Upgrading power cord.. proven upgrade? or crap?

limniscate - when it comes to PC’s, I’ve personally found that the better/larger the transformer is in a component, the less likely you are to notice improvements, however, with a better power supply in a component the improvements tend to become more "refined".

e.g. my DAC has a relatively lightweight transformer compared to my phono stage
- the improvement in DAC performance was more noticeable
>>>> deeper bass, better bass control, better imaging , faster dynamics

- my Phono stage has a quality toroid transformer - improvements were less noticeable but definitely more refined
>>>> the venue acoustics (echoes) were more detailed and more of them, the high end was much smoother, the image had gained height, I became enveloped in the whole image (no more walls)

The improvements achieved by attaching a better power cable to my amp, having the largest transformer, were much less noticeable, but definitely the most refined. It took a lot more listening for the refinements to be noticed, but when I did notice them they made for a much more realistic presentation

Take any one of my cables (PC, SC or IC) out of my system and I would not hear the refined improvements at all. Together, they provide a performance that is greater than the sum of their parts

another example, I replaced the power cable on my Yamaha mini-system - it has no IC’s and the SC’s are very short and made from high quality copper cable. The improvement in performance was staggering.

Perhaps your power cables are not your problem - perhaps it is one of the other cables - IC or SC, or even a component, that is preventing you from hearing a discernible improvement with the introduction of a new power cable?

Also, I would recommend using quality PC’s on all components - changing the PC on one component will likely do little to yield improvements

As for your amp - it has a massive power supply, so you would require a PC of the highest order to notice any difference.

As for the statement about audiophile PC’s are a HOAX? - it’s one opinion that I choose to disagree with - simply because of my own experiences.

It’s really easy to simply announce audiophile PC’s are a hoax - there are lots of people that will support that stance.

Most high end component manufacturers will tell you the same thing, WHY? - perhaps they don’t want it getting out that their component can actually sound better with a better power cable than the one they supply.

After all spending upwards of $5k on an amp - it should be Bl***Y perfect out of the box ! - shouldn't it ?

Just some thoughts :-)

"it's like saying that with good equipment u'll get a higher than CD sound from a FM stereo source"

Ever heard a great broadcast thru a Marantz 10B, REL Precedent,Mcintosh..?

Borrow a power cord from the Cable Co. and hear or not hear the difference.
If you use lower tier equipment, I wouldn't bother and focus on the best speakers in your budget and setup.

Put a power cord on you TV and SEE the difference. YMMV

Very interesting and thought provoking posts. I only want to share, after spending far too many thousands of dollars on gear upgrades, that power and room acoustics are the most important aspects of building a great sounding audio system. We will never hear the potential of our components without first getting them as right as possible. Most of us are not able to dedicate a room to our listening where the benefits of paying attention to 1st, 2nd and 3rd reflections as well as comb filtering are realized but at least we should consider the golden "rule of thirds" when setting up our gear and listening position.
My living environment seems filled with high frequency noise whether from major appliances, Wi-Fi, or digital products. I found that regenerating that power from the outlet gives me a clean 120hz sinewave to start with but power cords still provide a major benefit. To my ear the cords/conditioners that focus on removing high frequency noise without reducing dynamics are the best. Examples that work for me are Lessloss, Shunyata Research, and Transparent. Others just "change" the sound but don't necessarily "improve" it.
Once I got sucked into the black backdrop that cleaning up line noise gives me I became addicted to it. The visual analogy is a professionally calibrated Panasonic VT50 plasma TV that makes 2D look almost 3D. Gotta love those blacks!

So I thought this was interesting:  I tested the Shunyata Alpha HC on my brother's system (Vandersteen Treo with McCormack HT-1 with Acoustic Zen Tsunami Plus), and the difference was very noticeable.  I'm starting to understand the whole "system dependent" mantra. 

like many who have responded, i didn't use to believe, now i do, but don't know how a power cord could possibly make a difference. But it does, more than speaker cables or interconnects. In my system, my CD player (Marantz SA8005) and my then preamp (NuForce MCP 18a) responded big time ti Nordost Shivas, then even more when I upgraded to Vishnus. My amps (Bel Canto ref 500Ms) showed much less improvement, but did improve a bit with either Vishnus or Acoustic Zen Tsunamis).

I cannot understand it, but here is my theory--don't think of the power cord as the last six feet of electricity coming into your system, think of your system being slammed back and forth 60 times a second as the current alternates. This is violent, with magnetic, thermal, and even kinetic ramifications.  60Hz seems fast, but in terms of sound waves of 15-20kHz, 60hz is s l o w, plenty if time to make mischief.  The poor component has to get a hold of this AC and feed it to a transformer to convert it to DC.  So anything the last six feet does to the juice will alter the task ( for better or worse) that yhe component must do.  I could be way of base here but it helps me justify the money i've spent on power cables. 😊