I learned something by experience recently that may add to the conversation--that the price-performance ratio in part depends on what you are connecting the power cord to. I recently had the opportunity to try several different power cords at different price points in my system. I used the power cords between:
The wall and my Ayre L-5xe power conditioner (to which was connected my preamp (Herron VTSP-3A R03), phono stage (Herron VTPH-2A), turntable motor and cd/sacd player (Esoteric K-03xs); AND
The wall and my power amp (LTA Ultralinear)
I discovered that each power cord sounded very different going into the Ayre L-5xe but totally the same going into the LTA. So I reached out to Mark Schneider at LTA to report what I found. He told me that David Berning, who designs the LTA gear, is a power supply specialist above all else and, because of the integrity and quality of the power supply in my LTA amplifier the sonic differences between power cord were negligible. In fact, the stock power cord from LTA sounded just as good as a $1500 cable I compared it to. So, I purchased one of the better performing (and more expensive) cords for my Ayre and another inexpensive cord for the LTA, saving myself several hundred dollars in the process.
So, what I learned from this experience is that the price-performance ratio depends on more than the cable alone--that the design of what you are plugging into (and probably the quality of the power coming out of your outlet) can alter the performance considerably, skewing the ratio depending on the application.
The wall and my Ayre L-5xe power conditioner (to which was connected my preamp (Herron VTSP-3A R03), phono stage (Herron VTPH-2A), turntable motor and cd/sacd player (Esoteric K-03xs); AND
The wall and my power amp (LTA Ultralinear)
I discovered that each power cord sounded very different going into the Ayre L-5xe but totally the same going into the LTA. So I reached out to Mark Schneider at LTA to report what I found. He told me that David Berning, who designs the LTA gear, is a power supply specialist above all else and, because of the integrity and quality of the power supply in my LTA amplifier the sonic differences between power cord were negligible. In fact, the stock power cord from LTA sounded just as good as a $1500 cable I compared it to. So, I purchased one of the better performing (and more expensive) cords for my Ayre and another inexpensive cord for the LTA, saving myself several hundred dollars in the process.
So, what I learned from this experience is that the price-performance ratio depends on more than the cable alone--that the design of what you are plugging into (and probably the quality of the power coming out of your outlet) can alter the performance considerably, skewing the ratio depending on the application.