What was the first power cable that you noticed a difference in the sound?

@auroravengeance  +1

I own my house. First thing I did was have an electrician run a dedicated line, then various PLCs; To many to recall, but the last was a PS Audio Premier Power Plant (didn't do much for me) and various 'better' PCs including, Wire World (< $300- $500), the best were from Tekline, a boutique company (MSRP-$350-$800). The next biggest power upgrade was/is Core Power1800 MkII that has been anchoring my system for 3+ years. Check our the Verify blog on Audiogon for some interesting twists on fuses

I got this to replace my integrated stock power cord and there was an immediate notice of the difference in sound. I am not going to say if it is better or worse as this is a personal preference but there is a difference.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804698120208.html

Triode wire labs Obsession .

I remember fiddling with off brands and some inexpensive Shunyata power cords to no effect. This was ten or fifteen years ago.
 

With my newer Audio Research amps they come with heavy duty copper and  20 amp connectors, so I couldn’t use any of my stash. So I rotated through every Cardas line, all of which were pretty much instantly obviously better… but also tipped the tonal balance slightly and the AudioQuest Hurricane which just improved every aspect of the sound and was completely neutral.

OP.

What I would recommend is to find a way to borrow an Audioquest Hurricane. These things took the audio world by storm a couple years ago. The difference should be instantly obvious and overwhelmingly positive. If not… fantastic… the power cord has no effect on your amp… you are lucky. You know for certain. End of story.

Otherwise you have a data point. If it is worth it… well, I know of incidences when an absurdly expensive cord is performance justified. Or drop down a level in the storm series.

Also, the Audioquest are incredibly tight fitting… on purpose.