearing no difference with is the $500 cord?

I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell ya.

Looks like you got the ’snake oil answer’ whether you wanted it or not.

Going back to your first power cable upgrade on that amp (which I assume was the $500 cable you referenced), did you discern a difference?

And is the newly upgraded power cable you are auditioning on the power amp the same power cable you have on the preamp? If not, it would be interesting to find out what you hear if you put that new upgraded power cable on the preamp, instead of the amp.

@immatthewj ,

Wrong roxie...

OOPS!!  Thanks, @thecarpathian  .  I'll fix it.

2. If you deem a $500 power cord expensive, it's pretty safe to say your system is fairly entry level.

@roxy1927   , did you upgrade FROM a $500 cord, or did you upgrade TO a $500 cord?

@immatthewj To me that bumps up against the problem of why does different have to cost so much.  I understand people like to switch tubes and compare.  When it turns into you need to try this simple mechanical device that just happens to cost $4,000 I lose interest.  It feels too much like exploiting OCD, which we all have at least a little.

@jon_5912  , I guess it all comes down to what you get for your 4k and whether or not what you get is worth 4k to you.  In this case, I think OP is saying he cannot hear ANY difference between $500 and "several k.".  But perhaps in other applications the consumer might hear a difference.  You asked why the manufacturers are not putting high dollar cords on their stuff that they send out if it makes a difference, and I simply think that they do not want to raise the msrp that much on an upgrade that not everyone thinks is important and wants to pay a lot for.

If power cords really made a big difference wouldn't component manufacturers be putting better stock cords on?  Are there any component manufacturers that put anything other than standard plastic covered cords in the box?  

@jon5f52  , this might be an apples to oranges comparison, but not way long ago someone asked the same thing about tubes--to paraphrase, "Why don't manufacturers send out their stuff with high dollar tubes?"  And almost everyone will concede that different tubes do sound different.  So I'd almost think that instead of sending an amp out with a real expensive power cord to add to the msrp, they let the consumer pick & choose how much $ to spend to tailor his or her sound to his or her liking.

"I hear no change in the sound quality from a $500 cord"

"Did I throw away several thousand dollars?"

How does one throw away several thousands on a $500 cord? 

@tony1954  , I was wondering the same thing, but I am thinking that maybe OP had a $500 power cord on it and then upgraded to a more expensive one that cost several thousand?

Can I tell you what it did exactly? I don’t know really. But I liked it. I know lame.

Actually I can relate to feeling that way about an upgrade.

The fact that you are not hearing that with the 'several k' power cord kind of makes me think you were not hearing confirmation bias with the previous upgrade you referred to.

@roxy1927  , thanks for clarifying; I thought I knew what you meant but I wasn't positive.

When you got the Pass did it have the OEM cord, or did you have the $500 cord already installed when you got it?

If it came with the OEM cord I am really curious as to how much difference you heard when you put the $500 cord on it?

immatthewj I’m incapable of believing the high dollar amount is necessary. I assume they could get 90% of the high dollar benefit for 10% of the cost.

@jon_5912 , well, that is your prerogative. I don’t personally have enough experience with the subject to say I believe it or that I don’t believe it. People that strike me as credible have told me in private conversations that they have heard significant improvements when they have used fuses that cost more than $100. I have always been a bit skeptical, but I have no experience with those fuses so I refrain from commenting on that subject also.

On a personal level, I find my system to be pleasing (to me); I realize it could sound a lot better, and I’d like it to sound a lot better, but there are (at least) a couple of other areas I’ feel I need to address before I get into playing with power cords and fuses, and, sadly, there was a price to be paid for retiring at the age I did, and that price is basically how much disposable income I have to put into my system. I recently made a couple of fairly significant upgrades that I probably couldn’t afford, and therefore I am probably not going to buy anything else for quite a while, and if and when I do, it probably will not be power cords or fuses . . . but, that doesn’t mean that I am not interested in what others find out along those lines.

Because regardless of what I type about abstaining from upgrades , I often change my mind.

It could be that the $500 cable you mention may not be the best premium PC in its price class for YOUR system

@waytoomuchstuff  , OP has stated that he upgraded FROM a $500 power cord to a power cord that cost "several thousand."

And…no placebo here. I’ve gone thru enough power cables, cheap and expensive , with both good and bad results to know these cables matter. Take it for what it’s worth. My experience. My ears. 

Obviously synergy plays into the selection of the right power cord.  Any cheaper cables that you did like?

I tried and absolutely did not like Shunyata Alpha NR v2 on pass amp.

@audphile1  , I don't have a Pass and that power cord is out of my league, but from your statement above, I assume that you did hear a difference?  What was it that you heard that you did not like?

"We’ll not really PC are BS."

- really, how does your system sound without one?

Probably similar to an acoustically well treated room that has no system in it.

Thanks, @audphile1 , I am taking notes.

Did we learn which "expensive cable" the OP stated didn't sound any better than the "$500 cable", or what the $500 cable is?

To the best of my knowledge, we have not, nor whether the $500 pc was much of an improvement over OEM.

Maybe you could just fill in the blank as it suits you?

"I find that you only hear a difference in _______  if you really think you will."