What is the best power cord for pass labs xa100.5?

There is no doubt in my mind Nelson Pass selects the best power cord for his products. Maybe you need to look elsewhere if you are not satisfied with the sound.

"If a manufacturer felt strongly about a particular cord, they should hard-wire it. The chassis IEC inlet has got to be a meaningful sonic compromise, but somehow we are all okay with it."

I'm not ok with it and most manufacturers were not ok with it either, but the reviewers, dealers and eventually the market demanded it. The price of a power cord has nothing to do with its ability to improve the sound. Do you really think a manufacturer would provide a power cord they know is inappropriate? Aftermarket power cords are just another snake oil variable to muck up the sound in my opinion. Too much emphasis is placed on air, openess and a bunch of other things that have nothing to do with music. That is why we have people on this forum telling us how much better their system sounds than live music. What a pathetic statement!

The OP got it right. He did not use the original power cord because it did not look "fancy". However, he finally decided to give the original a try only to find it sounded better than the aftermarket cord that was degrading the sound.

If you have assembled your system properly you will not need aftermarket power cords, power conditioners, room treatment, outriggers, cones and all of the other crap they have you believing you need to get good sound.

Or you can listen to music instead of turning your system into a reviewing tool.