Power cords, interconnects and cables do make a big difference, one thing I have learned that new cables or used cables that have not been in use will need some time to break in, I had retired a pair of speaker cables that sounded just as good as the pair I'm using but of course I thought I would compare them again and the difference was night and day, the cables that had been out of use sounded nothing like they did before but after a few days of normal listening they sounded much better.. It's weird that what sounds good with someones gear might sound bad with your gear.If your like me sitting in the sweet spot wanting the best sound you can afford then you will have try a lot of combinations of cables, cords and interconnects but if you are happy with the way it sounds best to leave it alone and enjoy it. Instead of upgrading a preamp or power amp try different interconnects and you might be surprised how good it can sound and a lot cheaper than upgrading your preamp and less you go for the really expensive gear, and this is my thinking but most of us know if you have a high end or ultra high end system to get the most out of it you will need cabling to match that gear, basically match your cables to what your system needs, don't put high end cables on modest gear and don't put modest cables on high end gear, that is my advise to the newcomers of this hobby but for us old farts we know all that and let your ears decide what sounds the best on YOUR system and let the cabling break in but if the cable you just put in sounds better than what you have been using it should keep sounding better as it breaks but if sounds worst give it sometime of normal use then make your decision.
Sharing my experience with cables
Almost 40 years ago, a dealer in Montreal loaned me a pair of MIT cables. My scientific background refused the idea that cables would have any impact on electrons propagating at the seed of light.
The impact on the soud was so evident that I bought them. Since, I have tried many cables of all kinds and spent over 20 K on cable for two systems, one in Montreal and the other on the lake.
My criteria for all my components is physical: if my arms and neck hair are raised by the music, it works for me. The other critical aspect I discovered over the years is distortion, which I think has a lot to do with crossovers. I beleive that crossovers are powerful filters whose job is to kill music. Electrostatics are clean because they don't use such filters. But i still prefer normal drivers, , 2.5 ways because somehow the roll off frequencies are away from most of the music is.
My latest speaker are Wilson Sophia 3, Raidho X3 and Q Concept 500 .
The Transparent speaker cables work fine with Wilson and Q Concept. For the Raidho I use Luna Red for speakers and usb from the Aurender to the Devialet amp.
All of this just to give you context on what I a m about to say.
The cables I foud to have the most impact is the Power cable to the power amps (solid state)! Here are my recent experiments:
Audioquest Blizzard makes the Raidhos sound dark, as if the riboon tweeter were dead !
My most expensive cable is a DR Acoustics Red fire ultra ( 5K). It makes the Qconcepts too bright.
Custom made Furutech are much better with the Q Concepts.
I will try the DR power cable with the Raidhos next week.
They are all way better than the 5$ cords supplied with electronics.
Finally, I have found litthe effect of cables on Aurender streamers and Dacs. This is aanother subject though.
Thank you for any suggestions. This is my first post here, so be indulgent !